Chapter 14 - The Sanctuary of the Precinct
Daniel broke three traffic laws racing toward the 4th Precinct.
When he slammed his brakes in front of the police building, the engine smoked from heat.
He burst through the double glass doors of the station.
Inside, Caroline was seated on a metal bench, wrapped in a grey wool police blanket, her hands clutching a paper cup of water.
Mason was curled in her lap, his small face buried deep into her jacket, sobbing in quiet, rhythmic gasps.
"Mason!" Daniel called out.
The boy instantly lifted his head, his eyes red and swollen.
"Dad!"
Mason scrambled off Caroline’s lap and threw himself into Daniel’s arms.
Daniel dropped to his knees on the cold municipal floor, wrapping both arms tightly around his son.
He buried his face into Mason’s hair, breathing in the scent of maple syrup and familiar shampoo.
"I’ve got you, buddy," Daniel whispered, tears finally escaping his own eyes.
"I’m right here. Nobody is going to touch you. I swear to God, nobody will ever touch you again."
Mason clutched Daniel’s coat collar with desperate strength.
"She had a picture of you, Dad."
"She knew my name."
"She said I look just like you when you were seven."
Daniel’s jaw tightened until the muscles in his cheek twitched with suppressed rage.
Detective Kowalski, the lead investigator who had built the original abuse case against Vanessa, walked out from the briefing room.
"Daniel, come into the back office," Kowalski said gravely.
Daniel scooped Mason up into his arms, refusing to let the boy down, and followed Kowalski.
Caroline walked beside them, still trembling.
Inside the private conference room, Kowalski closed the blinds.
On the whiteboard, Kowalski had already pinned three mugshots: Vanessa, Diane, and a grainy surveillance still from an international airport taken six days ago.
The woman in the airport still had short silver hair, sharp cheekbones, and piercing grey eyes.
It was Rebecca Vance.
"She entered the country through an overland crossing from Ontario using a forged identity," Kowalski stated, tapping the photo.
"Diane’s arrest and Vanessa’s five-year prison sentence destroyed Rebecca's financial lifeline."
"She’s desperate, Daniel."
"Julian Hayes just turned himself in to the federal magistrate an hour ago."
"He’s giving full depositions on the trust liquidation."
"Which means Rebecca knows her funds are being frozen within twenty-four hours."
"Why did she go after Mason in broad daylight?" Caroline asked, her voice cracking with fury.
"Because Mason is the sole named beneficiary on the Vance family ancestral estate," Daniel answered grimly.
"Without Mason, or without Mason under Vanessa's conservatorship, the estate reverts to the secondary trust established forty years ago."
"A trust where Rebecca was the alternate claimant if the family line ended."
Kowalski nodded slowly.
"She wanted to terrify you into a settlement, Daniel."
"Or worse, take Mason across the Canadian border before Julian's testimony finalized."
Daniel looked down at his son.
Mason was staring at the photo of Rebecca on the whiteboard.
"Dad?" Mason asked softly.
"Yes, Mason?"
"That lady was in our house once."
Daniel froze.
Kowalski stopped writing on the whiteboard.
"What did you say, Mason?" Daniel asked, his heart thumping violently.
"Before Mom went to the hospital two years ago," Mason whispered, pointing his small finger directly at Rebecca’s photograph.
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"She was in Mom’s bedroom."
"She was giving Mom a cup of brown tea."
