Chapter 5 - Arrested in Cashmere
My lawyer, David, had a flair for the dramatic. He knew exactly when the arrest warrants were being executed, and he made sure it happened at the most inconvenient time possible for my parents.
It was a Friday afternoon. My parents always had lunch at the Oakridge Country Club at 1:00 PM. It was their sacred ritual.
According to the accounts from my frantic aunt who was there, my mother was in the middle of complaining about the quality of her crab salad when three marked police cruisers pulled up to the club's valet stand.
Four uniformed officers walked directly into the main dining room. The room, filled with the town's elite, fell deathly silent.
"Richard and Eleanor Vance?" the lead officer asked loudly.
My father stood up, his face purple with rage. "Keep your voice down! Do you know who I am? I know the mayor!"
"Then you can use your phone call to reach him," the officer said, pulling out a pair of steel handcuffs. "You are both under arrest for felony embezzlement, wire fraud, and identity theft."
My mother actually fainted. Or, at least, she pretended to. She dramatically swooned into the arms of a waiter, knocking over a tray of mimosas. But the police weren't impressed. They hauled her upright, slapped the cuffs over her cashmere sleeves, and marched them both through the dining room.
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People were filming it on their phones. The very same friends who had been offering them sympathy on Facebook were now whispering in horror as my parents were shoved into the back of a squad car in broad daylight.
When David called to tell me the news, I was helping Leo with his math homework. I simply smiled, kissed the top of my son's head, and said, "Good."
