Chapter 5 - The Ambush
The temporary custody order drove Greg into a blind, reckless rage.
On Thursday, I finally sent the kids back to school. I had informed the principal and the resource officers about the protective order. Greg and Vanessa were legally barred from coming within five hundred feet of the children.
But Greg didn't care about the law when his ego was bruised.
At 3:00 PM, I was waiting in the parent pickup line. I saw Chloe, Ethan, and Leo walking out of the front doors together. Suddenly, Greg’s massive black pickup truck hopped the curb, tearing across the grass of the school lawn, and slammed on the brakes right in front of the kids.
Parents screamed. Teachers started running.
Greg jumped out of the truck, his face purple with fury. “Get in the truck, Ethan! Now! You’re coming home with your real family!”
Ethan froze in terror, dropping his backpack. Chloe stepped in front of her little brother, throwing her arms out.
I didn't think. I threw my car into park, abandoned it in the middle of the pickup line, and sprinted across the pavement.
“Get away from them!” I screamed.
Greg reached for Chloe’s arm. “You disrespectful little brat, get in the truck—”
Before his hand could connect with her, Leo moved. My quiet, anxious, autistic son, who hated loud noises and confrontation, stepped squarely between Greg and his cousins. He shoved Greg’s chest hard enough to make the larger man stumble backward.
“D-don’t touch them!” Leo shouted, his voice ringing across the schoolyard. “Y-you are a bully! L-leave us alone!”
Greg was so shocked by Leo’s defiance that he hesitated for two critical seconds. That was all the time the school resource officer needed. Officer Davis tackled Greg to the grass, pinning his arms behind his back.
I reached the kids, pulling all three of them into my arms, shaking violently.
Greg was screaming profanities as he was handcuffed and dragged to a cruiser. He had just violated a protective order, attempted kidnapping, and assaulted an officer in front of fifty witnesses.
I looked at Leo. He was trembling, breathing heavily, but his eyes were fierce.
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“You were so brave, Leo,” I whispered, kissing his forehead.
“H-he’s a bad man, Mom,” Leo said steadily. “I’m not a b-burden. But he is.”
