Chapter 5 - Paper Tigers
I didn't turn on the front porch lights. Instead, I opened the security app on my tablet and pulled up the high-definition perimeter camera.
Through the infrared lens, I saw my sister Chloe stepping out of the passenger side of the rusted sedan, holding her youngest child, while my cousin Greg stepped out of the driver's side. Nancy remained in the backseat like an exiled monarch, clutching her handkerchief against the window for dramatic effect.
Greg walked up to the camera intercom and pressed the button repeatedly.
"Jocelyn! Open this damn gate right now!" Greg’s voice crackled through the speaker, thick with self-righteous anger. "Aunt Nancy is having heart palpitations! Chloe’s kids are freezing! You think because you have a fancy medical degree you can abandon your blood? Open the gate or I’m kicking it down!"
I pressed the talkback button. My voice was calm, measured, and completely devoid of the trembling girl they used to push around.
"Greg," I said clearly, "you are currently trespassing on private property. The gate is made of reinforced wrought iron and monitored by twenty-four-hour private security. If you touch that gate again, the silent alarm alerts the county sheriff’s department, which is stationed four miles away."
Greg recoiled slightly, glancing back at the car. Nancy rolled down the window and leaned out, her theatrical wail cutting through the crisp night air.
"Jocelyn, my baby! How can you be so cruel to your mother? Your father is rolling in his grave! Just let us sleep on the floor! We won't eat your food, we won't touch anything! Have you no human decency?"
"Nancy," I replied, deliberately refusing to call her 'Mom,' "you received a two-hundred-thousand-dollar payout from the sale of the family estate six months ago. You spent it on luxury cruises and designer handbags while Chloe was falling behind on rent. You have two hotel reservations available under your name right now in town, fully paid by Victor’s emergency fund, if you choose to take them. But you will not set foot on this property. Leave now, or you will spend the night in county holding."
Greg looked stunned. "What payout? She said you took all the money!"
The hesitation in Greg’s face was unmistakable. Nancy immediately cut him off, shrieking from the car, "Don't listen to her lies! She’s mentally unstable from the birth! She’s hallucinating!"
Before Greg could reply, the flashing blue and red lights of a patrol cruiser appeared in the distance, heading up Clover Ridge Drive. I hadn't even needed to call; Rebecca’s security agency had dispatched them the moment the vehicle idled outside my perimeter for more than five minutes.
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Nancy scrambled back into the car, slamming the door. Greg cursed under his breath, threw up his hands, and sprinted back to the driver's seat. They sped off into the fog just as the police vehicle pulled into the turnaround circle.
They were running, but I knew Nancy's vanity wouldn't allow her to surrender that easily.
