Chapter 5 - The Police Search and the Hidden Deed
Within eight minutes, the sound of wailing sirens echoed down Timber Ridge Way. Two Jefferson County Sheriff’s cruisers pulled up the driveway, their red and blue lights flashing against the oak trees.
Three deputies walked into the house with their hands resting on their holsters.
“Who called 911?” Deputy Miller asked, walking into the grand hallway.
“I did,” I said, stepping out of the office. I held my state-issued building inspector ID, my driver’s license, and the original, legal deed to the property that I had just pulled from my hidden fireproof safe. “I am the sole legal owner of this property. I just returned home from the hospital with my sick infant son to discover my mother, my cousin, and a notary attempting to execute a fraudulent transfer of my home’s title.”
Judith rushed out into the hallway, bursting into hysterical tears, throwing her hands up in the air.
“Officer! Thank God you’re here!” Judith sobbed, putting on an award-winning performance. “My son has lost his mind! He’s been under tremendous work stress! He came home, attacked his cousin, and started threatening us! He’s having a psychotic episode!”
Deputy Miller looked at me, then at Judith, his brow furrowed. “Ma'am, calm down.”
“I’m his mother!” Judith cried out, reaching for the officer’s arm. “I live here! I help take care of the house! He’s making up wild stories about legal documents!”
I stood completely still, looking the deputy in the eye. “Deputy, check my cousin Marcus’s jacket. He tried to hide the forged quitclaim deed and my original property file under his coat when you pulled into the driveway.”
Marcus, who was standing against the hallway wall looking sweating profusely, froze. “I don't have anything! He’s crazy!”
“Mind stepping over here, sir?” Deputy Miller asked Marcus, gesturing with his hand.
“You don't have a warrant!” Marcus yelled, backing away.
Deputy Miller didn't argue. He and his partner stepped forward, firmly holding Marcus’s arms, and began a pat-down search for weapons and stolen property.
As Deputy Miller unzipped Marcus’s heavy leather jacket, a thick manila envelope fell out from inside the lining, dropping directly onto the hardwood floor.
The envelope popped open. Out slid the freshly stamped, forged Quitclaim Deed, along with a stack of stolen financial documents, my original house title, and $12,000 in cash wrapped in bank bands—cash that had been withdrawn from my household account over the last three months.
The hallway went dead silent.
Judith’s fake crying stopped instantly. Her jaw dropped as she stared at the cash and documents lying on the floor.
Deputy Miller knelt, picked up the documents, and scanned the forged signature and notary seal. He looked up at Donald Vance, who was standing pale and silent in the office doorway.
“Mr. Vance?” Deputy Miller asked, recognizing the local disgraced legal assistant. “Are you telling me you notarized this land deed today?”
“I... I was misled!” Vance stammered, raising his hands in defeat. “Mrs. Carrington paid me two thousand dollars to stamp the paperwork! She told me her son signed it this morning!”
Deputy Miller turned to his partner. “Cuff him.”
“What?!” Vance shouted as the steel cuffs clicked around his wrists. “I’m an officer of the court!”
“You’re under arrest for legal forgery and conspiracy to commit grand larceny,” Deputy Miller said coldly. He then turned to Marcus. “Hands behind your back, son.”
“Aunt Judith! You said you had this handled!” Marcus screamed as the second deputy cuffed him. “You told me he’d never find out!”
“Shut up, Marcus!” Judith shrieked, her mask completely gone now, revealing the ugly, bitter reality underneath.
Deputy Miller turned his gaze to my mother. “Mrs. Judith Carrington?”
“I am his mother!” Judith shouted, her face contorting with rage as she pointed a finger at me. “I raised him! Everything he has belongs to this family! He owes me that money! He owes me this house! I gave him life, and he gives me this? You ungrateful, pathetic little worm!”
I looked at the woman who raised me. The veil was completely gone. There was no love, no care, no maternal protection—only greed, entitlement, and malice.
“Deputy,” I said softly, my voice filled with a deep, permanent finality. “I want to press full criminal charges against all three of them. And I want an emergency eviction order served on Judith Carrington immediately.”
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Judith gasped, stepping back as Deputy Miller pulled out his notepad. “Colin! You can’t do this to me! I’m your mother!”
“You stopped being my mother the moment you locked my feverish son in a laundry room to serve brisket to your friends,” I said, looking her dead in the eye. “You have one hour to pack one suitcase under police supervision. If you are still on my property at 6:00 PM, you will be arrested for criminal trespassing.”
