The sound of distant wailing sirens began to echo faintly through the heavy stained-glass windows of the grand venue.
Vanessa struggled to her feet, leaning heavily against the dark mahogany pew as mascara ran in thick black rivers down her cheeks.
Vanessa: Dad, we need to leave. Call the private jet crew at Love Field right now!
Richard: Quiet, Vanessa! You don't speak another word without our criminal attorneys present!
Julian: Your jet isn't leaving the hangar, Richard. The FAA grounds any flight tied to an active federal kidnapping warrant.
Richard: You don't know what you're talking about, Julian! You cannot prove intent to kidnap!
Julian: Marcus, read the second document the boy brought.
Marcus stepped down from the altar platform, holding the second yellow sheet up toward the bright chandeliers.
Marcus: This is a sworn affidavit drafted by Thomas Henderson, dated fourteen months ago.
Vanessa: Henderson would never sign that! That’s completely fabricated!
Marcus: He drafted it as life insurance against you, Vanessa. He wrote that if payments ceased, this packet goes directly to the district attorney.
Leo: Mr. Henderson told me yesterday that the bride was trying to cut his money in half because of the wedding expenses.
Julian: So the rat was already turning on the snake.
Leo: He told me she ordered him to move me across the border to Juarez by midnight tonight.
Julian’s blood turned to pure ice as he looked down at his terrified child.
Julian: Juarez? You were going to traffic my son out of the United States?
Vanessa: Henderson came up with that idea! He said it was too risky to keep him twenty miles from the city limits!
Julian: But you agreed to it! You wired the money to make it happen!
Vanessa: Julian, I did it because I loved you! Can't you see that?! I couldn't lose you!
Julian: Love? You slapped a starving child across the face two minutes ago!
Leo: She hit me with her handbag in the barn last summer too, Dad. Because I cried when I saw your face on the television.
Julian reached down and pulled Leo close against his chest, wrapping his heavy arms around the boy’s bony frame.
Julian: You will never shed another tear because of these monsters, Leo. I swear on your mother's soul.
Leo: Dad, my head hurts where she knocked me down...
Julian gently touched the rising bump on the back of Leo's skull, feeling the warmth of fresh swelling under his hair.
Julian: I know, buddy. Hang on just a little longer. Help is pulling up right now.
The heavy roar of emergency engines shook the gravel driveway outside as blue and red strobe lights flashed wildly through the glass doors.
Six Dallas tactical officers and three plainclothes federal agents strode into the grand hall, their weapons holstered but their hands resting on their duty belts.
Special Agent Reynolds: Julian Sterling? We have control of the perimeter.
Julian: Agent Reynolds. Arrest Vanessa Vance and her father for conspiracy, felony kidnapping, and child endangerment.
Vanessa: You can't touch me! Do you know who my family is?!
Special Agent Reynolds: Ma'am, turn around and place your hands behind your back. Right now.
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