Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (68 page)

“Just
as
Ted
said
,
” M
iss
Crenshaw
let slip
. “Officers, you know what to do.”

“You don’t understand,” said
Glory
, knowing life was about to get a whole lot different, but not any better
.
“I
t was all my fault. I
fell off the ladder
.
”

The officer led h
er
away by the hand toward a squadron of cars parked in the driveway.

Ted Filmore st
ood
on the front porch—what the heck was he doing here
?

She h
e
ard one of the officers talking about how the suspect had barricaded himself in the bathroom, threatening to kill himself
.

“Dad
!
”
Her hand reached toward the house, which looked small as her thumb from this perspective.

She tried to
yank her arm out of the officer’s grip
, but
he
quickly
ushered
her
to the back of one of
squad cars
.

“Don’t worry, kid, everything will be fine,” the officer said
.
“Y
our dad
will get the help he needs, and who knows, maybe you can come back to live with him in a couple of years.”

“A couple of years—that’s
practically
forever!
”

“Here’s a friend for you,” the officer shoved a stuffed bear into h
er
arms
.
“When you’re scared just squeeze Mister Bear and you’ll feel better.”

“I don’t want a stupid
toy
,”
Glory
said in
disgust
and tossed the bear on
to
the seat of the squad car
.
“I want
to
my
Dad
.
I want my brothers and sisters.
”

The officer slammed the door shut
.
Glory
tried to open it, but couldn’t find a handle.

Brandon was led across the lawn between two officers
.
Although he wasn’t cuffed, the officers appeared to have a tight hold on him, as if they expected trouble
.

Patrice
, on the other hand, trailed behind them with her head hung low
.
“What have I done?
”
she wailed.

Ted Filmore tried to put an arm around her shoulder, but she sloughed him off
.

“I trusted you not to say anything
, Ted,
and you promised you wouldn’t!”

“It’s for
her
own good,” he said
.
“For all of you.”

“Get away from me!
”
she yelled.

The cops intervened
, pushing him aside
and ushered
Patrice
down the walkway
.

Randy was placed in a squad car separate from Danny
.
Both of them were unusually pale and cooperative
.
The twins hadn’t spent a day apart since birth, this just wasn’t right
.

Finally, M
iss
Crenshaw came out carrying
diapered
, but
shirtless
George
. She
wrapped him
in a blanket
.
One bare little foot dangled in the cool air
.
He
cried
pitifully
.

Glory
pressed her face against the window.
“Oh, Geo
r
ge!” She literally
ached for h
im,
knowing he couldn’t possibly understand what was happening
.
If only
s
he could grab
him and
run w
here nobody would
ever
find them.

George
spotted
her
in the car
.
His
little arms reached out
as he cried
,
“
Gwo
ooo
-wee
ee
!”

“
George
!”
s
he
yelled, worried
s
he might not
ever
see h
im
again
.
She
put h
er
mouth up to the
slit of
the slightly
opened window.
“
Gwo-wee
loves
George
!
And George loves Gwo-wee!
Never forget that
!”

“
Gwo-wee
!
”
He
wailed.

Dad
appear
ed
on the front porch
.
In
his socks
, boxer shorts and a holey T-shirt
. H
e
stumbl
ed
over himself
, but never quite fell
.
“
Take
my house
,” he slurred, “take my land,
but I’ll
see you in hell
before
I let
you take my kids
.
”

The officers, who had been gabbing before, stiffened and turned their attention to Dad, who continued to babble on.
“
This is still
my property
until the end of the month
—
pigs.
G
et
your filthy hides off of my land!
”

An officer approached
Dad
.

“The governor sent you—didn’t he
?
Murdering my wife and having the Tax Ministry squeeze every credit out of me wasn’t enough for him—eh? So now he’s sent you goons here to take away my kids.
”

“Calm down, M
r.
Alley
.”

Dad
cussed and
swung
.
The
officer blocked
and the two of them
locked into a fighting embrace
.
They
rolled off the porch and onto the ground
.

A mob of police officers swarmed around the tousle, piling on top of them
.

Dad
continued to throw punches
. Ted watched from the sidelines.

“Stop!”
Glory
pleaded from the car
.
“Stop fighting
!
Don’t hurt
my dad
!
He can’t help it
!
Please, don’t hurt him!
”
A
blur of fists and billy clubs flew
.

“He
’s got
a
gun!
”
a
n officer cried out.

O
fficers step
ped
away from
Dad
.
Dad
rose to one knee
.
Blood ran from one nostril over his mouth and down his chin
.
He r
aised the weapon and
pointed it toward
Ted.

“Nobody takes my kids,” he swore, glaring hatefully at everyone,
pointing the gun at
Patrice’s boyfriend
.
“Especially you.”

Ted
Filmore
held up
one
hand
in defense
.
“Mr.
Alley
, I
’m sorry
.
I
don’t want any trouble.”

“
Bull
.
That’s what the Filmores do—bring trouble down on hardworking folks
who are just
trying to get along. F
irst, you take advantage of my daughter
.
Now you do this to get back at me for filing a
report
against you.”

“
Don’t blame me
for
trying
to help Patrice r
a
ise above all
of
this.
You’re
the
drunk
.
You’re the one who beats your kids. You’re the one holding the gun
...
”