Chapter 5 - The Net TightensBy the following week, Alan’s world was shrinking to the four walls of a cheap motel room on the outskirts of San Antonio, where he was hiding from his private creditors.
His bank accounts had been frozen by federal authorities following a joint investigation between the Texas Rangers and the IRS, which had uncovered additional tax evasion charges connected to his fake development companies.
On Tuesday morning, Avery sat in Robert Hawthorne’s downtown office, signing the final annulment papers. Because the marriage was less than ten days old and built entirely on fraudulent misrepresentation, the judge granted an expedited annulment, wiping out any legal connection between Avery and Alan as if the wedding had never occurred.
"How are you holding up, Avery?" Robert asked, sliding the signed papers into a red folder.
Avery looked out the high-rise window overlooking the Houston skyline. "I feel like I woke up from a long, bad dream. I’m angry at him, but mostly... I’m angry at myself for letting him get between me and Dad."
"He manipulated you, sweetie," I said, taking her hand from across the desk. "Smart operators know how to play on our best instincts. He made you think you were protecting me."
"Well, now I’m protecting us," Avery said, her chin lifting with a familiar Ashford resolve I hadn't seen in years. She looked at Robert. "What happens to him now?"
"Ranger Graves tracked his cell phone signal to a motel off Interstate 35," Robert replied. "The District Attorney has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant. They’re picking him up this afternoon."
"I want to be there," Avery said firmly.
I looked at my daughter in surprise. "Avery, you don't need to see that."
"Yes, I do, Dad," she replied, her eyes clear and unyielding. "He made a fool out of me in front of two hundred people. He hurt you. I want him to see me standing beside you when they put the cuffs on him."
Two hours later, two unmarked state police cruisers and my pickup truck pulled into the dusty parking lot of the Sunset Motel in San Antonio.
Ranger Graves and two local officers walked up to Room 114, drawing their sidearms, while Avery and I stood beside my truck near the office.
Ranger Graves knocked heavily on the door. "State Police! Alan Cole, open the door!"
There was a frantic shuffling noise inside, followed by the sound of a window opening at the back of the room.
"He’s going out the back!" an officer yelled, rushing around the corner of the building.
A second later, Alan came stumbling around the side of the motel, wearing dirty jeans and a wrinkled t-shirt, carrying a duffel bag stuffed with cash he had managed to hide before his accounts were frozen. He ran blindly toward the parking lot—and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me and Avery standing by my truck.
He looked pitiful. The tailored suits were gone, his hair was greasy and unwashed, and his eyes were wide with frantic, rat-like desperation.
"Avery!" Alan gasped, taking a step toward her, holding his hands out. "Avery, baby, please! You have to help me! Your dad forced me into this! He set me up!"
Avery didn't flinch. She stepped forward, standing in front of me, her posture posture regal and cold.
"Don't call me baby," Avery said, her voice dropping into a register of authority that sounded remarkably like her mother’s. "And don't look at my father. You are a coward, Alan. You hit an old man because you couldn't beat him in a fair fight. You tried to steal my mother’s legacy because you were too lazy to build your own."
"Avery, I love you!" Alan cried out as Ranger Graves came around the corner, grabbing Alan from behind and slamming him face-first onto the hot hood of a police cruiser.
"Save it for the judge, Mr. Cole," Ranger Graves barked, pulling Alan’s arms behind his back and snapping steel handcuffs around his wrists.
Alan screamed in pain and frustration as the metal clicked tight. He turned his head sideways against the hot metal hood, looking up at me with tears of rage and fear.
"You ruined me, Clifford!" he spat out. "You ruined everything!"
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I walked up to the side of the police car, looking down at the man who had tried to take my life's work.
"I didn't ruin you, Alan," I said softly, tipping my hat back. "I just protected what was mine. Have a safe ride to county."
