When Shadows Rise | I

Ch. 5 | Duty

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When Talia thought that nothing else could possibly make today worse, she was mistaken.

The driver had pulled up to the gate entrance, where Talia could see the victorian wall lights mounted on each stone column; the nearby green shrubs and various flowerbeds brought the area to life again. Once the passcode was inserted, the gate automatically swung open and the driver was able to cruise right in.

Talia expected to enter her house and continue to mourn with her father. She wasn't expecting to see a couple of cop cars parked along the circular stone driveway. And she definitely wasn't expecting to see detectives coming in and out of the mansion carrying boxes— boxes loaded with her and her parents belongings.

"What are they doing with our things?" Talia was bewildered. She opened the door and sprinted across the driveway, with April following her.

Mr. Elbaz wasn't far behind. He confronted the two detectives from earlier. "What's this, Detectives?"

Detective Cabot handed Seth a piece of paper. "A court order, Mr. Elbaz. The NYPD has decided to seize all of your wife's properties until further notice."

"You said you wanted to question me, not take my things!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Elbaz, but everything found inside this mansion and other properties under Genesis Elbaz's name are at the disposal of the court."

This can't be. Talia's head was spinning. If April was not next to her, supporting her back with her hand, Talia was sure she would have fallen down.

As Seth read the search warrant out loud, Talia paced back and forth, pushing her curls away from her face. Inside that mansion was her whole life: it was where her bat mitzvah was held; where she and April used to roll around in the garden until they were both sweaty and dirty; where she was finally able to speak and write English after struggling with the language for so many years; where she and her parents made their first memories coming to America. She couldn't just give up everything!

"We're sorry, Mr. Elbaz," Detective Walker said once noticing the baffled looks on the father and daughter duo. "But we don't make the laws; we follow them."

Talia looked at her father helplessly. "Abba, what are we going to do?"

Her father locked his eyes onto hers. "Don't worry, we'll think of something. An Elbaz always does."

***

April and Kirby offered Talia and her father their place so they could have somewhere to crash for tonight, but Seth turned them down. This was his problem and his alone. He did not want to burden anybody; if he were to show his daughter that they would get through this together, he would first have to show her that he could do this by himself— not rely on other people.

Talia and her father settled into a hotel. April came by to visit later. If she could not get her best friend and her father to stay at her place, then the least she could do was check up on them.

"How are you guys holding up?" April took her place on the bed next to Talia. April paused and mentally slapped herself. "Wait, why did I just ask that? Of course you're not okay. You lost your mother and if that weren't tragic enough, you and your father practically lost your house."