Ashcroft reads it. You stay professional." "Yes, ma'am." I hung up, walked out to my truck, sat in the driver's seat with the door closed, didn't start the engine. I said out loud to no one, "Almost there, Rach.
Got the whole family this time." I started the truck, drove home. Cooper was at the kitchen table doing math homework. He looked up when I walked in. "You good, Dad?"
"Buddy, Thursday night is going to be big. Something might be on the news about Dad, about the neighbors. You okay with that?" "You catching them?" "Both of them."
Cooper set down his pencil. "Can I come to the meeting?" I thought about it for exactly 1 second. "You can come. You'll sit with Detective Ashcroft in the back.
When it's done, we go for pizza. Deal?" "Deal." He picked his pencil back up, started writing again. Then without looking up he added, "Mom would love this."
Wednesday, 10:00 in the morning, the grand jury handed up the indictment. Preston Holloway, 17 counts of felony criminal mischief, two counts of felony harassment, one count of felony menacing of a minor. Total exposure at sentencing, 12 to 15 years Colorado State Prison. Vivian Holloway, eight counts of accessory to crime, six counts of obstruction of justice, and one count of filing a false report for the CPS complaint she'd submitted against me the day before. Total exposure, three to seven years.
DA Whitfield signed the warrants at 2:30 that afternoon. I signed the receipt at 2:34. Sheriff Harmon called the operational meeting at 3:00. Six people around the conference room table. Me, Owen, DA Whitfield, Harmon himself, and deputies Shawn Whitlock, Karina Voss, and Trent Halverson.
We walked through the choreography for Thursday night. 7:00, HOA town hall begins in the Willow Ridge clubhouse. Vivian opens with her prepared speech to impeach me from voting rights. 7:22, I request three minutes to respond under Robert's Rules of Order. She grants it because she's under-caffeinated with confidence.
7:25 through 7:38, I present the evidence deck. 10 slides, silent room. 7:38, deputies Voss and Halverson block the front doors. Whitlock and two backup deputies block the back door and side hallway. Nobody leaves.
7:33, Owen approaches Preston in the front row, cuffs him seated. 7:40, Owen Mirandizes Vivian on the podium in front of 200 witnesses and two credentialed reporters. Whitfield stopped the meeting for one moment. She looked across the table at me. "Ethan, you want to Mirandize her yourself?
Personal privilege of the lead detective. You've earned it." "Owen does it. I want to be professional, not personal." Whitfield nodded slowly.
"Good answer." Wednesday night, Cooper and I sat at our kitchen table with two laptops and built the evidence deck. Slide one, my sheriff's office badge, high resolution with the case number underneath. Slide two, State of Colorado versus Preston Holloway, 20 counts, full list. Slide three, DNA lab report, Nora's sanitized summary version, easy for a courtroom or a clubhouse to read.