Chapter 7 - THE GRANDMOTHER’S WAR
Eleanor slowly leaned back in her wheelchair. The frail, grieving mother vanished, replaced entirely by 'Iron Eleanor'—a woman who had ruled the state's judicial system with an iron fist for three decades.
She looked at the chief bailiff. "Captain Miller."
"Yes, Your Honor?"
"Lock the vault doors to my chambers. Deputize your officers. Anyone who attempts to cross that threshold without a state police escort is to be arrested for obstruction of justice and treason against the court."
"Understood, Judge." The bailiff immediately moved to the heavy steel reinforcement doors, slamming the deadbolts into place.
Eleanor turned to her terminal and pressed a secure speed-dial key.
"State Trooper Headquarters," a voice answered.
"This is Senior Presiding Judge Eleanor Vance," she said, her baritone voice cutting through the room like a battle horn. "I am declaring a state of emergency at the Municipal Courthouse. I need an armed escort, a state medical transport helicopter for a pediatric patient, and the immediate arrest of District Attorney Marcus Hayes and Federal Judge Thomas Sterling for high treason and racketeering."
She hung up the phone and turned her wheelchair around to face her son and granddaughter.
David stood there, staring at the woman he thought he had lost forever, a mixture of awe and hope shining through his tears.
Eleanor rolled her chair directly in front of Lily. She reached out, gently cupping the little girl's soft, warm cheek.
"Is your marrow a match for her, David?" Eleanor asked softly.
"Yes," David choked out. "I'm a perfect match. But the hospital refused to perform the surgery while I was under felony arrest."
Eleanor smiled—a small, fierce, beautiful smile that illuminated her tired face. She picked up the blue mitten from her desk and placed it gently back into Lily's small hand.
"They're not going to arrest you, my boy," Eleanor declared, looking up at David with eyes that could burn through steel. "You are going to that hospital. And then we are going to take back everything they stole from us."
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Outside the chamber doors, heavy boots began pounding against the wood, demanding entry. But inside, for the first time in twenty-six years, the Vance family was together.
And Judge Eleanor Vance had just begun her war.
