Chapter 37

I spent four more days in the hospital, and I was antsy as hell when I finally got out. My aunty and Beth had visited me, and I did my best not to show them how agitated I really was. I failed miserably. No news, absolutely nothing, about Lily. That made me really worried. My aunty's new assistant informed me that information about Lily had been delivered to the Border Patrol, so she would not be transferred out of the country. I'm not sure if she trusted that, herself.

When I was out of the hospital with my aunty and Beth they started driving towards their home, not mine.

"Aunty, I need to get to my home, first."

"Eric, I'm not sure if that's a good idea. Are you really sure?"

"Yes."

"Very well."

She turned the car around and started driving. And I wondered how much worse it could get. I didn't have to wonder much longer. My house - our house - was devastated. The front door was nailed closed, and we had to use the back door to get in - just to find everything trashed. And the housed smelled like somebody had urinated inside ... lot. Which seemed to be the case. I didn't have to worry about the stains in the sofa as it smelled and looked like a urinal. Like it probably had been used. My TV was broken, CDs and DVDs were missing and there was water on the kitchen floor.

But the real shock was upstairs. I could see that several of Lily's toys were missing, but why did they need to tear apart the stuffed animals? Among the few saved ones were the two old ones Sara had owned, and two of the smallest ones. I carefully picked those up and took them with me. Luckily my loaned clothes had big pockets. In my own bedroom, I noticed that I didn't have to worry about my own clothes. I guess there was nothing worth salvaging. My bed had been used just like the sofa downstairs. I turned to my aunty.

"I guess you have all this documented, already?"

"Yes, Eric, I'm sorry."

"No, this was not your fault."

The anger inside me that was put aside while I was at the hospital started to burn white again. But there were no tears. Time for them would come later, if ever. My aunty continued.

"You know, Eric, this was a serious mistake by them. They did present the search warrant, afterwards. You may want to know that they have your computer and everything from your office."

"That won't do them much good."

"You know that they'll probably plant something inside it?"

"Oh, I hope they do!"

"Eric, you'll need to explain that!"

"Later, Aunty. For now I need a new phone, a new computer, and new credit cards."

"That may be a problem, they have frozen all your accounts."

"Also the company one? That is not in my name."

"I don't know about that."

"Ok, I'll need to check that. I'll drive after you to your place and then I'll need to use your computer for a moment."

"There's a minor problem with your car..."

A minor problem my ass. They had not only devastated my house, but also my car. The whole interior was ripped away and all the cushions stabbed and torn apart. Also from Lily's seat. I seemed to me that I would not need to worry about my anger running out of fuel.

They had indeed had all my bank accounts locked by some court order. Which was interesting, since I had not even been arrested. But they had not found Sara's accounts. I had left all the legal documents concerning her at my aunty's home. Including a debit card. And luckily I had not been very efficient and had not yet closed her account and I also knew her code. Like she had known mine. So, I could have cash and I was able to buy a new computer. I knew that my aunty would have loaned me the money but I felt better doing it this way.

Tuesday morning I was back in business, and what I found made me even angrier. They had tried to use my credit cards - or someone had used my credit cards on some internet sites. I didn't accomplish very much but I managed to secure some finances for me to use and I could make sure that my businesses were running even if I was not available all the time. My aunty was informed that they were looking for me - as they wanted to get me on Wednesday morning into court for handling of my imprisonment. Our friends didn't waste any time, but at least they didn't come to get me. I guess they didn't know that Beth had kept a small apartment of her own.

If there had been any doubts about the things being set up, it ended right here. Luckily my side had that covered. They were accusing me of having child pornography and possibly molesting my own daughter. Because of the serious nature of the crimes I should be imprisoned immediately. First they would decide for bail. When they requested a bail of $100,000, the judge immediately agreed. We had discussed this and my aunty was prepared to pay 5, ooo from her own pocket. But there was no way she could get 10, ooo, just like that. Luckily I had ... or rather, Sara's mother had ... the money. I nodded when she looked at me. When my aunty agreed and was preparing to pay it, the people on the other side didn't look happy, neither did the judge. I guessed that they'd had us checked out, and they were sure that I didn't have that kind of money when my accounts were frozen. Luckily, they had checked only the local banks.

I enjoyed my freedom, but the medication I was taking made me feel really sick, occasionally. Unsurprisingly, someone had leaked everything out to the local paper. They painted a very black picture of me, but made it so that I could not really sue them, as they referred to an 'unnamed' source. There would not have been much time for dealing with them anyway, as town law enforcement wanted to get me into court as soon as possible. To their surprise, we agreed. In less than a week we were in courtroom again.