Chapter 3

The smile was wiped clean off Aunt Mindy's face. She finally dropped all pretense, and her voice turned cold. "Christine, I'm not here to negotiate with you.

"Your grandfather's car may have gone directly to you, but technically, your mother has a share in it too. And what belongs to your mother belongs to me.

"I've let things slide all this time, but that doesn't mean the car is yours. Jeff will come and pick up the car at 7:00 am tomorrow. Have the keys ready."

She stood up and walked to the door, then turned back. "Chris, your mother isn't in the best of health. Don't make things difficult for her."

Then, the door was shut behind her, the sound of it slamming reverberating through the empty living room.

I sat in silence for a long while before dialing a number. "Hello, is this the Traffic Control Bureau? I want to report a suspected case of illegal commercial transport operation."

I laid out every detail, calm and clear, and even voluntarily submitted the evidence.

"Are these screenshots from the group chat? Are they all from the same group?"

"Yes. It's the Coleman family group. There are 127 of them in the group."

"The remark for this transaction says 'car fee'. Was it Jeffrey Coleman who transferred the money to you?"

"Yes. It was a 500-dollar transaction. My name is Christine Schmidt, and the person I'm reporting is my cousin, Jeffrey Coleman. He publicly organized a wedding convoy, charged fees to solicit passengers, and planned illegal routes for the operation. All the evidence is right there."

"Are you aware... that if this is verified, everyone involved in the operation will have to cooperate with the investigation? Your cousin won't be the only one implicated."

"Yes. I'm aware. In the screenshots of the group chat, I've marked out every person who indicated that they would like a ride."

There was a moment of silence on the other end. "If the situation checks out, the enforcement team will handle it on-site at the time and location you've provided."

After hanging up, I sent a text to the mechanic, Matthew Holt. "Mr. Holt, I need the car towed for maintenance tonight. Keep it parked at your place. I need it out of my garage."

Matthew replied with an OK, then added, "Is something going on?"

"Someone's trying to take the car."

"Say no more. I'm on my way now."

Just then, in the family group chat, Jeffrey posted a photo of flowers and ribbons piled all over the floor.

The caption read, "Decorations are here! We'll deck out the bridal car first thing tomorrow! The Toyota Crown is going to look really sharp after a nice decoration! I'm sure it'll be classier than a Rolls-Royce!"

Aunt Pam responded, "I can't wait! I've even got the caption for my social media post ready! 'A ride in a '90s imported Toyota Crown for a wedding pickup!'"

Uncle Tony sent a reply too. "Jeff, my legs hurt. Save me that seat behind the driver."

Jeffrey replied instantly. "Don't worry! I've got everything sorted out!"

I took a screenshot of the conversation and saved it.

Then I saw the messages from another group chat. It was the "The Chapmans" group that Aunt Mindy had shown me in her screenshot. Somehow, she had added me to the group too.

The latest message was one from Rosalie. "We'll be there right on time at 7:00 am tomorrow! Jeff said the bridal car will come from the downtown area and pass right by Fairway Street. Our relatives here have already agreed to wait on Fairway Street to film it!"

The bride's aunt, Natalie Twain, sent a reply. "I'm bringing my DV camcorder! A vintage bridal car like this needs to be recorded!"

To which Rosalie responded, "Jeff is such a reliable kid. He even managed to borrow an old Toyota Crown! He's bound to go places, that one."

I stared at those words and saved the screenshot into the folder.

…

On the day of the wedding, I was awake by 4:30 am.

At 5:30 am, I sent a message to someone from the Traffic Control Bureau. "They'll be there at 7:00 am. Expect around 15 of them. Also, the bride's relatives are waiting on Fairway Street to shoot videos. They said the bridal car will pass that way."

The reply came instantly. "Got it. We'll deploy road patrols to coordinate with us."

By 6:30 am, it was starting to get lively outside.

Peeking through the gap in the curtains on the second floor, I spotted a minivan and two sedans parked at the entrance of the alley. They were all nicely decorated.