Chapter 5 - WHAT THE JUDGE HEARD
The hearing began at nine. Marcus wore borrowed clothes and still had rain cuts across his hands. Vivian arrived in ivory silk with Celeste and three attorneys.
Her lawyer stood. “Your Honor, an unidentified man has approached a traumatized child claiming to be her deceased father.”
Marcus rose before Naomi could stop him. “I'm standing right here.”
The judge, Helen Mercer, held up a hand. “Mr. Sterling, I will hear you. Please sit.”
Naomi presented police photographs, fingerprints taken overnight, and the passport Marcus had carried before the accident. The fingerprints matched his existing federal identity record. A separate verification of the death certificate had been requested.
Vivian dabbed at her eyes. “I prayed for my son every day.”
“And yet,” Naomi said, “your attorney signed a filing yesterday calling him an impostor without requesting a single fingerprint comparison.”
Celeste leaned forward. “We were protecting Lily.”
Denise Parker took the stand and described the locked bedroom, the child's injured hands, and the hospital's concerns. Nobody asked Lily to appear in court.
Judge Mercer ordered temporary protective arrangements: Lily would stay with a vetted caregiver while Marcus completed the emergency reunification process, with immediate supervised visits and no contact with Vivian or Celeste. She also froze any transfer from Lily's trust pending review.
Marcus wanted to protest the separation, but Denise caught his eye. “Do it the right way,” she murmured. “She needs things that last.”
When court adjourned, Vivian intercepted him outside the elevators.
“You can embarrass me all you want,” she said. “But you don't understand what happened on that boat.”
“Then tell me.”
Her smile turned brittle. “Ask Brent who opened the engine compartment.”
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Marcus watched her step into the elevator. Brent had told the coast guard he wasn't anywhere near the vessel.
