Chapter 6 - The Price of Speaking Up
Amir Singh listened without interrupting while Leah described the gala, the gun, and the man on her porch.
He was a legal-aid attorney with tired eyes and a desk stacked with other people's emergencies.
"I'm Noah's guardian," she said.
"Rachel signed the paperwork before she died, and the court confirmed it afterward. Can Vivian take him?"
"Not because she's rich," Amir said.
"But she can make you spend months proving what should never be questioned."
He showed her a petition filed that morning.
It accused Leah of bringing Noah into a dangerous public confrontation and asked the family court to review his placement.
The petition came from a nonprofit affiliated with the Ashcroft Foundation.
"She caused the danger," Leah said.
"I know. A judge needs evidence, not outrage. We have video, witness statements, and your guardianship order."
"And what if my job hears about all this?"
"Then we deal with that too."
At home, Noah was drawing at the kitchen table.
He had given Pilot the stuffed fox a paper crown.
"Can a kid get fired?" he asked.
Leah crouched beside him.
"No, buddy. Why?"
"Mrs. Ashcroft said Mommy got fired because she asked bad questions."
Leah felt the old grief rise like a wave.
"Your mom asked questions because she wanted people to be safe."
"Then why didn't anybody listen?"
There was no answer that would make sense to six-year-old ears.
Leah kissed his hair.
"I'm listening now."
That evening, Amir called with one more detail.
The petition's supporting affidavit claimed Vivian had never been inside Harbor House after its renovation began.
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Leah looked at the photograph of the silver birds on Vivian's wrist.
"Then somebody is lying under oath," she said.
