Chapter 6 - The Lawyer Who Helped Me Give Up
Peter Sloan’s flight had already departed.
Federal agents were notified before it landed.
I sat in my car outside Mark’s house, replaying seven months of conversations with Peter.
He had told me Claire had probably left voluntarily.
He had explained that adults had a legal right to disappear.
He had advised me not to “damage Emma emotionally” by keeping false hope alive.
Every sentence had pushed me toward surrender.
And I had trusted him.
At the hospital, Claire listened in silence while I told her.
When I finished, she whispered, “Peter came to the room.”
I froze.
“When?”
“Maybe three weeks after Vanessa took me.”
“What did he do?”
“He brought papers.”
Claire’s breathing became shallow.
“He told me you were filing for divorce. He said if I signed the documents, Vanessa would let me leave.”
“Did you sign?”
“One page.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I was weak. I hadn’t seen daylight. I thought you hated me.”
I took her hand.
“You survived.”
“But that signature—”
“Doesn’t make any of this your fault.”
She looked away.
“After I signed, Peter told Vanessa I was still useful alive.”
A chill moved through me.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Emma had been coloring near the window. Suddenly she spoke.
“Mommy, did the mean man have a red tie?”
Claire stared at her.
“What mean man?”
“The one who came to our house before you went away.”
I turned to Emma.
“What are you talking about?”
She frowned, trying to remember.
“The night you were at the airport. Mommy was mad at a man in a red tie. He said something about papers.”
Claire’s face went white.
“Peter.”
I had been on a business trip the night before Claire vanished.
I had never known Peter came to our house.
Claire gripped the blanket.
“He threatened me.”
“With what?”
She looked at Emma.
Then back at me.
“He said if I exposed Vanessa, they would make sure you lost the company—and Emma.”
Ortiz entered just then.
“We found something in Peter’s office.”
She held up a photograph.
May you like
It showed a legal file with my daughter’s name on the tab.
EMMA MERCER - TEMPORARY GUARDIANSHIP.
