Chapter 19 - THE STORY THE COURT HEARD
Cody was arrested at a rental-car counter two days later after investigators linked him to the storage locker and tracked his attempted departure. He denied every allegation. Voss and Paige faced their own proceedings. The criminal cases moved forward at different speeds, and Daniel tried not to confuse an arrest with a conviction.
At the protective-order hearing, medical professionals explained Lily's injuries. Investigators described the preserved recording and relevant physical evidence. The defense challenged the context, but independent copies and timestamps supported Emma's account.
Emma testified briefly with the court's safeguards in place. She spoke about seeing the camera feed, sending the emergency alert, and staying on the terrace until police arrived. She wasn't asked to explain her mother's motives.
“Why did you start recording?” an attorney asked.
Emma looked at the judge, then at her father. “Because my sister needed somebody to believe her.”
Daniel had to look down.
The judge extended protective restrictions and issued further temporary orders addressing contact and care while the family and criminal proceedings continued. The court didn't resolve every financial dispute that day. Nobody promised instant justice.
Afterward Emma leaned against her father in the hallway. “I thought if I said one thing wrong, they'd send us back.”
“You told what you knew,” he said. “That was enough.”
Rebecca approached with news: federal financial investigators had joined the broader fraud case, and banks had frozen significant portions of Northstar's accounts pending legal review. The company had a realistic chance of recovering some funds.
Then Daniel noticed Amanda through the courtroom's interior window. She was looking toward him, her face without the cold control he'd known so well.
Her attorney handed Rebecca a sealed envelope.
May you like
Amanda had written a letter to the children.
