Chapter 5 - THE FIRST DAY IN COURT
The courthouse smelled of old paper and burnt coffee. Daniel entered through a side entrance with Rebecca. His bandaged side hurt each time he breathed deeply, but he refused a wheelchair.
Amanda sat across the courtroom in a navy suit, hair neat, expression wounded. Her lawyer suggested Daniel was overwhelmed by work and had distorted an isolated family disagreement.
“An isolated disagreement?” Rebecca asked. “His daughter needed emergency treatment. He needed stitches.”
The judge raised a hand. “We will deal in evidence, not speeches.”
Rebecca submitted the hospital records, the police report, and an authenticated preliminary preservation record for Emma's video. She did not ask Emma to appear. A child advocate requested no direct contact while the investigation continued.
Amanda's lawyer objected to every exhibit he could.
The judge issued temporary protections and set a fuller hearing. Amanda could not approach the children or Daniel, contact them directly, or access certain disputed funds. The orders weren't a final custody decision, but Daniel could take the children to a safe address.
Outside, a man in a gray coat waited by the courthouse steps.
“You're ruining her life,” he told Daniel.
Rebecca stepped in front of him. “State your name.”
He smiled. “Just a concerned friend.”
Daniel recognized him from Emma's photograph. Cody Ellis.
“You were at the hospital,” Daniel said.
Cody glanced at the security camera above the entrance, then moved away. “You should have stayed out of the office, Daniel.”
Chen's unmarked car pulled to the curb. Cody vanished into the lunchtime crowd before she could reach him.
A minute later, Rebecca received the banking update they'd been waiting for. The transfer to Cody's account had been stopped.
“That's good,” Daniel said.
“It's something,” she replied, looking troubled. “The bank found two more accounts.”
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Both had been opened under Emma's name.
