Chapter 9 - They Came for Emma
The petition accused Olivia of child endangerment.
It accused me of emotional instability.
It said Emma had been coached to disrupt a wedding for financial gain.
And it requested temporary placement with a “neutral family guardian.”
The proposed guardian?
Camille.
I read the page three times.
Then I laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because arrogance eventually becomes stupid.
Camille wanted custody of the child whose existence threatened her family’s deal.
Emma opened the door before I reached it.
“Are you my daddy?”
I knelt.
“Yes.”
Her face crumpled.
“Really?”
“Really.”
She threw herself at me.
I held her.
Emma whispered, “Mommy wasn’t lying.”
“No.”
“Were you?”
The question cut deeper.
“Not about knowing you. I didn’t know.”
She pulled back.
“Did you want me?”
I swallowed.
“I wish I had known you from the first day.”
That was the truth.
A knock came at the door.
Two county officers.
The investigator looked embarrassed.
“We have an emergency order.”
Lena stepped forward.
“You have a petition, not an order.”
The attorney produced a signed document.
Lena read it.
Then frowned.
“The judge’s signature was entered at 4:06.”
“Yes.”
Lena checked her phone.
“The judge was in a televised hearing at 4:06.”
The order was fake.
The seal was copied.
The filing number belonged to an unrelated case.
Camille’s attorney went pale.
“I received this from my client.”
The investigator turned toward him.
Then my mother walked in carrying Ava.
“Alexandre.”
“What?”
“There’s someone outside.”
I looked through the window.
Eric Sloan stood across the street.
The man who had checked Olivia into the hospital.
He saw me.
Then ran.
Noah and the police went after him.
They caught him two blocks away.
In his car, they found blank court forms, a hospital badge, and a loaded envelope.
Inside was a plane ticket.
One adult.
Two children.
May you like
Destination: Montreal.
The adult name was Camille Whitmore.
