Chương 3
“Had you used it before?”
“For birds. And Grandma telling the story about the turkey.”
Laura’s mother had once chased a wild turkey out of a grocery-store parking lot with an umbrella. Mia had recorded the story three times.
Angela asked, “How did you begin Saturday’s recording?”
“I pushed the red circle.”
“Where was the phone?”
“Under my pillow first. But it made a lump, so I put it on the floor by my bed.”
“Was your door open?”
“A little.”
“Where were your father and aunt?”
“In the kitchen.”
“Could you see them?”
“No.”
“Did you know you were not supposed to record them?”
Mia looked at Laura.
Laura kept her face still.
“I didn’t know,” Mia said.
Angela’s pen moved. “Why did you think recording them might help?”
“I forget things when grown-ups say I’m wrong.”
Laura lowered her head.
The delivery truck beeped again in the alley.
Angela paused. “Has someone told you that you remember things incorrectly?”
“Dad says I mix up dreams and real stuff.”
“Do you?”
“Sometimes.”
“What made this time different?”
“They said Mom.”
“What did they say?”
Mia’s fingers moved around the paper cup. “Aunt Rebecca said Mom would call the police. Dad said Mom wouldn’t know where we were until it was too late. He said the judge would think she was sick again.”
Laura felt Nora’s hand settle against the table near hers, not touching, simply present.
Angela asked, “What did you understand ‘sick again’ to mean?”
“When Mom went to the hospital.”
Laura stared at the white wall.
Two years earlier, after her father died and the gallery where she worked eliminated her position in the same month, Laura had stopped sleeping. For eleven days she moved through the house like someone trying not to wake a dangerous animal. She forgot a pot on the stove. She drove to Mia’s school and sat in the parking lot unable to remember why she was there. One morning she locked herself in the bathroom and could not make her hand turn the doorknob.
She spent four nights in a hospital.
Daniel had been kind then, or had looked kind. He brought her clean pajamas and complained about the parking fees. He brushed Mia’s hair before school and sent Laura photographs of crooked ponytails. He told everyone she was exhausted, not broken.
Later, during arguments, he began saying, “You know what happens when you get overwhelmed.”
He kept her discharge papers.
He kept everything.
Angela asked Mia, “Did your father say where you were going?”
“He said Toronto.”
Laura looked up sharply.
Daniel’s emergency petition had requested temporary permission to take Mia to Buffalo, where his company claimed to need him for a four-month assignment. Buffalo was close enough for weekend travel, his filings said. Daniel had described it as an unfortunate professional necessity. He promised to facilitate video calls and return Mia at the end of the semester.
Toronto had never appeared in the motion.
Angela asked, “Do you know where Toronto is?”
“In Canada. Dad showed me pictures of an apartment with a pool inside.”
“Did he tell you that you were moving there?”
“He said maybe. Then he said don’t tell Mom because she gets confused when plans change.”
Laura stood so quickly that the chair legs scraped.
Nora reached for her wrist. “Laura.”
“I need air.”
“You can’t leave Mia during the interview.”
“I’m not leaving her. I just—”
Her breath stopped halfway in.
The room became too narrow. The table seemed to tilt, though nothing moved. She pressed both palms against it and counted the screws along the metal edge. One, two, three, four.
Mia watched her.
That was the worst part. Not the panic. Mia watching for proof that Daniel had been right.
Laura sat down.
“I’m okay.”
Angela waited.
Laura forced her shoulders to lower. “Please continue.”
Mia slid her cup toward Laura. “You can have my water.”
Laura took one sip because refusing would make it worse.
Angela asked, “Mia, has your father taken you anywhere to have a photograph made?”
“Yes. The pharmacy.”
“When?”
“Last Tuesday.”
“What was the picture for?”
“He said school.”
Laura closed her eyes.
Mia’s school photographs were taken in September. Daniel knew that.
Nora wrote something on the corner of her yellow pad and turned it toward Laura.
Passport?
Laura gave one small nod.
Twenty-seven minutes later, Nora returned from chambers while Angela remained with Mia. Her face was composed, but she closed the door carefully before speaking.
“Judge Brooks has ordered the phone preserved and examined. Daniel must surrender his passport, Mia’s passport if one exists, and any travel documents in his possession. He cannot remove Mia from the county.”
“Does Mia have a passport?”
“According to Daniel’s attorney, no.”
Laura looked at Nora.
“According to Daniel,” Nora corrected. “Mr. Vance was noticeably less confident.”
“What about the emergency motion?”
“Suspended. Temporary physical custody remains with you until the follow-up hearing.”
Laura’s legs weakened so suddenly that she sat.
Nora continued. “Daniel will have supervised contact for now. No direct messaging to Mia. No deleting cloud files, emails, or device data. Rebecca received the same preservation order.”
“Can Judge Brooks do all that from a recording she hasn’t authenticated?”
“She can issue temporary protective conditions when there is a credible risk of removal. That is not a final finding.”
“What happens next?”
“The court’s examiner makes a forensic copy. Both sides receive access under the protective order. Daniel’s counsel will challenge authenticity, context, legality, and everything else he can think of.”
“What if the recording can’t be used?”
“We look at the facts it points toward.”
“Toronto.”
“Toronto. The photograph. School records. Travel paperwork. Your missing documents.”
“My missing documents?”
“Where is Mia’s birth certificate?”
May you like
Laura opened her mouth.
The answer should have been easy. The certificate had been in a blue folder in the lockbox at home. After Laura moved out, Daniel brought her two cardboard boxes of what he called her papers. The blue folder had not been inside.
