Chương 3
There it was again.
Not a polished witness-and-advocate routine.
Sisters.
Mara backed off.
Emily breathed through her nose.
“When I asked for Ava, they told me she was being monitored. Then they told me social services needed to speak with me. Then a man came.”
Alexander looked at Gregory.
Gregory’s face had become blank.
“What man?”
Emily looked at him.
“Not him.”
Gregory almost relaxed.
“His attorney.”
Alexander’s stomach tightened.
“Name?”
“Martin Voss.”
Alexander knew Martin.
Everyone in the family knew Martin.
He had handled Gregory’s personal estate work for more than twenty years.
He had also handled Ava’s adoption.
Claire whispered, “Oh my God.”
Emily heard.
“I didn’t know what it meant then. He said there were concerns about whether I was fit to care for her. I thought he was from the hospital.”
“He said that?”
“He let me think it.”
Mara added, “He carried a hospital visitor badge.”
Emily nodded.
“He said if I cooperated, it could be temporary. A private placement. Just until I recovered.”
Claire looked down at Ava.
Alexander asked, “Did you sign anything?”
“Yes.”
The word was full of shame.
Mara immediately said, “She was medicated.”
Emily stiffened.
“I signed it.”
“You were sick.”
“I still signed it.”
Claire’s voice softened.
“What did you think you were signing?”
“A temporary guardianship.”
Gregory scoffed.
Alexander’s eyes snapped to him.
“Do that again.”
Gregory stared.
“That little sound. Do it again.”
His father did not.
Alexander looked back at Emily.
“What happened after you were discharged?”
“I went home.”
“With Mara?”
Mara shook her head.
“She wouldn’t come.”
Emily gave her a tired look.
“I had a cat.”
“You had a leaking ceiling and no heat.”
“It was April.”
“Exactly.”
Emily almost smiled.
It disappeared quickly.
“I thought Ava was still at the hospital. Then they told me she’d been transferred.”
“To where?”
“I never got an answer.”
Mara continued when Emily stopped.
“We called the hospital, social services, police. Everybody.”
“Police?”
“They said it sounded like a custody dispute.”
Gregory spoke carefully.
“That is because it was a legal adoption.”
Mara turned on him.
“There was no legal adoption when she called the police.”
His face went still.
Alexander looked between them.
“What does that mean?”
Mara reached into the envelope on the floor and picked up another document.
“The adoption petition was filed twelve days later.”
Alexander read the date.
Claire came close enough to see over his shoulder.
Ava made a small snuffling sound between them.
Claire whispered, “We met her three days after this.”
Alexander remembered.
A private room at an agency office in Manhattan.
Ava in a bassinet.
The social worker telling them the birth mother had requested complete confidentiality and did not want contact.
Claire had cried in the elevator afterward.
Not from happiness.
From fear.
She had lost two pregnancies before Ava.
They had spent four years navigating fertility treatments, home studies, interviews, waiting lists, disrupted matches and the particular cruelty of trying not to fall in love with photographs.
When Ava was placed in Claire’s arms, Claire had not called her ours.
She had said, “Hi, little girl.”
As though even then she was afraid the universe might object to possession.
Alexander felt sick.
“Who arranged our meeting?”
Gregory answered.
“The agency.”
Alexander looked at him.
“Which agency?”
“Harbor Family Services.”
The same answer Alexander would have given.
Mara shook her head.
“Harbor says they never handled Ava.”
Gregory’s eyes flickered.
Alexander saw it.
“Excuse me?”
Mara reached for another page.
“Call them.”
Alexander already had his phone.
Marcus stepped closer.
“You want me to?”
“No.”
Alexander searched the agency number.
Claire whispered, “Alex, it’s almost eleven.”
“There’s an emergency line.”
Gregory grabbed his wrist.
The movement was so sudden that Marcus took two steps forward.
Alexander looked down at his father’s hand.
Gregory released him.
“Do not make decisions when you’re angry.”
Alexander stared at him.
“You taught me that.”
“Yes.”
“You also taught me that innocent people like documentation.”
Gregory’s face hardened.
Alexander called.
The emergency operator took his name, transferred him twice, then connected him to an administrator who sounded terrified the moment he identified himself.
“I need to confirm a placement record,” Alexander said.
“Mr. Vale, I’m not authorized to discuss—”
“Baby Ava. Born at St. Vincent Women’s Center approximately three months ago. Birth surname Quinn.”
Silence.
Keyboard sounds.
More silence.
“Mr. Vale, I need to put you on hold.”
“No.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Stay on the line.”
“Sir, there are privacy—”
“My counsel can send written consent from the adoptive parents immediately. I need one thing. Did Harbor Family Services handle the placement?”
Another pause.
“I can’t disclose records.”
“I’m not asking for records.”
“Mr. Vale—”
“Did your agency place the child currently living in my home?”
The woman’s breathing changed.
“No.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Gregory turned away.
The woman hurried on.
“We were contacted about a possible placement, but it did not proceed through our agency.”
“By whom?”
“I cannot disclose that.”
“Was it Martin Voss?”
“I cannot disclose that.”
Alexander looked at his father.
“Was it Gregory Vale?”
“I cannot disclose that.”
Her voice had become very small.
That was answer enough.
Alexander thanked her and ended the call.
No one spoke.
Somewhere near the bar, ice shifted inside a metal bucket.
Liam tugged Claire’s dress.
“Mom, can we go home?”
Claire crouched awkwardly while holding Ava.
“Soon.”
“I hate this party.”
“So do I.”
Sophie asked, “Is Grandpa mad?”
Gregory looked toward her.
His face softened.
“Sophie—”
She moved behind Claire.
That hurt him.
Alexander saw it.
He wished it did not.
May you like
For all the things Gregory had been in Alexander’s life—demanding, controlling, cold, impossible—he had been absurdly gentle with the children.
He brought Sophie crossword puzzle books because she liked filling in words she did not know. He let Liam sit behind his desk and use the brass letter opener despite Claire’s objections. At Christmas, he pretended not to notice when they stole chocolates from the candy dish before dinner.
