Chương 4
“Can there be two?”
“Yes.”
“Do I have to have two?”
“No.”
“Does he get to decide?”
“Not by himself.”
“Does Grandma?”
“No.”
“Do judges?”
“Judges decide legal things.”
“Do they decide family?”
Daniel looked at the half-eaten pizza.
He had spent months trying to create answers that would make an eight-year-old feel safe.
None of them survived contact with an actual eight-year-old.
“They can decide who is responsible for taking care of you,” he said. “They can decide who has permission to make choices for you. They can’t make you feel something you don’t feel.”
Sophie rubbed the frosting stain on her ribbon.
“Can paper stop working if somebody rips it?”
“No.”
“What if they burn it?”
“No.”
“What if they throw it away?”
“The court keeps records.”
“What if the court burns down?”
Daniel blinked.
“Then there are other records.”
“What if all the records burn down?”
From the living room Noah called, “The cloud.”
Sophie looked toward him.
“What if the cloud burns down?”
“That’s not how clouds work,” Noah said.
For the first time, Sophie smiled.
It lasted less than a second.
Daniel would take it.
Marisol Reed called at seven fifteen.
Daniel put her on speaker only after both children went upstairs.
He had already emailed the two videos.
“I watched them,” she said.
“And?”
“And I want you to separate three issues before your brain turns them into one giant disaster.”
“Go ahead.”
“First, your current guardianship order remains valid. Nobody destroyed anything except a photocopy and a birthday cake.”
Daniel looked at the ruined cake on the counter.
“Good.”
“Second, Margaret sharing school information is serious from a safety and boundary standpoint. We need to determine exactly what she shared, with whom, and whether Ben requested it.”
“Third?”
“The video is evidence of what she said. It is not proof of every inference you’re making from what she said.”
Daniel disliked that.
Marisol seemed to hear it in his silence.
“I know.”
“She said she gave him the schedule.”
“She did.”
“And that he needed one chance to get to Sophie without me.”
“Yes.”
“So what inference am I making?”
“That Ben intends to abduct her.”
Daniel stood.
“I didn’t say abduct.”
“You thought it.”
He walked to the sink.
“She gave him school information.”
“I agree that’s unacceptable. I also need you not to turn fear into fact.”
Daniel rubbed the edge of the counter.
“What do we do?”
“Tonight? Change every access code Margaret knows. Make sure the school has the current order. Send me screenshots of all recent communication. Do not contact Ben while you’re angry.”
“I’m not angry.”
Marisol was silent.
Daniel looked at his own reflection in the dark kitchen window.
“Fine.”
“Tomorrow I’ll contact his attorney.”
“Tomorrow is Sunday.”
“She answers on Sundays when I annoy her enough.”
Despite himself, Daniel smiled.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Do not threaten your mother.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Do not post the video.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Do not let your relatives talk you into sending the video to prove your side.”
Daniel glanced at his phone.
Thirty-one unread messages.
Too late for the relatives.
The Carter family group chat had begun before Margaret reached home.
His sister Claire had written first.
Mom says something awful happened at Sophie’s party.
An uncle had added:
Everyone okay?
Then Margaret.
Apparently protecting my family now makes me dangerous.
Daniel had not opened the rest.
Marisol sighed when he told her.
“Mute the chat.”
“Gladly.”
“And Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“What you said in the video. About needing Margaret to do it in front of witnesses.”
He closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Your daughter heard you.”
“I know.”
“That matters more tonight than what Margaret tells your cousins.”
Daniel looked toward the stairs.
“I know.”
This time Marisol believed him.
Monday morning, Daniel drove Sophie and Noah to school himself.
He usually made them walk the last block with the neighbors because the drop-off line turned him into a person he disliked. That morning he sat through nineteen minutes of minivans, turn signals, backpacks and parents who seemed personally surprised each time a child had to exit a car.
Noah watched him gripping the steering wheel.
“You hate this.”
“Yes.”
“You said a bad word.”
“I said it quietly.”
“I heard it.”
“Then my technique needs work.”
Sophie sat in the back wearing jeans and a yellow sweatshirt. The birthday dress remained on the floor of her closet.
When they reached the curb, she did not open the door.
Daniel turned.
“You okay?”
She watched children walking toward the entrance.
“Is Grandma here?”
“No.”
“Is Ben?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
Daniel looked through the windshield.
“I don’t know for certain.”
Sophie’s hand remained on her backpack zipper.
The answer had not helped.
He unbuckled.
“I’ll walk you in.”
“You’ll be late.”
“For what?”
“Work.”
“I own the company.”
“You still get late.”
Noah snorted.
Daniel looked at him.
“She’s right.”
He walked them inside.
Principal Alvarez met him in the office with the district safety coordinator on speakerphone. Margaret’s name was removed from every emergency contact list. The office placed copies of Daniel’s guardianship order and Ben’s current contact restrictions in Sophie’s file. Daniel confirmed that only he, Rob, and Mrs. Kim’s designated emergency backup could remove Sophie from school.
“No exceptions based on family relationship,” Alvarez said.
Daniel nodded.
Sophie sat in a plastic chair beside him, swinging one foot.
The principal crouched in front of her.
“If anybody tells you they’re here to pick you up and you weren’t expecting them, what do you do?”
“Come here.”
“Exactly.”
“What if they say Dad sent them?”
“You come here.”
“What if Dad actually sent them?”
“You still come here. We’ll call him.”
Sophie considered this.
“What if the phones don’t work?”
Alvarez smiled.
“Then you stay with me until we figure it out.”
That answer seemed acceptable.
Daniel walked her to class.
Before she went in, she turned.
May you like
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
