The Custody Trap
Chapter 07 - The Custody Trap
At 3:40 a.m., Anna learned that paperwork could be sharper than knives. A message arrived from an unknown number: Family Services emergency custody review scheduled: 9:00 a.m. Beneath it was a photograph of Lily asleep in the brownstone.
Dominic called in a prosecutor named Marisol Vega, a woman with silver hair, tired eyes, and no affection for mafia men or senators. “I hate Caldwell more than I hate you,” she told Dominic. “Do not make me regret the math.”
Margaret revealed that Lily’s birth records had been tampered with in a state database. “Raines wanted a crack he could widen,” she said. “Enough to question custody until Carlo controlled the trust.” Anna looked at her mother as if each sentence removed another floor beneath her.
“Where is the clean record?” Dominic asked. Margaret said, “Evelyn Shaw.” The name changed the air. Evelyn had been Salvatore’s attorney and vanished after his death. Anthony Bell, the old courier who had once carried the Carter letters, knew where she was hiding: St. Agatha’s, a private care facility north of the city.
Evelyn Shaw sat in a sunroom overlooking a frozen garden. One side of her face had been softened by a stroke, but her eyes were sharp enough to cut. “Paul Carter’s girl,” she said when Anna entered. “You have your father’s disappointment in powerful people.”
Evelyn admitted she had created a false altered record to trap whoever moved against Lily. “My child was bait?” Anna asked. Evelyn did not flinch. “Yes. And also protected by the only sealed court copy Raines could not touch.”
She handed Dominic a flash drive taped beneath a prayer book. “Trust documents, original court filings, and Salvatore’s testimony. If Dominic brought you to me instead of burying you, perhaps Salvatore’s gamble worked.”
Then the sunroom windows shattered inward. Smoke filled the room. Dominic dragged Anna down behind a table. Marco pulled Evelyn to safety. A gloved hand snatched the flash drive from Dominic’s grasp through the broken window.
May you like
When the smoke cleared, Dominic returned bleeding and furious. “Decoy?” Evelyn asked. Dominic stared. “You gave me a decoy.” Evelyn smiled faintly. “I gave the room a decoy. The real drive is in Anna’s blue folder.”
Anna opened the folder with shaking hands. Between Lily’s vaccination record and a crayon drawing was a thin silver drive. She stared at Evelyn. “I am beginning to understand why my father looked disappointed in powerful people.”
