Chapter 11 - THE HEARING
Security at the courthouse was doubled.
Ethan entered through a private hallway with Megan and Claire.
Claire still looked exhausted.
But she wore a navy suit Rebecca had brought from her house.
“I want him to see me standing.”
Ethan squeezed her hand.
Richard entered the courtroom in a gray jail uniform.
For a moment, he looked like the stepfather Ethan remembered.
Calm.
Clean-shaven.
Almost ordinary.
Then Richard smiled at him.
Ethan looked away.
The custody hearing began at 9:04 a.m.
Richard’s attorney immediately attacked Claire’s medical history.
He presented records from Dr. Vale.
He presented prescriptions.
He presented statements from two neighbors who had seen Claire confused and sleepy during the previous months.
Rebecca did not deny any of it.
Instead, she asked one question.
“Who prescribed the medication responsible for those symptoms?”
Dr. Nolan Vale.
“Who is currently missing while wanted for questioning in an alleged kidnapping conspiracy?”
Dr. Nolan Vale.
Then Rebecca displayed pharmacy records.
Claire’s medication dosage had been increased four times in eight weeks.
Two increases were made without an office visit.
One prescription was issued on a day Vale’s clinic was closed.
The judge leaned forward.
Rebecca continued.
Then she produced the audio recording from beneath the piano.
Richard’s voice filled the courtroom.
Once she is officially dead, everything moves faster.
Richard’s face finally changed.
His attorney objected.
The judge allowed the recording provisionally.
Then came the second voice.
And the boy?
We deal with Ethan afterward.
The courtroom went silent.
Ethan stared at Richard.
Richard did not look back.
The judge denied his custody petition immediately.
Temporary guardianship authority remained with Claire, with Megan authorized as emergency caregiver while Claire recovered.
It should have been a victory.
But outside the courtroom, Detective Ortiz received a call.
She stepped away.
When she returned, her expression was grim.
“They found Dr. Vale.”
Claire stood.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Ethan exhaled.
Then Ortiz added the rest.
“He was discovered inside an abandoned storage facility.”
“Can he talk?”
“He’s unconscious.”
“What happened?”
Ortiz glanced toward Ethan before answering carefully.
“He was badly injured.”
Claire’s face went pale.
“Richard tried to silence him.”
“Maybe.”
Ortiz looked toward the courtroom doors where Richard had disappeared moments earlier.
“But Vale had something in his pocket.”
She handed Rebecca a photocopy.
It was a bank deposit slip.
Fifty thousand dollars.
Deposited two days before Claire’s supposed death.
The money had come from an account belonging to Paul Mercer.
And according to the hospital, Dr. Vale had regained consciousness for eleven seconds after being found.
He spoke only one name.
May you like
Not Richard.
“Mercer.”
