Chapter 5 - The Blue Folder

Daniel read the sentence until the words stopped looking like English.

DANIEL MUST BE OUT OF THE HOUSE BEFORE THEN.

Laura took the page from him.

"We copy everything before anyone touches it."

A proposed thirty-day executive wellness stay at a private clinic in Arizona.

Patient: Daniel Sutton.

Laura looked at him.

"Exactly."

Claire sat handcuffed in the foyer while officers decided what charges could be supported immediately.

She stopped crying when Daniel came upstairs.

"And you used my daughter."

"You weren't here."

The words hit harder because they were partly true.

"That's right. You left her with me."

Daniel went still.

Laura stepped between them.

"Don't speak to my client."

Claire ignored her.

"Ask Sophie how many nights you missed dinner."

Daniel looked toward the stairs.

Sophie had heard.

Her face broke his heart.

He walked to her.

"She's right about one thing. I was gone too much."

Sophie looked down.

"Are you leaving again?"

"No."

"Promise?"

Daniel swallowed.

"I promise I'm changing how I work. And tonight I'm not going anywhere."

Police arrested Claire for evidence tampering and suspected child endangerment pending further investigation.

As they escorted her outside, she turned once.

"You still don't understand."

Daniel did not answer.

"Brightwood already has the court date."

Laura's face changed.

"What court date?"

Claire smiled.

"Monday."

It was Friday night.

Laura opened the county docket on her phone.

There it was.

A sealed emergency guardianship hearing.

Petitioner: Claire Sutton.

Attached evaluator: Dr. Malcolm Rusk.

Attached witness: Melissa Grant, school counselor.

Daniel stared.

"Melissa likes Sophie."

Laura clicked the filing.

"According to this, she says Sophie told her she was afraid to go home."

Sophie stepped closer.

"Ms. Grant never said that."

Then Daniel's phone rang.

The school counselor was calling from an unknown number.

She sounded terrified.

"Daniel, don't believe the statement with my name on it. I never wrote it."

A car horn blared behind her.

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She gasped.

Then the line went dead.