Chapter 3 - The First Question.
Judge Holloway cleared the courtroom except for essential parties.
The spectators left slowly.
Nobody wanted to go.
Within ten minutes, only the judge, court staff, the attorneys, Dana Lewis, Rebecca, Sarah, Ethan, and Noah remained.
Sarah sat at the far end of the first row.
Noah sat beside Ethan again.
He had hugged his mother for almost two minutes.
Then he had returned to his brother.
Sarah had not seemed offended.
If anything, she looked as if she understood exactly where Noah felt safest.
Ethan noticed that too.
He did not want to notice anything good.
Good details were dangerous.
They made it harder to stay angry.
Judge Holloway looked toward Sarah.
"Ms. Parker, I am going to ask you several basic questions."
Sarah nodded.
"Yes, Your Honor."
"Do you understand that the court has not yet verified your identity?"
"Yes."
"Do you understand that, until it does, I cannot make custody findings based solely on your statement?"
"Yes."
"Are you willing to submit to immediate identity verification and genetic testing?"
"Yes."
"Are you willing to provide medical records, financial records, travel records, and any documents related to your disappearance?"
"Yes."
Judge Holloway glanced toward the clerk.
"Good."
Then he looked at Ethan.
"Ethan, do you want to remain in the room while we discuss this?"
"Yes."
Dana Lewis shifted in her seat.
The social worker had spent six months trying to convince Ethan that adults could occasionally be useful.
He had spent six months proving he did not believe her.
She was patient enough not to take it personally.
Judge Holloway continued.
"Do you want Noah to remain?"
Ethan looked at his brother.
Noah was tracing a finger along the roof of the red toy car.
"He stays with me."
Sarah looked down.
Judge Holloway nodded.
"All right."
The judge turned to Sarah.
"Tell me why your sons were told you were dead."
Sarah inhaled.
"I don't know the full answer."
Ethan laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
"Convenient."
Sarah looked at him.
"You're right."
That surprised him.
She continued.
"It sounds convenient."
Ethan crossed his arms.
"So what do you know?"
Judge Holloway started to intervene.
Sarah raised a hand slightly.
"If it's okay, Your Honor, I'd rather answer him."
The judge nodded.
Sarah turned fully toward Ethan.
"Three years ago, I was in a highway accident outside Richmond."
"I woke in a hospital with a head injury."
"I had significant memory loss."
"I knew I had children."
"I didn't know enough details to locate them."
Ethan stared.
"My uncle found you."
"Yes."
"And he told you we died."
"Yes."
"You believed him."
Sarah's eyes filled.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because he brought documents."
"Fake documents."
"I didn't know that."
"You could've called someone."
"I could barely remember phone numbers."
"Rebecca."
"I didn't remember Rebecca's last name."
Ethan looked at Rebecca.
Rebecca nodded reluctantly.
"Her memory was severely impaired."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"Then how did she remember Grant?"
Sarah answered.
"I didn't at first."
That slowed him.
"What?"
"He told me who he was."
"You trusted some man who walked in and said he was your brother?"
"No."
Sarah's voice sharpened for the first time.
"I trusted the man who knew the name of the dog we had when I was eight."
"I trusted the man who knew Dad used to hide Christmas gifts in the attic."
"I trusted the man who showed me photographs of us as children."
"I trusted the man who knew your father's middle name."
Her voice broke.
"I trusted my brother."
Ethan looked away.
Sarah's anger vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
"I was wrong."
Ethan's eyes returned to her.
"He took us after your funeral."
"I know."
"He had access to everything."
"I know."
"He told me the trust was almost gone."
Sarah went still.
"What?"
Ethan watched her carefully.
That reaction seemed real.
"Dad's trust."
"How much is left?"
"I don't know."
Dana Lewis answered.
"Current accounting shows approximately sixty-eight thousand dollars."
Sarah's face drained of color.
Rebecca closed her eyes.
Ethan looked between them.
"What?"
Sarah whispered.
"That isn't possible."
Ethan leaned forward.
"How much was there?"
Sarah did not answer immediately.
Judge Holloway did.
"Ms. Parker?"
Sarah looked at him.
"Just under three point eight million when Owen died."
Ethan froze.
Noah did not understand the number.
Ethan did.
"What?"
Sarah's voice was barely audible.
"The trust was supposed to pay for school, medical care, housing, and eventually college."
Ethan laughed again.
This time it sounded almost wild.
"College?"
Sarah looked at him.
"Ethan."
"I've been working nights at a grocery store."
Her eyes widened.
"I was buying Noah's shoes."
Sarah covered her mouth.
"I thought we were broke."
Ethan's anger came rushing back.
"Grant said Dad's company failed."
Rebecca shook her head.
"It didn't."
"He said the shares became worthless."
"They didn't."
Ethan looked at the judge.
"Did everybody know except me?"
"No," Judge Holloway said.
His voice was firm.
"No."
The judge leaned forward.
"The court only received preliminary financial information after Grant Mercer failed to appear for the last guardianship review."
Ethan looked at Dana.
She nodded.
"That is why the county requested an emergency audit."
Ethan rubbed both hands over his face.
For months he had been terrified that Noah would be placed with another family because Ethan could not prove he had enough income.
All the while, money meant for them had existed.
Or had existed once.
Noah tugged his sleeve.
"Are we rich?"
Ethan almost laughed.
Sarah made a small sound that might have been a sob.
"No, Bug."
Noah looked at her.
She had used the nickname without thinking.
Everyone noticed.
Noah's expression softened.
Sarah swallowed.
"That money was supposed to make things easier for you."
Ethan stared at the floor.
"It didn't."
"I know."
"No, you don't."
Sarah accepted the blow.
"No."
She looked at him.
"But I want to."
Judge Holloway tapped one finger against the bench.
"There are two separate issues."
"First, the identity and fitness of the person claiming to be Sarah Parker."
"Second, possible criminal misuse of trust assets and fraudulent statements to this court."
The room seemed to tighten around the words.
Judge Holloway turned to the county attorney.
"I want the financial audit preserved."
"Yes, Your Honor."
"I want all guardianship files copied and sealed against alteration."
"Yes, Your Honor."
"I want law enforcement notified that this court has received allegations of fraud involving a minor's trust."
"Yes, Your Honor."
Ethan looked at Sarah.
She looked frightened.
Not guilty.
Frightened.
He did not know the difference anymore.
Judge Holloway turned back to Ethan.
"Your original request was to prevent separation from your brother."
"Yes."
"That issue remains before me."
Ethan sat straighter.
"I'm not leaving him."
"I know."
"No foster home gets one of us."
"I understand."
The judge paused.
"I am extending the current joint transitional placement for fourteen days."
Ethan exhaled.
It was the first breath he had taken properly since Sarah entered the room.
"During that time, the court will verify Ms. Parker's identity."
Sarah nodded.
"Any contact between Ms. Parker and the children will initially be supervised."
Ethan's shoulders tightened.
Sarah did not object.
"Ethan may choose whether to participate."
Ethan looked surprised.
"Noah's contact will be coordinated with his guardian ad litem and with Ethan's input."
Dana nodded.
Noah leaned toward Ethan.
"What does that mean?"
"It means nobody's making us go anywhere today."
Noah relaxed.
Judge Holloway looked at Sarah.
"Ms. Parker, you will not attempt to remove the children from their current placement."
"I won't."
"You will not contact their school without approval."
"I won't."
"You will not appear at their residence unannounced."
"I won't."
Sarah's voice cracked.
"I don't want to scare them."
Ethan studied her.
Grant had never cared whether he scared them.
The thought arrived without permission.
He pushed it away.
Court recessed thirty minutes later.
In the hallway, Sarah stood near the windows.
Noah wanted to talk to her.
Ethan agreed to five minutes.
Dana stayed close.
Rebecca stood farther back.
Noah held up the red car.
"You remembered Rocket."
Sarah smiled through tears.
"Your dad stepped on him once."
Noah gasped.
"He did?"
"He said words I wasn't allowed to repeat."
A tiny laugh escaped Noah.
It was the first laugh in the courthouse.
Ethan hated how much he missed that sound.
Sarah looked at him.
"I still make bad grilled cheese."
Ethan's expression changed before he could stop it.
Sarah saw.
"You remember?"
"You always burned the second side."
"Every time."
"You said the black parts were flavor."
"They were."
"They were charcoal."
Sarah smiled.
For half a second, Ethan almost smiled back.
Then a man in a dark suit appeared at the far end of the hallway.
Rebecca saw him first.
Her face changed.
"Sarah."
Sarah turned.
The man stopped.
He was in his late fifties.
Silver hair.
Expensive watch.
Perfect posture.
He looked at Sarah.
Then at Ethan and Noah.
His face did not show surprise.
That was what frightened Rebecca most.
Sarah went pale.
"That's him."
Rebecca stepped forward.
"Who?"
"The man from the hospital."
The man smiled.
Not warmly.
Not cruelly.
Simply as if this meeting had always been expected.
Rebecca whispered the name she had finally matched to an old photograph the night before.
"Victor Lang."
Ethan looked between them.
"Who is he?"
Sarah's voice came out cold.
"Your father's business partner."
Victor lifted one hand in greeting.
Then he said something that turned the hallway silent.
May you like
"Sarah."
"I was wondering when you'd remember me."
