IF GWEN THOUGHT THE DAY spent with Mrs. Proux had been an ordeal, the day she spent with Melody practicing testimony for court a few days later was absolute torture. Melody pretended to be Clay’s attorney and hammered her with accusations while twisting every word she uttered to support the assertion that she was an unfit mother.

“Stop it!” Gwen shouted, having endured the pummeling for as long as she could.

Melody relaxed her expression, turning back into the woman Gwen knew instead of the demon she pretended to be. “I’m getting you ready for what you’ll face in court, Gwen. You know it’ll be bad. And you need to be prepared. The only way to do that is to practice.”

“I know,” she admitted. “It’s just—”

“Cowboy up, Gwen. You’re not going to be able to cry ‘stop it!’ in the middle of questioning.”

She was right, of course. But Gwen had managed to fit in only a few sessions with her psychiatrist, and although the treatments were helping, she sometimes still felt overwhelmed. “I’ll be stronger when the meanness is coming from Clay or his lawyer. Coming from you just feels wrong.”

Melody nodded. “We’ve been at this for a long time. Let’s review the rest of it without the role-playing.”

“We should do whatever you think will get us where we need to be for court,” Gwen insisted.

“We’re as ready as we can be. And I have a few things brewing that might turn the situation in our favor.”

Gwen looked at her attorney. “What things?”

“I can’t say yet. I don’t know if any of them will come through for us. So best not to count on them.”

Gwen nodded. She’d put her trust in this woman and wouldn’t question her now. Melody knew Joshua’s future was at stake. “Let’s get this done. I need to go home to spend some time with my son.”

 

AARON ENDURED THE GOODBYES to the wonderful people he’d worked with at Release Initiative. He suffered through the party they threw for him and then waded through the years of stuff he’d collected in his tiny office—deciding what to box up for home and what to throw away. As he progressed through these rites of passage from one part of his life to another, he worried about how long his savings would last and whether he’d have to dip into his retirement account so he and his family could remain in the new house they’d moved into only months before. He told himself he’d find another position soon and that everything would work out. He could even open his own law practice, if necessary, although he didn’t much like the idea of billable hours and grubbing for clients.

He had his résumé in with several nonprofits, and while the pay wouldn’t be quite what he’d been making at his old job, he knew he’d enjoy the work. For now, though, he had a lot of time on his hands. He decided to throw his services at Melody Michaels and she immediately put him to work on Gwen’s case. She agreed that Gwen didn’t need to know about this arrangement. It would only upset and annoy her. But Melody needed the help if she was going to get all her plans in place by the court date.

“I think I might have found some stuff about Clayton on the internet,” he told Melody the day before the hearing.

“What kind of stuff?”

“I’m still scouring through all the photos and links. His girlfriend is a party animal and doesn’t seem to care about her Facebook privacy settings, but Clay has been more careful. I have to keep digging.”

“Can you do that while you’re traveling?” Melody asked.

Aaron smiled as he noted the scheming glint in Melody’s eye. “When and for how long? And where? Oh, and why?”

Melody grinned back and told him the details of what she hoped he could accomplish.

Aaron was more than game to try.

 

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN her life, Gwen was nervous as she took her place in the courtroom. Though she wanted to put her trust in the justice system, as she had throughout her career, this time was different. Her son’s future was at stake. As she sat beside Melody at the respondent’s table, she tapped a pen against her leg in a frantic staccato.

“Give me the pen, please,” Melody said calmly. “I’ll give it back once things get started. But right now, you’re driving me crazy. Take some deep breaths or something.”

Gwen tried to stay still. Occasionally, she’d glance at the petitioner’s table where Clayton sat with his attorney. Her ex appeared calm, collected, confident. Gwen wanted to strangle him. Her fingers actually tingled with the desire.

Supporters sat in the audience section behind her, which brought her both comfort and added tension. Her parents were directly behind her, ready to testify to her excellent mothering. Logan had come, bearing best wishes from John Fry, who had very kindly allowed her to keep her job, despite her insanity the day the kids had gone missing. He hadn’t been happy about all the time she’d taken off from work to prepare for this hearing, but he’d accepted it. Even Phyllis sat nearby, though there was no sign of Aaron. She hadn’t wanted him here. She knew Clay would embarrass them both by publicizing that they’d spent the night together, and yet she was disappointed Aaron hadn’t come anyway.

“All rise,” intoned the bailiff.

She tensed. At last the hearing was beginning. Gwen stood along with everyone else. She’d done this a thousand times before, but today was the first as a client instead of the attorney. As Judge Landau swept in and claimed his place, she took heart that she’d never pissed off this particular judge. And she had no reason to believe he was friendly with Clayton or his attorney. The man would be neutral, at least.

He smacked his gavel onto its pedestal and looked at the two tables before him. “Are we ready, counselors?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” intoned both Melody and the lawyer Clay had hired to represent him—somebody named Parker Fentice.

“I’ve read your opening statements already, so we’ll just get on with witnesses. Petitioner?” This was a hearing before a single judge and he didn’t have to let the parties blather on with opening statements. There was no jury to impress and while the audience might be wowed, the spectators had no say in the outcome. Judge Landau clearly wanted to move things along as quickly as possible.

“Your Honor, petitioner calls our first witness, Howard County Police Officer Christina Clark,” said Mr. Fentice.

Gwen didn’t think the police officer looked very happy to be approaching the witness stand, though she must have done it many times for other cases. As she responded to the preliminary questions to establish her credentials, she didn’t sound very happy, either. Gwen appreciated her reluctance and dreaded her testimony. Clay and his attorney were coming out of the starting gate with guns blazing. Gwen knew Officer Clark’s information would be damning.

Mr. Fentice brought his witness all the way through the dispatch communication that sent the officers to Gwen’s house. Through her, he established that Joshua had gone missing, but failed to bring up the early suspicion that Clayton had kidnapped him. Gwen knew Melody would take care of that on cross-examination.

At last, Fentice got to the questions Gwen dreaded most. “Officer Clark, did you interview the custodial parents of the missing children?”

“Yes, of course,” Clark said, glancing toward Gwen with an apology in her eyes.

“Did you ask the mother of Joshua Haverty where she was when her child went missing?”

“Yes.” At least Clark was making Fentice work for every scrap of data he got out of her.

“Please tell us—and include any details—exactly what the answers were to this line of questioning.”

“Ms. Haverty was with a friend overnight. The boys were with her parents and she would have every reason to assume they were safe and—”

He cut her off. “For what reason did she spend the night with this friend?”

“She said the friend had a difficult experience and she was attempting to be supportive. The friend corroborated this. And everything lined up with what we were told by other family members.”

“And who was this friend with whom she spent the night?”

Melody got to her feet. “Objection. Irrelevant.”

Judge Landau looked at Melody coolly. “This is a hearing, not a trial. Let’s just get all the information out on the table, and quickly. Mr. Fentice, you had best be presenting relevant information only. Answer the question, Officer Clark.”

“A fellow attorney,” she hedged.

Fentice squinted at Clark, clearly irritated. “But who? What was the name of the fellow attorney?”

“Aaron Zimmerman,” she said at last.

The spectators murmured. There were members of the legal community here who might not have heard this new and titillating information. Others may have heard rumors, and now they were confirmed. Only a few had known she’d been with Aaron. Gwen felt her cheeks heat as a blush crept over her face. While she wanted to be defiant about her relationship with Aaron, she knew she’d be judged for sleeping with the enemy. That was the last thing she needed during this hearing.

“Aaron Zimmerman,” repeated Fentice. “He’s that infamous attorney for Release Initiative, correct? The one Ms. Haverty opposes so frequently in court as part of her duties with the State Attorney’s Office?”

To her credit, Officer Clark didn’t bother to respond. Fentice wasn’t really asking her a question, just making sure he got the most out of the situation. He moved on to questions pertaining to Gwen’s outburst with John Fry, forcing the officer to provide details about the meltdown and also about Aaron easing her away and up to a bedroom. The whole thing felt like being pummeled with a baseball bat, yet this was only the first witness.

“Nothing further,” Fentice finally told Officer Clark.

“Cross?” asked the judge.

“Yes, Your Honor,” said Melody. “Officer Clark, what were your impressions of Ms. Haverty as a mother during the period her son was missing?”

“She was terrified, stressed. But she also worked very hard to find her son, calling everyone she could think of and cooperating with the authorities to the fullest.”

Gwen was relieved Clark could be objective in court, no matter what she thought about Gwen staying with Aaron the night the boys had gone missing.

Melody nodded. “And can you explain to the judge what the police believed had happened to Joshua?”

“We were fairly sure Mr. Haverty had taken him without permission of the custodial parent.”

“So you thought he’d been kidnapped by his father?”

“Yes. At first.”

“Why were you so certain Mr. Haverty was the one who’d kidnapped Joshua from the home?”

“Because we had several credible witnesses inform us that he’d threatened to do so on previous occasions, including the week prior to the incident. Ms. Haverty had court-ordered full custody of the child, so we put out an Amber Alert for Joshua and Mr. Haverty.”

Melody paused, letting that sink in. “Thank you, Officer Clark. Nothing further.”

Though Gwen’s tension remained high, she smiled a little on the inside. Melody always knew how to make her feel better. She’d established Clayton as the overbearing jerk he was.

Of course, Fentice wasn’t done. Not by a long shot. He called Mrs. Proux, whose testimony was a longer version of “Child Protective Services has concerns about the safety of Joshua Haverty, given his recent success running away from home. We are monitoring the situation closely.”

Then he called Misha, Joshua’s babysitter, now back from her trip.

“What are your usual hours working for Ms. Haverty?”

“Like, it varies a lot,” Misha said. “But she pays me well, so no worries.”

“Can you give us an estimate of your usual hours taking care of Joshua?”

“Well, in the summer I’m like there all the time, which is great because I’m putting myself through community college. But when there’s school, I show up for when Josh gets off the bus and stay until Gwen gets home, you know?”

“What do you mean when you say you’re there all the time? Do you sleep there?”

“Of course not. I go over around seven in the morning.”

“And what time do you usually leave?”

“Like, whenever. It varies.”

People in the audience understood just how frustrating Misha’s answers were becoming for Fentice and soft chuckles could be heard from the back of the room. Even Gwen found it amusing that Misha so innocently refused to give Fentice what he was after.

Fentice moved closer to the witness stand as if he would try to wring the right answers out of the young woman. “Do you sometimes stay at the house through dinner?”

“Sure. But she pays me.”

“Do you sometimes have to get Josh into bed?”

“Sometimes. She has that crazy job serving the State. They make her stay. But she always calls and lets me know. And Josh is a good kid. Gwen has done a good job raising him. He’s pretty polite with me, kind of a nerd with his video games. He worries about his dad a lot, though and—”

“That’s enough. Thank you. No more questions.” Fentice said it in a tone that indicated Misha had gotten the better of him and he didn’t dare ask her anything else.

But Fentice swung back toward Misha at the last minute. “Oh, wait. I do have one more question. Do you know whether Ms. Haverty is under psychiatric care?”

“What?”

“Does she see a psychiatrist?”

“Objection!” called Melody. But she was too late. Because at the exact same moment, Misha said, “A shrink? So what? Doesn’t everyone talk to one these days? Maybe you should try it. You have some serious control issues.”

“That will be all,” said Fentice.

Melody moved toward the witness stand for cross-examination without having to be asked. Misha hadn’t seemed like a favorable witness during preparations, but she was doing great on the stand. She couldn’t be blamed for answering honestly about the psychiatrist.

“You’ve been with Gwen and Joshua for how long?”

“Since Joshua was in kindergarten. Four years.”

“So you were with the Haverty family before the divorce?”

“Yes. And let me tell you, I was glad when she got rid of her husband.”

“Why do you say that? Was he violent?”

“Not with his hands. But, man, he could be mean.”

Fentice shot to his feet. “Objection!”

Judge Landau’s gaze shifted to the petitioner’s table. “Uh, this is your witness. You can’t really object to what she has to say when you’re the one who called her. And you have no grounds.”

“She turned hostile.”

“I’m not hostile!” Misha said. “I’ve never had a hostile day in my life! Who are you calling hostile!”

People were laughing out loud now, not even trying to hide their amusement. The judge banged his gavel until everyone settled down.

Misha looked at the judge with big eyes and waited for him to give further instructions.

“Counselor, continue your cross-examination,” Landau said to Melody. To Misha he said, “You can answer the questions in your own way.”

Gwen thought she detected a glint of amusement in his eyes when he looked at her babysitter, who deserved a raise in her hourly pay after this performance. Her heart filled with appreciation for Misha as Melody walked her through details of Clayton’s manipulations of her. The attorney even got Misha to testify that Gwen was a good mother and a caring parent, despite the long work hours. Gwen wanted to hug her babysitter.

“Redirect?” asked the judge, and something in his voice seemed to add, “if you dare.”

But Fentice dared. “How was Clayton as a parent?”

“What? Seriously? I just told you how he manipulated his wife.”

“But how was he with his son?”

Misha shrugged, glanced at Gwen, then said, “He was okay, I guess.” Misha shifted in her chair and appeared unsure of herself for the first time.

“Did they do things together that you saw?”

“Yes. Sometimes he wanted to do things outside with Josh. He’d try taking him out to play catch even. But Josh isn’t a sports kind of kid.”

“Nothing further,” said Fentice smugly. He turned back to his table.

But Misha wasn’t done tormenting Fentice. “You know, it’s one thing to want to play games with your kid and another thing to do homework with him or make sure he brushes his teeth. Gwen and I do those things with Josh. Who would do them if Josh left us?”

Fentice’s shoulders slumped. He didn’t even attempt to redeem the situation. Looking at the judge stoically, he said, “May I call my next witness?”

“Sure,” Landau said. He told Misha she could go and she resumed her place in the audience, though Gwen hoped she remembered she had to be at the house by the time Joshua got out of school.

Fentice was only just starting to lay the groundwork in his effort to prove she wasn’t home much and that Joshua was being raised by the nanny. He called more witnesses who testified well for him, weaving a tapestry that implied Gwen was far more interested in her career than her child. With every witness, he managed to conclude with the implication that her lack of attention to Joshua was the reason he wanted to run away from home. Melody did a good job of mitigating these impressions, but she couldn’t thwart them completely.

 

TRUTH WAS, GWEN HADN’T been spending enough time with Josh and she knew it. She found herself trying to make deals with fate along the lines of, If I can just get custody, I swear I’ll spend more time at home. But those promises to fate did nothing to change the impressions Fentice built. Especially when he started in on how wonderful J. Clayton Haverty was and what a good father he’d been and how much better and more attentive he’d be if he had custody.

Fentice began to work his way through several witnesses—colleagues, clients, companions of Clay’s. But then the hearing broke for a late lunch. Gwen went to a nearby diner with her parents while Melody left to make some phone calls. It was a somber meal during which her parents said very little. They continued to feel responsible for giving Clayton the ammunition he needed to rush the custody hearing. They worried he would win. Gwen couldn’t help sharing their fears. Gone were the days when mothers were favored for custody of their children. It was all about the best interest of the child in Maryland. And Clayton, through his attorney, had pointed out Joshua’s mediocre grades in school, followed by promises to put him into the best New York City private school available.

When the hearing resumed, Fentice called a psychiatrist Gwen didn’t know. This doctor testified about post-traumatic stress disorder and the violent behavior that could result from it. He’d heard about Gwen’s attack on John Fry at her home the day the kids were missing, and offered a medical opinion. Gwen didn’t know how Clay or Fentice had found out about her therapy sessions, but somehow they knew. And they weren’t afraid to use the information. This put Melody in a bind. She hadn’t planned on calling Gwen’s therapist, but she had to counter the picture Fentice painted about Gwen’s mental state. They still had some time to decide what would be best. Fentice wasn’t finished with his own witnesses yet.

He called a woman Gwen had seen on the witness list but someone she’d never met—Brenda Voight. Melody had handled the investigation of this witness alone, so Gwen didn’t really know anything about her. As a pretty blonde woman in her twenties made her way to the witness stand, Gwen noticed Melody repeatedly glancing toward the doorway in the back of the room as if she anxiously awaited someone’s arrival. But then the questioning began and Gwen’s attention turned to the witness stand once more.

“Ms. Voight, how do you know Mr. Clayton Haverty?”

“I’m his fiancée,” she said.

Gwen tried hard not to let her mouth fall open. Clay had never mentioned a fiancée. Gwen had assumed she was another colleague or perhaps even the elusive girlfriend Josh had once mentioned. But fiancée? That was a surprise.

Parker Fentice led Brenda through a description of her idyllic relationship with Clayton and how much he wanted to raise Joshua and how happy she would be to assist him with Joshua once they’d married. As a website developer, she worked from home and would be able to spend time with a stepson. And she had lots of experience with children because she had three younger brothers. Gwen had to admit the woman seemed charming and smart and probably capable of being a great mother. Which was beyond depressing.

It didn’t comfort Gwen to see that Melody was becoming increasingly agitated as Fentice’s questioning of Brenda began to wind down. Her glances toward the door had taken on an intensity, as if Melody was willing someone to walk through it. But no one came.

“Cross?” Judge Landau asked.

With one more wishful look at the door and a sigh of resignation, Melody got to her feet and approached the witness stand. “Ms. Voight, do you have a Facebook page?” she asked.

Brenda looked puzzled, then said, “Doesn’t everybody?”

“Objection!” cried Fentice.

Judge Landau’s gaze pierced the petitioner’s attorney. “Again, this is your witness. Just stop it. I’m pretty sure Ms. Michaels is about to provide some interesting details from the beloved and notorious Facebook.” He looked to Melody. “Continue.”

But Melody turned toward the door instead and paused, glaring at the wooden panels and brass hardware.

“Are you expecting someone, Ms. Michaels?” Landau asked.

She squared her shoulders. “I was hoping for some visuals that were being prepared for this line of questioning. But I can go on without them.” She turned back to Brenda. “Describe for the judge what kind of photos you have on your Facebook page.”

“The usual pictures. Family, friends.” But the woman squirmed ever so slightly in her seat.

“Are there photos of you at parties and—”

Before Melody could finish her sentence, the door into the courtroom whooshed open on nearly silent hinges. Everyone turned to see who Melody had been waiting for. Gwen turned, too. And saw Aaron Zimmerman striding forward with a sparkling new electronic tablet in his hand. He walked with purpose directly to Melody, who met him at the railing. She was smiling.

“Took you long enough,” she whispered to him.

“Plane was delayed,” he said.

“How’d it go?”

“Better than expected,” he answered with a grin.

“Ahem,” said Landau. “Can we get back to business?”

Melody turned to the judge, eTablet in hand. “The visuals have arrived, Your Honor. This line of questioning will go much more quickly now.”

“Saints be praised,” said the judge.

But Gwen heard this banter without much focus. Her attention was instead glued to Aaron, who smiled at her with serene certainty.