Chapter 3 - Police at the Gate
The first officer looked at Clare’s papers for less than twenty seconds before his expression changed.
The second officer looked at Maya.
That frightened Clare more.
They had moved the four of them into a quiet service room near the jet bridge. Maya sat beside Clare with the rabbit pressed against her chest. Gabriel stood near the wall holding Leo while his attorney, Elena Price, spoke rapidly into a phone.
“Mrs. Jensen,” the older officer said, “your husband claims the temporary order was superseded this afternoon.”
Clare stared at him. “That’s impossible.”
“He emailed a copy.”
“Show me.”
The officer hesitated, then turned his tablet.
The document looked real.
Same court header.
Same case number.
Same judge.
Different language.
It ordered Maya returned to New York pending an emergency hearing.
Clare felt the room tilt.
“I was in the courthouse until four fifteen. My lawyer checked the docket before I left.”
Elena stepped closer. “What time is on that order?”
“Five forty-two.”
Elena held out her hand. “May I?”
The officer gave her the tablet.
She zoomed in, scanned the footer, then smiled without humor.
“This is not a certified order. It’s a proposed order with an electronic signature image pasted into the signature field.”
The younger officer frowned. “You can tell that from a screen?”
“I can tell because the docket number in the footer is a filing number, not an entered-order number. Call the clerk.”
The older officer did.
Fourteen minutes later, his posture softened.
“There is no later order.”
Clare’s knees nearly failed.
Maya tugged her sleeve. “Can we go?”
“Yes,” Clare whispered.
The officer looked embarrassed. “We’re documenting the false submission. You’re free to leave.”
Gabriel said nothing until they were in the private arrivals corridor.
Then he asked, “Where are you going?”
“My cousin’s.”
“Does Richard know your cousin?”
“No.”
Maya spoke without looking up. “Daddy knows Aunt Jen.”
Clare stopped.
“What?”
Maya hugged the rabbit tighter. “He said Aunt Jen has the blue door.”
A cold feeling moved through Clare’s chest.
Her cousin had never met Richard.
Gabriel glanced at Elena.
Elena was already on her phone.
Clare called her cousin.
Jen answered on the first ring, whispering.
“Clare, don’t come here.”
“What happened?”
“A man was sitting in a car across from my building for three hours. When I went outside, he drove away. Then someone slid an envelope under my door.”
Clare’s mouth went dry. “What envelope?”
Jen began crying.
“It had a picture of Maya getting on the plane.”
Gabriel’s face changed.
“Clare,” Jen whispered, “how did he know?”
Clare looked down at her daughter.
Maya’s rabbit had one black plastic eye.
May you like
The other eye had been missing for weeks.
And suddenly Clare could not remember exactly when it had fallen out.
