Chapter 7: The Man in the Lobby
Ruth put the phone on hold.
She looked at her assistant.
"Tell him Mrs.
Mitchell is not available.
Tell him if he has legal matters to discuss, he can contact this office in writing." She paused.
"And call building security.
Ask them to stand near the front desk."
The assistant nodded and pulled the door shut.
Sophie was on her feet.
"He followed us here."
"Yes," I said.
"Mom—"
"Sit down, Sophie.
Stay calm."
She sat, but her arms tightened around Lily.
Ruth set the phone back in the cradle and looked at me.
"He's escalating faster than I expected.
That tells me something."
"What does it tell you?"
"That he's more afraid of this becoming official than he let on." She stood and moved to the window, staying to the side of it.
"A man who was confident in his legal position would have sent a lawyer first.
He came himself.
That's personal."
"He wants to look me in the eye," I said.
"He thinks he can read people.
He thinks he can handle this in a room."
"Can he?"
"Not today," I said.
Ruth nodded once.
She picked up the phone again and resumed her call.
Twenty minutes later, her assistant returned.
"He's gone," she said.
"He left a card."
She placed it on Ruth's desk.
Heavy card stock.
Embossed lettering.
A personal cell number handwritten on the back.
Ruth didn't touch it.
"Good," she said.
"Let him think we're considering it."
The emergency guardianship paperwork took the rest of the afternoon.
Ruth worked quickly, pulling together the note, the letter, the photograph, the police report from the resort, and the record of the missed child services visit.
She documented Gerald Hargrove's phone call with the time and the content I could recall.
She documented his appearance at her office.
By five o'clock, she had filed.
"Now we wait," she said.
"Could be tonight.
Could be tomorrow morning.
The judge I filed with is fair and she moves fast when children are involved."
Sophie had fallen asleep on the sofa with Lily on her chest.
I watched them for a moment.
"Ruth," I said quietly.
"What happens if Mara doesn't come back?"
Ruth looked at Sophie and Lily too.
"Then we deal with that when it comes.
One step at a time." She closed the folder on her desk.
"Go home.
Get some sleep.
Don't answer calls from unknown numbers.
If Gerald Hargrove contacts you directly again, text me immediately and don't respond to him."
I woke Sophie gently.
She gathered Lily without fully waking, moving on instinct.
We took the elevator down.
The lobby was empty.
The black car was gone from the corner.
I drove home carefully, checking the mirror more than usual.
We were almost to the house when Sophie said, quietly, "Mom.
What if his lawyers are better than Ruth?"
I thought about Ruth on the phone for three hours.
The way she'd moved to the side of the window.
The way she'd said *not the judge Hargrove has in his pocket* without flinching.
"They're probably more expensive," I said.
"That's not the same thing."
Sophie nodded slowly.
I pulled into the driveway.
The porch light was on — I'd left it on that morning, before any of this, when I was just a mother driving to pick up her daughter from a summer job.
I turned off the engine.
"We're home," I said.
Sophie looked down at Lily.
"Is it her home too?" she asked.
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed on the console.
A text from an unknown number.
*Mrs.
Mitchell.
I hope you'll reconsider.
I can be very generous to people who help me.
I can also be very thorough with people who don't.
May you like
Think carefully tonight.
— GH*
