Chapter 7: What She Was Willing to Do
Marcus didn't respond.
He showed the message to Chen's assistant on his way back through the lobby.
She photographed it without comment and added it to the file.
He drove back to Sandra's.
Lily was at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal and a library book about penguins.
She looked up when he came in.
"You said before lunch," she said.
"I did." He sat down across from her.
"How are you doing?"
"Okay." She turned a page.
"Aunt Sandra taught me how to make toast."
"Did she."
"I burned the first one." A pause.
"She said that's normal."
Sandra appeared from the hallway.
She looked at Marcus's face and tilted her head toward the back porch.
He followed her out.
"Your wife called here," Sandra said quietly, sliding the door shut behind them.
"About an hour ago."
Marcus waited.
"She was calm.
Very calm." Sandra's jaw tightened.
"She said she was worried about Lily being in an unfamiliar environment and that she wanted to arrange a supervised visit.
She said she'd already spoken to a family mediator."
"She called a mediator before a custody hearing has even been scheduled."
"She said it would be better for Lily if this stayed out of court." Sandra looked at him.
"Marcus, she knew exactly what to say.
She wasn't angry.
She wasn't threatening.
She sounded like a concerned mother."
"She is not a concerned mother."
"I know that.
You know that.
But if someone who didn't know the situation heard that call —" Sandra stopped.
"She's good at this."
Marcus looked out at the small backyard.
A plastic slide in the corner, left over from when Sandra's kids were small.
"Chen told me not to engage," he said.
"She's building a record."
"I know.
I didn't say much.
I told her you weren't here and that she should contact your lawyer." Sandra paused.
"She said — and I'm quoting — 'Sandra, you know me.
You know I love that child.
Don't let him turn you against me.'"
Marcus was quiet.
"I hung up," Sandra said.
He nodded.
They stood there a moment.
Through the glass door, Lily had abandoned the penguin book and was drawing something on a piece of paper Sandra had left out.
"She called Grandma too," Sandra said.
"Grandma called me back ten minutes later.
She said your wife is planning to bring in a witness.
Someone who will testify that you have a temper.
That you've been volatile since the shift change."
"Who?"
"She didn't say.
Or she didn't know." Sandra turned to face him.
"Marcus, who have you been around in the last few months?
Work colleagues?
Neighbors?
Anyone who might have seen you stressed or short-tempered?"
He thought about it.
"I've been tired.
The new shift is brutal.
I snapped at a colleague once in a meeting — nothing serious, I apologized immediately." He paused.
"The neighbor across the street.
We had a disagreement about his dog getting into our yard.
It was brief.
I was frustrated."
"That's the kind of thing they'll use."
"I know."
He went back inside.
Lily was still drawing.
He sat beside her.
"What are you making?"
She slid the paper toward him.
It was a drawing of a house with two figures standing outside it.
One tall, one small.
They were holding hands.
Above them she had drawn a yellow circle — a sun — with careful spokes radiating outward.
In the corner, in unsteady letters: *Me and Daddy.*
Marcus looked at it for a long moment.
"Can I keep this?" he asked.
Lily nodded seriously.
"I made it for you."
He folded it carefully and put it in his jacket pocket, next to where the phone had been.
---
Three days passed.
Chen called on the third morning.
"We have a hearing date.
Three weeks from Thursday." A pause.
"There's something else.
My contact at the school district reached out.
Vice Principal Reyes submitted an amended report yesterday.
She is now saying that she did not find Patterson's original concern unsubstantiated — she is saying she referred it for further review and that the follow-up was not completed due to an administrative error."
Marcus sat down.
"She's changing her story."
"She's protecting herself.
Which means she's been told what's coming." Chen's voice was careful.
"This is actually useful for us.
It suggests she knows the original decision won't survive scrutiny.
But it also means your wife's team is aware of Patterson's documentation and they are already trying to manage it."
"What does that mean for Patterson?"
"Patterson is solid.
She has original time-stamped records.
An amended report filed after the fact doesn't erase what she submitted three months ago." A pause.
"But Marcus — I need you to prepare Lily.
Not for the hearing itself.
For the possibility that her mother's lawyer will try to speak with her before the hearing.
They may request access.
If that happens, you call me immediately."
"They won't get near her."
"I know you feel that way.
I need you to let me handle it legally, not emotionally.
Understood?"
"Understood."
He ended the call.
Sandra was in the doorway.
"What now?"
"The vice principal changed her report."
Sandra closed her eyes briefly.
"They're going to come after Patterson."
"Chen says she's protected."
"Chen says." Sandra sat down.
"Marcus, I need to ask you something and I need you to answer honestly."
He looked at her.
"Is there any part of you — any part at all — that is considering what your wife said?
About keeping this out of court?
About mediation?"
He was quiet for a moment.
"Every day," he said.
"Because every day I watch Lily check the window when a car goes by.
She's waiting to see if it's her mother.
And I don't know if she's scared or if she wants her to come." He stopped.
"But then I think about eight videos.
And a teacher who filed a report that got buried.
And a six-year-old who was told that if she spoke, her father would get in trouble." He looked at Sandra.
"No.
There's no part of me considering it."
Sandra nodded.
From the hallway, Lily's voice: "Daddy?
Can we go to the park?"
He stood up.
"Yeah, bug," he called back.
"Get your shoes."
He was reaching for his jacket when his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A man's voice.
Low, unhurried.
"Mr.
Marcus.
My name is Robert Hale.
I'm a private investigator.
May you like
I've been hired to conduct a background review in connection with your custody matter." A pause.
"I thought you should know that I've been asked to speak with your employer."
