Chapter 9: What the Court Decided
The temporary guardianship order came through at four seventeen that afternoon.
Grace called me while Sophie and I were in the small waiting area down the hall, Sophie asleep across two chairs with her head on my jacket and Button tucked under her arm.
I had been watching the door.
I had not been reading the magazine in my lap.
"It's granted," Grace said.
"Temporary emergency guardianship, effective immediately.
Lauren has been notified by the court.
She has the right to contest at the full hearing in three weeks."
"Will she?"
"I expect she'll try.
But the documentation is strong, Rachel.
And the probate court has already frozen the trust account pending investigation.
Kyle Mercer's name has been flagged with the district attorney's financial crimes unit."
I looked at Sophie.
Her mouth was slightly open.
Her hand had found Button's ear even in sleep.
"What happens to the money?" I asked.
"The remaining $22,000 is frozen and protected.
Recovery of the transferred funds depends on what assets can be located.
Kyle Mercer's accounts will be examined.
Marcus Hale's documentation strengthens the case for a broader crjminal referral." Grace paused.
"It won't all come back.
I want to be honest with you about that.
But some of it may."
"And Lauren?"
"That's for the DA to decide.
The probate court's referral will go out by end of week.
What happens after that is outside my control." Another pause.
"Rachel.
You did the right thing.
And you did it fast.
That matters."
I thanked her and set the phone down.
Sophie stirred.
Her eyes opened halfway.
"Did something happen?" she asked.
"Yes," I said.
"Something good.
You're staying with me for now.
Officially."
She looked at me for a moment.
Then she sat up, pulled Button into her lap, and said, "Can we get food on the way home?
I'm really hungry."
I laughed.
It came out louder than I expected, there in the quiet hallway, and Sophie looked startled for a moment and then smiled — a real smile, the first one I had seen from her, small and cautious but real.
"Yes," I said.
"We can absolutely get food."
We stopped at a diner three blocks from my apartment.
Sophie ordered pancakes and ate every bite.
She asked for a second glass of orange juice and drank half of it.
She told me, unprompted, that Button had originally belonged to Ryan — that he had bought it the week before Sophie was born and left it on the hospital bed for Lauren to find when she woke up.
"Mom kept it for me," Sophie said.
"That part she did right."
I didn't say anything.
I just refilled her orange juice from the small pitcher on the table.
Two days later, Kyle Mercer was stopped at a traffic checkpoint outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
He had $11,200 in cash in a bag in the trunk.
He was detained for questioning in connection with the financial fraud investigation.
His attorney issued a statement saying his client intended to cooperate fully.
Lauren called Dana that same evening.
Not me.
Dana.
Dana called me afterward.
"She wants to negotiate," Dana said.
"She's willing to provide a full account of the transfers in exchange for consideration on the crjminal referral."
"That's her attorney's conversation to have with the DA."
"I know.
I told her the same thing." A pause.
"She asked how Sophie is."
I looked across the apartment.
May you like
Sophie was at the kitchen table doing homework I had found online for her grade level, Button propped against the pencil cup, one red sneaker and one gray one on the floor beside her chair.
"Tell her Sophie is fine," I said.
