Chapter 5: What Renata Had Already Set in Motion
Mara arrived at eleven forty-five with a overnight bag and a look on her face that said she had already guessed most of it.
She came through the front door, saw Daniel in the hallway, and pulled him into a brief, tight hug without saying anything.
Then she stepped back and looked at him properly.
"Where is she?"
"In the garden with Rosa."
Mara nodded and went through the house.
He watched her crouch down in the garden doorway and open her arms, and Lily crossed the grass at a run and went straight into them.
Mara held her for a long moment, one hand on the back of her head.
He turned away and went back to the study.
Claire Ashworth's office had replied at seven that morning.
She had a cancellation at two o'clock.
He had confirmed immediately.
At one-thirty, he told Mara where he was going.
"Renata?" Mara asked.
"Upstairs.
She hasn't come down since this morning."
"I'll stay with Lily." Mara's voice was even.
"Go."
He drove to Claire Ashworth's office, which was on the fourth floor of a building near the center of the city.
Claire was in her late fifties, with short gray hair and the manner of someone who had heard every version of every story and was not easily surprised.
She listened to him for twenty minutes without interrupting.
He set Rosa's notebook on her desk when he finished.
She picked it up and turned the pages slowly.
"This is thorough," she said.
"Rosa kept it herself.
I didn't ask her to."
"Is she willing to provide a formal statement?"
"She said yes."
Claire set the notebook down and looked at him directly.
"Your wife made a threat this morning.
About your travel record."
"Yes."
"She's not wrong that it will come up.
But a documented pattern of behavior toward the child, witnessed by a third party over eight months, with dated entries — that shifts the weight considerably." She paused.
"I want to move for an emergency protective order.
Today, if possible.
It limits Renata's unsupervised access to Lily while the formal process begins."
"Can you do that quickly?"
"I can file this afternoon.
A judge will review it, likely by tomorrow morning."
He nodded.
"There's one more thing," Claire said.
"Before we proceed — is there anything else I should know?
Anything your wife might use that you haven't told me?"
He thought carefully.
"She said she has resources I don't know about.
And people."
"What did you take that to mean?"
"I don't know yet.
But she was on the phone this morning.
Early.
I heard her through the ceiling."
Claire made a note.
He drove home at four.
When he walked through the front door, Mara was standing in the hallway with an expression he hadn't seen on her face since they were children and something had gone badly wrong.
"What happened?" he said.
"A man came to the house," Mara said.
"About an hour ago.
He said he was from a family services organization.
He had paperwork.
He said he was here to conduct a welfare assessment."
Daniel went still.
"He asked to speak with Lily alone," Mara said.
"I told him no.
He said he had the authority.
I told him to come back with a court order and closed the door."
"Did he leave a name?
A card?"
Mara held out a business card.
The organization name on it was printed in clean, official-looking type.
But the address listed was a postal box.
He took out his phone and called Claire.
She picked up on the second ring.
"Someone came to the house," he said.
"Claiming to be from a welfare organization.
Asking to see Lily alone."
A pause.
"Was this before or after your wife made her calls this morning?"
"After."
Another pause.
Longer.
"Daniel," Claire said.
"I need you to listen carefully.
Do not let anyone into that house without verifying their credentials directly with the relevant authority — not through any number they give you.
Call the city's official child services line yourself."
"You think Renata arranged this."
"I think it's possible someone is trying to create an incident on record before our filing goes through." Her voice was careful and precise.
"I'm accelerating the paperwork.
I'll call you within the hour."
He lowered the phone.
Mara was watching him.
"She planned this," he said.
It wasn't a question.
"Before you even called the lawyer," Mara said quietly.
"She was already moving."
From upstairs, Renata's bedroom door opened.
Her heels crossed the floor above them.
Then she appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed now, composed, her bag over one shoulder.
She looked down at both of them.
May you like
"I'm going out," she said pleasantly.
"Don't wait up."
