“Where are the parents?”
“Mom is dead. Dad hasn’t been in the picture.”
Clive looked him straight in the eye. “Anything else?”
“I have nothing.”
“All right, then. I need to talk with the investigating officer and then Rachel.”
“Can I see her?”
“Not yet. Hold on.” Clive smiled and walked away.
Jason’s phone rang and Owen’s face lit up his screen.
He tried his calm voice when he answered. “Hey, buddy.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Owen’s shaky voice brought all of Jason’s nerves on edge.
“Are you okay?”
“No. I’m not okay. I was home, sleeping, when the police pounded on the door.”
“Take a deep breath.”
“Rachel isn’t answering my calls or my texts.”
Jason looked up at the facade of the police station, and then to his lawyer, who was watching him.
“She can’t talk to you right now.”
“They told me I have to go to my grandparents’ house. I’m not going. I need to talk to Rachel.”
“Owen, calm down.”
“I’m not going to the hag’s house,” he yelled.
“Is there someone there now?”
“Some social worker and a cop.”
“Let me talk to them.”
He heard a few more colorful expletives from Owen’s lips before an unfamiliar voice got on the phone.
“Mr. Fairchild?”
“That’s right, who is this?”
“My name is Benjamin White, I’m with child services. I’ve been called in to relocate Owen to his grandparents’ home until this matter is resolved.”
Jason’s back teeth hurt with the pressure he was placing upon them. “And how is that working for you, Mr. White?”
“Seems Owen is refusing.”
“You would, too, if you didn’t trust your grandparents.”
“Well, we can’t leave him here unattended. He is a minor.”
“He is fifteen. That’s hardly a child.”
“Regardless, we need to place him in the care of a home until we can determine custody.”
“A home? I have a home, he can stay with me.”
“I doubt that is an option in this situation, Mr. Fairchild. Our understanding is that you’ve been named as a possible accomplice in taking Owen out of the country after an order was given to keep him here.”
The desire to reach through the phone and grab a neck gripped him hard.
“Then what are our options, Mr. White?”
“We will need to take Owen to a temporary foster care home until a more permanent solution can be found.”
Something told Jason that wouldn’t fly for long either.
“Fine. Let me talk to him.”
Owen exploded the minute he was back on the phone. “Fuck foster care.”
“Whoa, calm down.”
“Jason?”
“Close your mouth and listen to me, okay?”
A long-drawn-out breath pulled Jason into the phone.
“Rachel and I need you to stay calm.”
“Where is she?”
Owen already knew the answer; Jason could hear it in his voice.
“The authorities are questioning her.”
Owen hissed. “In jail?”
“Questioning her, Owen. Nothing I can’t handle. Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
“Then stay calm. I have my phone on me. You have Nathan’s number if I don’t answer. Let them take you to the foster care house.”
“Jason—”
“It’s temporary, Owen. I promise you.”
“Why can’t I just stay here?” Owen’s voice started to break. Having the kid cussing mad was a hell of a lot easier than hearing him cry.
“We will figure this out.”
“I hate them.”
Who them was didn’t need to be explained.
Clive Redshaw was in his late forties; his suit mirrored the type Jason wore. There wasn’t a hair out of place on his head and his smile looked fake.
“Attorney-client privilege plainly means that you can tell me anything and I cannot reveal this conversation to a judge or the police . . . anyone.”
“Is that your way of asking if I kidnapped Owen?”
He looked her straight in the eye. “Did you?”
“No!”
“Great, now that we have that out of the way, let’s get started.”
He removed a large legal pad from his briefcase and looked through his notes. “The charges they are racking up right now have little legal footing until they can determine if you were given proper notice of the Colemans’ intent to obtain custody of Owen. Did you receive a certified letter from the child custody courts?”
“No. Not since Emily died and California granted me guardianship over Owen.”
“Nothing in New York or Connecticut?”
“Nothing. Certified means I would have had to sign for it, right?”
“Exactly.”
“I would have remembered signing for a court hearing. Do we know when they sent it?” she asked.
“I was told after Christmas. It’s recorded as received, which is why you’re here. I’m waiting on a clerk at the county office to pull the tracking and see the signature.”
“How long is that going to take?”
He didn’t look hopeful. “It’s the county. They don’t move fast.”
“They can’t prove I received something I didn’t. So once that is determined, this all goes away, right?”
“Maybe.”
Rachel glared.
“You took Owen out of the country.”
“I have legal guardianship.”
“You have the means to take him out again.”
“It’s not my plane,” she argued.
“It’s your boyfriend’s. So the answer is yes. The court will look at you and Owen as a flight risk and ground you until custody is determined. And they won’t likely allow you guardianship until that is figured out.”
“I thought I had to be deemed unfit and that Owen’s life and well-being are in danger in order for anyone to take Owen away.”
Clive thumbed through a few papers, pulled out one, and started to read from it.
“It says here that you have exposed Owen to harsh chemicals resulting in illness.”
Rachel’s jaw was going to have to be surgically removed from her chest at this rate. “What?”
“You’ve been remodeling an old house with lead paint, containing possible asbestos, and not taking the necessary safety precautions.”
“What a crock of garbage that is. Owen has had a few colds, most likely due to the change in weather neither of us are used to.”
“Does your house have lead paint?”
“I don’t know. It’s an old house.”
“Asbestos?”
“I would think the home inspector would have said something if there was.”
Clive folded his hands on his notepad. “All of this will have to be determined.”
“So let me get this straight. The Colemans are claiming I’m a danger to Owen, unfit as his guardian, and the court is willing to take him away based on an unsubstantiated claim?”
“The court has taken him away. The emergency injunction was filed two days ago because it was discovered that Owen was out of the country.”