Room 14's Secret novel · Chapter 10 of 24
Chapter 10: The Front Steps
My father's lawyer was seventy-one years old.
He came in out of the cold with a garment bag in one hand and a leather briefcase in the other.
Zachary lowered the knife.
"Put that away, young man," the lawyer said. "It's too early in the morning for heroics."
He looked at me.
I stood in the kitchen in a borrowed sweatshirt with my hair uncombed and my wrists still bruised from the hospital straps.
His face did something complicated.
"Your father would have burned that building down," he said. "Sit. I'll talk fast."
I sat.
"Quinton filed an emergency order at six last night," he said. "It says you are a danger to your children and to yourself.
"If you appear anywhere in this county, any officer may take you into custody and return you to St. Anselm's. The judge signed it before dinner."
"So I can't go to the hearing."
"You can't go anywhere. There are two deputies on the courthouse steps right now with your photograph."
Zachary laid the knife on the counter.
"Then we lose," he said.
"Not necessarily." The lawyer opened the briefcase. "There's a statute older than I am.
"A person who is the subject of a custody hearing has the right to appear and be heard at it. An officer may not seize her inside the courtroom without the judge's order."
"And outside the courtroom?"
"Outside the courtroom is the problem." He peered at me over his glasses. "Which is why you will not slip in a side door.
"You'll walk up the front steps at five to nine, in front of every camera Giselle Hendry has called, with me beside you."
My mouth went dry.
Keep reading free with an account. Start Room 14's Secret from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 9 · All chapters · Chapter 11 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend