Chapter 3 - Remember what we practiced
The courtroom doors opened shortly after eleven.
A child advocate entered first.
Then Maya.
My six-year-old daughter looked impossibly small inside that enormous room.
Her pink cardigan was buttoned wrong.
She carried Mr. Buttons, the stuffed rabbit she had slept with since she was two.
I immediately wanted to run toward her.
I didn’t.
The advocate guided her gently forward.
Maya saw me.
Her lips trembled.
Then she saw Julian.
Something changed.
Her shoulders tightened.
Julian leaned slightly forward.
His lips moved.
“Remember what we practiced.”
My stomach turned.
Judge Thorne noticed.
“Mr. Vance.”
Julian immediately leaned back.
“Yes, Your Honor?”
“You will not communicate with the child while she is addressing this court.”
“Of course.”
His smile returned.
But Maya had seen something else.
She looked down at the object tucked beside her rabbit.
A black tablet.
Julian saw it too.
For the first time all morning, his confidence disappeared.
“Maya,” Judge Thorne said gently, “you’re not in trouble. Do you understand?”
Maya nodded.
“You may tell me anything you believe I should know.”
My daughter looked at me.
Then Julian.
Then Evelyn.
Evelyn gave her a tiny smile.
Maya’s fingers tightened around Mr. Buttons.
“I need to show you something.”
Julian shifted.
His attorney whispered to him.
Judge Thorne leaned forward.
“What would you like to show me?”
Maya swallowed.
“Something Mom doesn’t know about.”
I stopped breathing.
Julian stood.
“Your Honor—”
His attorney grabbed his sleeve.
Judge Thorne’s expression sharpened.
“Sit down, Mr. Vance.”
Julian obeyed.
Slowly.
But his eyes never left the tablet.
And suddenly I understood something terrifying.
May you like
Whatever Maya had brought into that courtroom...
Julian already knew what it was.
