Chapter 9
I felt like the ground had disappeared beneath me.
“He promised her… what?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Detective Ruiz glanced around the hallway outside the courtroom before answering.
“We found several deleted messages between Ethan and your mother,” she said quietly. “In one of them, Ethan wrote that if you became too much of a problem, there were ‘ways to make sure Diane gets what she wants.’ Your mother replied asking what he meant. He never gave a direct answer, but the implication was clear.”
My hands started shaking.
“They were planning to kill me?” I asked, the words tasting bitter in my mouth.
Ruiz didn’t answer directly, but her expression said enough.
“We don’t have enough to charge them with conspiracy to commit murder yet,” she said. “But this changes the entire case. This is no longer just about custody or fraud. This is about your life.”
I sat down on a bench in the hallway, trying to process everything. Just minutes ago, I had been forced to hand over my son to the man who might have been planning to get rid of me.
My lawyer, Ms. Reynolds, joined us a moment later. Her face was grim.
“Claire, we need to act fast,” she said. “Ethan now has legal custody of Noah. If we don’t move quickly, he could use this temporary order to build a stronger case against you.”
I looked up at both of them.
“What do I do?” I asked.
Ruiz leaned in.
“We use what we have. The messages between Ethan and your mother are extremely damaging. We can use them to file for an emergency reversal of the custody order. But more importantly…” She paused. “We need to get you somewhere completely safe. Ethan knows you’re a threat now. And desperate people do dangerous things.”
I nodded slowly.
That night, I was moved to yet another safe location — this time a small house in a different city, under police protection. Noah was with Ethan, and the thought of my son being with a man who had discussed “making me disappear” made me feel physically ill.
I barely slept.
The next morning, Ruiz came to see me with an update.
“We’ve requested an emergency hearing to reverse the temporary custody order,” she said. “But Ethan’s lawyer is fighting it hard. They’re claiming the messages are being taken out of context.”
I looked at her.
“What if we go public?” I asked. “What if we release some of the evidence?”
Ruiz considered it for a moment.
“It’s risky,” she said. “But it might be our best option. If the public knows what Ethan and your mother have been doing, it puts pressure on the court.”
Just as she was about to say more, her phone rang. She answered it, and her expression immediately changed.
She listened for about thirty seconds, then ended the call and looked at me.
“What happened?” I asked.
Ruiz took a deep breath.
“Ethan just filed another motion,” she said. “He’s asking the court to suspend all your visitation rights with Noah. He’s claiming you’re a danger to the child because you’re ‘mentally unstable and making false accusations.’”
My heart dropped.
“He’s trying to completely cut me off from my son,” I said.
Ruiz nodded.
“There’s more,” she added. “We just received information that Ethan has been in contact with someone new — someone outside the family.”
I frowned. “Who?”
Ruiz looked me straight in the eyes.
“A man named Marcus Hale. He’s a private investigator… and he has a reputation for making problems disappear.”
A cold chill ran down my spine.
Ruiz continued, “We believe Ethan hired him. And according to our sources, Marcus Hale was seen near your old neighborhood yesterday.”
I felt my blood run cold.
“He’s looking for me,” I said.
Ruiz nodded slowly.
“Yes,” she said. “And if Ethan is willing to hire someone like that… then this situation has become much more dangerous than we thought.”
She leaned forward.
“Claire, from this moment on, you need to be extremely careful. Ethan isn’t just trying to win custody anymore.”
She paused, then said the words that made my blood freeze:
May you like
“He might be trying to make sure you never get the chance to fight him again.”
To be continued...
