Chapter 5 - The Fortress
Claire arrived forty minutes later, carrying two legal briefcases, followed shortly by Detective Ramirez in plainclothes.
"Sarah, what is this?" Claire asked, her expression grave.
I led them into the examination room where Noah lay sleeping under a fleece blanket. Claire looked at the little boy, then at me. Her mouth opened in shock.
"He's Michael's," Claire whispered.
"He's mine," I said. "And look at these."
I handed Ramirez the digital camera containing the forensic photos of the fresh fracture, the spiral contusions on his upper arms, and the linear scars across his back. Ramirez's jaw tightened until the muscles jumped.
"This isn't neglect," Ramirez muttered. "This is felony aggravated child abuse."
"Michael Hayes has judges on retainer," Claire warned, looking at the legal files. "The moment we file an emergency protective order, Evelyn Hayes will deploy twenty attorneys to claim Sarah kidnapped him."
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"Let them try," I said, my voice steady with a fury I had buried for five years. "The medical evidence is indisputable. I am treating an abandoned, severely injured child who walked into my facility with twelve dollars. Under state mandated-reporter laws, custody defaults to protective state supervision until a fitness hearing."
"We file for emergency kinship custody tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.," Claire decided. "Until then, Noah doesn't leave this room."
