“They don’t live here,” I said. “We are visitors. You lured us here.”

“The paperwork says otherwise,” Vivian said.

The deputy shifted his weight, his leather utility belt creaking in the silence of the room.

“Look, I’m just here to serve the emergency summons,” the deputy said. “The judge signed the order for a hearing tomorrow.”

“But they stay with their mother tonight?” Marcus asked, pointing a finger at the deputy.

The deputy nodded slowly.

“Yes. The temporary transfer request was denied for tonight, pending the hearing tomorrow morning,” the deputy said.

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding.

Vivian’s eyes narrowed, a flash of genuine anger crossing her features.

She had wanted them tonight.

She had wanted to strip them from my arms in the dark, in the middle of a rainstorm, to use them as bargaining chips.

“Tomorrow morning then,” Vivian said, her voice tight. “At nine o’clock, the truth about your fitness as a mother will come out.”

“You are desperate, Vivian,” I said, keeping my voice as calm as I could manage.

“I am protecting my legacy,” she said.