Chapter 2 - The Petition Filed Behind Camryn’s BackCamryn drove home with both hands locked around the steering wheel.
She wanted to call Lucille.
She wanted to scream.
Instead, she called the one person Nolan had told her to contact if anything ever became complicated after his death.
Rachel Kline.
Family-law attorney.
Old college friend.
And, more importantly, someone Lucille hated.
Rachel answered immediately.
“Camryn?”
“I think Lucille filed something to take Avery.”
Silence.
“What makes you think that?”
Camryn explained.
The video.
The attorney.
The comment about a judge signing before five.
Rachel’s tone changed instantly.
“Do not confront Lucille yet.”
“She hurt my daughter.”
“I heard you.”
“I’m ten minutes from home.”
“Call the police if Avery is in immediate danger.”
“She’s with Yolanda.”
“Good. Stay on public roads. I’m checking court filings.”
Camryn nearly laughed.
“You can just check?”
“Give me two minutes.”
Camryn drove.
Thirty seconds later, Rachel cursed.
“What?”
“She filed.”
Camryn’s stomach dropped.
“What?”
“Emergency temporary guardianship.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means she is asking a judge for immediate authority over Avery based on alleged imminent danger.”
“Danger from who?”
Rachel went silent.
Camryn already knew.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Camryn felt cold despite the summer heat.
“What did she say?”
“A lot.”
“Read it.”
“Camryn—”
“Read it.”
Rachel exhaled.
Lucille claimed Camryn had become emotionally unstable since Nolan’s death.
That she abused prescription medication.
That she repeatedly left Avery unsupervised.
That she drove while impaired.
That she had threatened to move Avery out of state without notice.
And that Avery had recently expressed fear of being alone with her mother.
Camryn laughed.
A harsh sound.
“That is insane.”
“There are affidavits.”
“From who?”
“One is Lucille.”
“Obviously.”
“One is Gerald Dempsey.”
“He’s her lawyer.”
“He describes things Lucille supposedly told him.”
“Who else?”
Rachel paused.
“Dr. Conrad.”
Camryn’s anger disappeared.
“What?”
Dr. Elaine Conrad had been Camryn’s physician for six years.
“What did she say?”
“She provided medical records showing you received medication for insomnia after Nolan died.”
“That’s true.”
“And that you reported episodes of dizziness.”
“That’s true.”
“And that you were in a minor traffic accident three weeks ago.”
Camryn tightened her grip.
“That was because I almost fainted.”
“Lucille says you were impaired.”
“I took nothing that morning.”
“I believe you.”
“Does the court?”
“Right now, the court has a petition and supporting documents.”
Camryn swallowed.
“What else?”
Rachel hesitated again.
“Avery’s school counselor.”
“No.”
“There’s a statement.”
Camryn’s heart pounded.
“What statement?”
“That Avery has recently appeared anxious and told school staff she sometimes feels unsafe at home.”
“That is not about me.”
“I know.”
“Lucille has been terrorizing her.”
“We need proof.”
“I have a video.”
“That helps enormously.”
“Helps?”
Camryn wanted the word destroys.
Rachel remained calm.
“We need the full context and Yolanda’s statement.”
Camryn turned into the Vaughn estate drive.
The gates stood open.
A black sedan was parked outside.
“Rachel.”
“Yes?”
“There’s a car here.”
“Whose?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do not go inside alone.”
Camryn stopped near the gatehouse.
A uniformed county deputy stepped out of the sedan.
Her stomach dropped.
The deputy approached.
“Mrs. Vaughn?”
“Yes.”
“I have documents for you.”
Camryn stepped from the SUV.
Her legs felt weak.
The deputy handed her an envelope.
“Temporary hearing notice and petition.”
“Did the judge grant custody?”
“Not yet.”
Camryn almost collapsed with relief.
“Then what?”
“There’s an emergency hearing scheduled for five-thirty this evening.”
Two hours.
Rachel heard through the phone.
“Camryn, ask whether there’s any temporary no-contact provision.”
Camryn did.
The deputy shook his head.
“No order has been entered yet.”
“Good,” Rachel said.
Camryn opened the papers.
There it was.
Lucille Vaughn versus Camryn Vaughn.
Petition for emergency temporary guardianship of minor child Avery Vaughn.
Camryn scanned the allegations.
Then stopped.
Attached photographs showed medication bottles on her nightstand.
A photograph of her asleep on the living-room couch.
A photograph of an empty wine glass.
A screenshot of a message she had sent Rachel after Nolan’s death:
SOMETIMES I DON’T KNOW HOW I’M SUPPOSED TO KEEP DOING THIS.
Camryn stared.
Lucille had taken a grief-stricken text and turned it into evidence of instability.
Then she saw the most damaging exhibit.
A video still.
Camryn sitting in her SUV.
Head down.
Eyes closed.
Timestamped the morning of her minor accident.
Lucille claimed Camryn had been unconscious behind the wheel.
“That’s not what happened.”
“What?” Rachel asked.
“She photographed me.”
“Who?”
“Lucille.”
Camryn remembered the morning.
She felt suddenly dizzy before driving Avery to school.
She pulled over in the driveway.
Sat for ten minutes.
Lucille came outside and offered to take Avery instead.
Camryn had thanked her.
Now she understood.
Lucille hadn’t been helping.
She had been documenting.
The front door opened.
Lucille appeared.
Calm.
Perfectly dressed.
As though nothing had happened.
Camryn crossed the driveway.
“You touched my daughter.”
Lucille’s expression barely moved.
“The deputy is still here.”
“I know.”
“Then control yourself.”
Camryn stopped inches away.
“You planned this.”
“I planned to protect Avery.”
“You soaked her face while she begged you to stop.”
For the first time, Lucille’s confidence flickered.
“How do you know?”
Camryn held up her phone.
Yolanda’s video was paused on Lucille’s face.
Lucille went white.
“You recorded me?”
Yolanda appeared behind her.
“No.”
Lucille turned.
Yolanda stepped forward.
“I did.”
Lucille stared at the housekeeper.
“You’re fired.”
Yolanda didn’t move.
Camryn looked at Lucille.
“No.”
Lucille turned back.
“What?”
“This is my house.”
Technically, it belonged to the trust Nolan created for Camryn and Avery.
Lucille had simply acted as if it were hers.
“You’re leaving.”
Lucille laughed.
“The judge may disagree in two hours.”
Camryn stepped closer.
“Why are you doing this?”
Lucille’s eyes hardened.
“You think this is about one bathroom?”
“What is it about?”
Lucille looked toward the deputy.
Then back at Camryn.
“You should ask Nolan.”
Camryn froze.
“My husband is dead.”
“Yes.”
May you like
Lucille smiled faintly.
“But the document he signed before he died isn’t.”
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