Chapter 9 - The Grandfather Who Called Mia an AssetCharlotte left before Lena could question her further.
Not because she was allowed.
Because her lawyer arrived with enough legal threats to delay everything.
Graham Reed wasn't with him.
Nobody knew where Graham was.
Lena moved Mia, June, and Nora to a protected hotel registered under a police account.
Mia hated hotels.
The smell of industrial soap.
The deadbolt.
The curtains that never closed completely.
Too much memory.
June slept in the adjoining room.
Nora stayed awake near the door.
At 11:40 p.m., someone knocked.
Mia froze.
Lena's voice:
“It's me.”
Nora checked the peephole.
Opened.
Detective Ortiz entered with a laptop.
“We got results from the blood at the motel.”
Mia stopped breathing.
“Mom?”
“Yes.”
June sat down.
Mia's knees weakened.
Lena immediately said,
“The amount was small. We believe she was injured, not killed.”
Mia held onto that.
Injured.
Not killed.
Lena opened the laptop.
“We also recovered camera footage from a gas station near the Topanga property.”
A black SUV.
Graham Reed driving.
Passenger seat empty.
Rear seat—
a woman.
Brown hair.
Head down.
Anna.
Mia touched the screen.
“Mom.”
Timestamp four days ago.
Alive four days ago.
Hope hurt almost as much as fear.
“Where did they go?”
“We're working on it.”
Before Lena could say more, her phone rang.
She cursed.
“What?”
Pause.
“How?”
Another pause.
She looked toward Mia.
“No.”
June stood.
“What?”
Lena ended the call.
“Victor Sterling filed an emergency petition.”
“For what?”
“Temporary custody.”
Mia laughed.
“I don't know him.”
“That does not mean he'll win.”
“Will he try?”
“Yes.”
Victor's attorneys claimed Mia was an abandoned minor and probable biological granddaughter.
They accused Charlotte of interfering with family reunification.
They didn't mention the missing mother.
Didn't mention Graham.
Didn't mention Julian's crash.
Victor wanted Mia inside his control before police could establish everything.
The hearing happened the next afternoon.
Not in a dramatic courtroom.
A family court conference room.
Mia sat beside June and a court-appointed child advocate.
Victor Sterling entered using a cane he didn't seem to need.
Seventy-two.
Silver hair.
Perfect suit.
The room changed when he entered.
People made space.
Not because he asked.
Because they were used to doing it.
Victor looked at Mia.
His expression softened.
“My God.”
Mia hated that immediately.
“You look like Julian.”
She said nothing.
He sat.
“I am your grandfather.”
“Maybe.”
Victor smiled.
“DNA will settle that.”
“I don't want your DNA.”
A lawyer coughed.
Victor's smile tightened.
“Your mother filled your head with fear.”
Mia stared.
“You knew my mom?”
“Yes.”
“Did you like her?”
“No.”
At least he was honest.
“She caused tremendous damage.”
“My mom?”
“She took things that belonged to my family.”
Mia looked at Lena across the room.
The detective's face remained blank.
Victor continued.
“Your mother stole confidential corporate files.”
“Maybe they weren't yours.”
Victor's eyes sharpened.
Julian's child.
He saw it too.
The judge refused to place Mia with Victor while the missing-person investigation remained active.
Temporary placement went to June after expedited family verification.
Victor didn't react.
He simply stood.
Then leaned toward Mia.
“You will eventually understand that your mother has kept you from your real life.”
Mia looked at him.
“My real life had my mom in it.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
As he turned away, Mia heard him whisper to his attorney.
“Until the girl is legally recognized, the trust remains frozen.”
The attorney answered,
“DNA first.”
Victor replied,
“We need the asset identified before Charlotte gets control.”
Asset.
Mia.
He called her an asset.
Lena heard too.
Outside the courthouse, reporters waited.
Somebody had leaked Mia's identity.
Questions exploded.
“Are you Julian Sterling's daughter?”
“Where is Anna Mercer?”
“Is the Sterling trust worth more than one hundred million dollars?”
Mia froze.
One hundred million?
June grabbed her.
They moved toward the car.
Then Mia saw Charlotte across the street.
Charlotte wasn't looking at her.
She was looking at Victor.
Hatred.
Real hatred.
Victor looked back.
Then smiled.
And mouthed something Mia couldn't hear.
Charlotte's face changed.
Fear.
She crossed the street after Victor left.
“Mia.”
June stepped between them.
“No.”
Charlotte ignored her.
“Your mother is in Los Angeles.”
Mia stared.
“How do you know?”
Charlotte's voice shook.
“Because Graham called me.”
Lena approached.
“What does he want?”
Charlotte looked at the guitar.
“The ending.”
May you like
Then at Mia.
“And if we don't give it to him by midnight, he says Anna disappears for good.”
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