The Second Bassinet

The interrogation room at the county precinct smelled of stale donuts, disinfectant, and decades of bitter desperation.

I sat at the metal table under the harsh glare of an overhead fluorescent bulb, my hands wrapped around a paper cup of lukewarm water. Across the table sat Detective Miller—a sharp, gray-haired investigator who had spent the last three hours tearing my life apart and putting it back together in federal color-coding.

The heavy metal door clicked open, and Attorney David Vance walked in, looking grim as he dropped a thick folder onto the table.

"Well, Clara," David said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "Richard Vance’s little attempt at a backroom deal just imploded in his face. The moment our federal liaison ran the wiretap logs from his vehicle, they picked up his entire conversation with you at the boathouse."

"Does that mean..." I swallowed hard, my voice catching. "Does that mean I can get my son back?"

David sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "It means Richard and Elena Vance are facing federal charges for conspiracy and interstate adoption fraud. And it means Mark was arrested twenty minutes ago at your home on a warrant for human trafficking and falsification of vital records."

A strange, hollow numbness washed over me.

"Where is Stefan?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. "Where is my boy?"

"Child Protective Services has temporarily placed him in a neutral foster holding facility while the emergency custody hearings take place," David said gently. "Because the adoption decree was obtained through criminal fraud, the judge is expected to invalidate it within forty-eight hours. Technically, legally, morally... he is your son, Clara. Both of them are."

I closed my eyes, letting out a long, shuddering breath that felt like it had been trapped in my chest for eight years.

"Can I see him?"

David offered a sympathetic, weary smile. "Not tonight. But tomorrow morning, the judge has cleared a special family court session. You’ll be in the same room. Just remember... it’s going to be terrifying for him. For eight years, he has known Elena and Richard as his parents. He doesn't know you. He doesn't know Cole."