Chapter 16 - The Next Call
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The Open Door Project’s reception area was intentionally designed to look nothing like a clinic or a law firm. Mara had insisted on warm colors, soft lighting, and oversized chairs that allowed exhausted parents to sink into something comfortable. It had been fourteen months since Vivian’s conviction, but the echoes of her network still reverberated through the city.
On a rainy Tuesday morning, a woman named Sarah sat in one of those chairs, her hands trembling around a paper cup of tea. She had not slept in three days. Mara recognized the fragile, hollowed-out look in the woman's eyes immediately. It was the exact expression she used to see in the mirror.
Mara pulled up a chair opposite her, maintaining a respectful distance. "You don't have to start from the beginning," Mara said gently. "You can start wherever it hurts the most. We can work backward from there."
Sarah looked up, her eyes red-rimmed. "They took him right from the school nurse's office. They said I had a history of medical neglect. They said I was imagining his symptoms."
"Who signed the order?" Mara asked.
"A judge named Corren. But the doctor who filed the report... he works for a private pediatric group. Vance Medical." Sarah’s breath hitched. "They told me if I tried to fight the emergency custody order, they would have me committed for psychiatric evaluation."
Mara felt a cold, familiar anger tighten in her chest. The tactics were identical to Hawthorne House. Vivian was in prison, but her blueprints had been sold or shared.
"Sarah, look at me," Mara said, her voice steady and anchoring. "You are not crazy. You are a mother who asked too many questions, and someone with power decided to punish you for it. We are going to find your son."
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"How?" Sarah whispered. "They have all the money. They have the law."
Mara glanced toward the hallway where Naomi was already reviewing the intake forms. "They have the illusion of the law. But we have the blueprints to their house, and we know exactly how to tear it down."
