CHAPTER 45 —

They served the petition at noon like a dinner no one wanted to eat. The courthouse foyer felt suddenly overseas—news vans parked like small islands, camera crews with the practiced patience of people who feed on other people's catastrophe. Nicole walked into the building with Harrow at her side and Anders carrying the Faraday bag like an altar. The baby thudded twice beneath her ribs, a private metronome that had become the clearest compass she owned.

“Judge Morrell ...