Chapter 5 - THE JUDGE'S GAVEL
I stared at Judge Harrison, the man whose campaign signs had littered our town lawns for thirty years.
Answer one: Helen Gable hadn’t managed the shadow placements alone. She had the protection of the judge who legally sealed the foster care files. Open two: Why was a powerful judge risking his career to hide one little girl in my father’s working-class home?
“Lucy Bennett,” Judge Harrison said smoothly, stepping past Helen. “Arthur’s girl. It’s been a long time.”
“You knew my father?” I asked, my voice tight.
“I knew a lot of people in this town,” the judge said dismissively. “Helen, close the door. These women are trespassing.”
“We’re not leaving until we get answers,” Sarah said, holding up the gold lapel watch. “You stole this from my mother. You sold her out.”
Helen’s eyes darted to the watch. She looked panicked. “William, I told you Arthur didn’t get rid of it.”
“Quiet, Helen,” the judge snapped.
He looked at Sarah. “Your mother was a troubled girl. The state did what was best for her.”
“The state?” I countered. “Or your bank account? How much were you paying my father to keep Anna hidden?”
A reversal. The judge didn’t look angry. He looked almost amused.
“Paying your father?” Judge Harrison laughed a dry, humorless laugh. “Lucy, your father was a low-level thug. I wasn’t paying him. He was blackmailing me.”
My breath caught in my throat.
“Blackmailing you for what?” Sarah demanded.
“For the truth about Anna’s mother,” Helen spat out, unable to contain herself. “Margaret found out. Your precious, sweet mother, Lucy. She found out who Anna’s real mother was, and she threatened to expose the whole thing unless we moved the girl.”
My mother hadn’t just been protecting Anna from my father’s greed. She had been protecting her from a massive political scandal.
“Who was she?” Sarah asked, her voice trembling. “Who was my grandmother?”
Judge Harrison sighed, adjusting his cuffs. “It doesn’t matter anymore. The woman is dead. The records are sealed.”
“It matters to me,” Sarah said fiercely.
“Anna’s mother was a nurse at the county hospital,” Helen said, her voice dripping with venom. “A young, foolish girl who got involved with a married man. A man who was about to run for his first political office.”
I looked at the judge. The realization hit me like a physical blow.
“You,” I whispered. “You’re Anna’s father.”
The judge didn’t confirm or deny it. He just stared at me with dead eyes.
“You put your own daughter in the foster system,” Sarah said, horror washing over her face. “You paid Arthur Bennett to hide her in a poor house so no one would ever connect her to you.”
“It was necessary to preserve my family’s legacy,” Judge Harrison said coldly.
“And the watch?” I asked, gripping the gold metal.
“It belonged to the nurse,” Helen said. “When she died in childbirth, William gave the watch to the agency to put with the baby. But Arthur Bennett found it in the child’s belongings. He realized the engraving matched a missing nurse from the hospital, put two and two together, and demanded a monthly payout to keep his mouth shut.”
My father was an extortionist. And my mother had lived with that secret, trying to protect a little girl from being used as leverage.
“We’re going to the police,” Sarah said, turning away.
“With what?” Judge Harrison scoffed. “A thirty-year-old watch and the hearsay of a retired caseworker? No one will believe you.”
As he spoke, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
It was a text from Mark Davies, the county director.
Lucy, get out of there. Now. I just pulled Helen’s old digitized files. The placement order for Anna wasn't signed by Judge Harrison.
May you like
I stared at the screen, my blood freezing.
It was signed by Arthur Bennett.
