Chapter 6 - The Dark Alliance
Caroline did not waste time. By that afternoon, her father, Judge Arthur Lane, had used his immense political influence to bypass the standard family court rotation. He managed to get their case assigned to Judge Garrett Stone, a long-time political ally who owed his judicial seat to the Lane family's campaign donations.
By 4:00 p.m., Victoria Vance walked back into Alexander’s hotel suite, her face grimmer than it had been in the morning.
"The Ex Parte motion was denied, Alexander," Victoria said, throwing her briefcase onto the table. "Judge Stone threw it out without even reviewing the neighbor's dispatch logs. He signed an emergency temporary custody order giving Caroline full residential rights to the children effective Monday morning, claiming that uprooting them from their school and home environment is causing them undue psychological stress."
Alexander felt a cold panic seize his throat. "Monday? That’s three days from now. You're telling me I have to hand Emma and Oliver back to her in seventy-two hours?"
"Legally, yes," Victoria said, her voice tight. "If we refuse, they will issue a bench warrant for your arrest for custodial interference, and the police will physically remove the children from your custody. Judge Lane is playing dirty, Alexander. They are trying to force you into a corner where you have to negotiate a private settlement that includes full custody for Caroline and a massive financial payout to ensure her silence about your business structures."
"I am not giving them back," Alexander said, standing up and walking toward the balcony. "I'll take them out of the country. I have a private jet stationed at Midway. We can fly to a non-extradition territory by tonight."
"If you do that, you lose them forever," Victoria warned sharply, stepping in front of him. "You’ll become an international fugitive. You’ll prove every single lie Caroline’s legal team is spinning about your mental stability. We have seventy-two hours, Alexander. Instead of running, we need to find the one piece of evidence that Judge Lane’s political influence cannot bury."
"And what is that?"
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"Caroline’s medical history," Victoria said, her eyes flashing with a sudden realization. "A woman doesn't transition from a loving mother to a volatile abuser overnight without a catalyst. There must be a paper trail. A therapist, a pharmacy record, a private clinic. If we can prove she has an undocumented, severe psychological condition that she is refusing to treat, no judge in this state—not even her father’s closest ally—can legally return those children to her care."
Alexander paused, his mind racing back over the last two years. "There was a clinic," he murmured, his memory clicking into place. "The Silver Linings Retreat in Aspen. She spent a month there last winter. She told me it was a wellness spa for her exhaustion. But she never let me see the bills. She insisted on paying for it from her private inheritance account."
