Sarah’s Papers
Chapter 05 - Sarah’s Papers
Mason went home that night with Dolly in the passenger seat and Boone following behind.
Dolly said he was too angry to be alone.
She was right.
At home, Mason pulled one box from the back of his closet.
SARAH - PAPERS.
His daughter had been dead nine years.
Sarah had called him the night before she died. He had been in a club meeting and texted, Call you later, baby.
Later never came.
Her death was ruled a road accident. Her husband, Kyle Mercer, said Sarah had been unstable, overwhelmed, emotional. He took their little boy, Noah, and moved two states away.
Mason opened the box.
Old custody papers.
Police reports.
Photos of broken doors.
A shelter brochure Sarah had never mailed.
Then he found a cream-colored folder.
VAIL FAMILY LEGAL CENTER.
Inside was a custody evaluation written by Dr. Emory Vale.
The same doctor who called Rachel unstable.
Sarah’s evaluation described her as emotionally reactive, alienating, and overly dependent on her father’s biker club environment.
Mason read that line three times.
They had turned him into evidence against his own daughter.
Then he found an email.
From Preston Vail to Kyle Mercer.
Let her look unreasonable. If she goes to her father’s club, document it. Judges dislike chaos.
Mason sat down hard.
Dolly covered her mouth.
Boone removed his cap.
Captain Hayes arrived an hour later and read everything at Mason’s kitchen table.
“This is a pattern,” she said. “Rachel, Sarah, maybe others.”
Mason pushed the file toward her.
“Use it.”
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
Hayes signaled for speaker.
A boy’s voice came through.
Small. Scared.
“Grandpa Mason?”
Mason stopped breathing.
“Noah?”
A rustle.
Then Kyle Mercer’s voice.
“Tell your biker friends to back off, Mason. Or you’ll never hear his voice again.”
The line went dead.
May you like
Mason stood so fast the chair hit the floor.
This time, the child needing rescue was his own blood.
