Coming Home

  The benefit? Ashley felt the blood drain from her face. Please, Lord, let the judge see through this woman. The idea of loving Amy or missing her or wanting to raise her so far had not even come up.

  “At any rate,” her lawyer checked his watch. “My client’s testimony isn’t the issue. She’s the biological mother and the adoption agreement allows for the child’s grandmother to have full custody in the event of the death of the adoptive parents. The only reason we’re here is to ask the court to allow the girl’s biological mother to take the place of the grandmother.” He did an exaggerated shrug. “We all have places to be, your Honor. If the court wouldn’t mind making a decision.”

  Luke was on his feet. “Your Honor, I object.”

  Ashley could’ve jumped up and slapped the man. How dare the other lawyer minimize the importance of this case? And what did he know about Candy Burns’s ability to be a parent? What about wanting the best situation for Amy? She pressed her fists into her knees and held her breath.

  The judge pushed her glasses higher up the bridge of her nose and peered down at Luke. “Who are you?”

  “Luke Baxter, your Honor. I’m an attorney from Indianapolis. I’m here with my sister, Ashley Baxter Blake.” He sounded cool and calm, the picture of professionalism. “Ms. Blake and her husband have made a commitment to adopt the child in question, in keeping with the wishes of the adoptive parents.”

  “How are you connected to the adoptive parents?” The judge seemed irritated. No doubt she had a full docket of cases to get to.

  “The adoptive mother — Erin Baxter Hogan — is also my sister.”

  Ashley could’ve hugged him for the way he kept his words in the present tense. Erin might be gone, but she would always be their sister. Exhale, she told herself … please, God … we need help right now! Please …

  Candy’s attorney looked bored, like anything Luke might say was nothing more than a waste of time. Ashley still thought Candy looked nervous, like she was hiding something. But she looked even more outraged at the possibility of losing Amy.

  She’s probably nervous about the evidence Erin knew about, Ashley told herself. Lord, if it’s something we can find, please make it obvious. We’re out of options …

  The judge was still trying to put the pieces together. “So your sister Erin was killed in a car accident along with her husband and three of her four adopted girls. Is that right?”

  “Yes, your Honor.”

  “I see.” Her expression softened. “I’m very sorry for your loss.”

  Luke nodded once. “Thank you.”

  “And now …” She peered at Ashley. “You and your husband want to raise this surviving little girl as your own?”

  Ashley stood alongside her brother. “Yes, ma’am. Your Honor.”

  “And you think that’s what your sister would’ve wanted?”

  “We do.” Luke took a step forward. “Ever since Ms. Burns was released from prison, our sister felt very strongly that her only interest in the girls was a financial one, the hope that she might gain financial means through her connection to her daughters.”

  “What?” Candy Burns shrieked out and rose to her feet, and then apparently thought better of the idea and sat back down. She looked outraged at the suggestion.

  “I object.” The young attorney’s face grew instantly red. “Nothing has been introduced here to suggest Ms. Burns has anything but pure motives for wanting custody of her daughter.”

  “Actually,” Luke took another step forward, still calm and professional. “I have Erin Hogan’s cell phone, and I can show you a text where she says she has proof that Ms. Burns’s motives are rooted in financial gain.”

  “A text?” The judge twisted her face in confusion. “Do you have actual proof, Mr. Baxter? The proof she was allegedly referring to?”

  “No, your Honor.” Luke was clearly doing his best to hide his disappointment, but Ashley knew him better. The subtle change in his posture gave him away. “Unfortunately my sister was killed before we could learn what the proof was.”

  Ashley kept her eyes on Candy Burns. And in that moment — as soon as Luke mentioned the proof on Erin’s phone, her face went pale. She shifted her eyes and locked on to Ashley’s, and there was no question the woman was guilty. Whatever Erin had been referring to, Candy was aware of it.

  The judge was going on, explaining the difference between real evidence and hearsay as if Luke would need the definition. “For instance, if someone comes into my courtroom and blames someone for bashing them indirectly on Facebook, that’s not evidence. It’s gossip. But if that same person brings a tape recording or a video or even a letter from the person supposedly bashing them, well then, that could be considered evidence.”

  Something had happened. Ashley was still standing, but beside her she could feel Luke practically bursting with possibility, with some sudden revelation. As if in the last few seconds he had been given a breakthrough. Ashley returned slowly to her seat. Father, whatever it is, let it be the answer. Please, help Luke … He needs You.

  Luke held up his hand. “Thank you, your Honor. I appreciate your clarification. If the court doesn’t object, I’d like to ask for a ten-minute recess.”

  On the witness stand, Candy looked like she might shout out again. Clearly she wanted the proceeding over, probably so that whatever she was hiding couldn’t somehow be discovered. She glared at her attorney, but the man shrugged slightly.

  The judge hesitated. She sighed, like the whole matter was a bother to her, and she checked what looked like her docket. “Is this about the evidence, Mr. Baxter? Because we have a number of cases yet to hear today.”

  “Yes, your Honor. Absolutely.” He managed to contain his grin, but Ashley loved the way his eyes shone. Whatever it was, he clearly believed he’d thought of the answer. “This is definitely about the evidence.”

  “Fine.” She smacked her gavel on the desk. “This court will resume in ten minutes.” With that, she stood and disappeared through a door behind her bench.

  “Luke!” Ashley tugged on his jacket, bringing him back to the seat beside her. “What is it?”

  “Facebook.” He sat back in the seat and began scrolling though the options on Erin’s phone. “I didn’t think about it before, because clearly Candy Burns and Erin weren’t friends.”

  Ashley’s mind was spinning. “But … anyone can leave a private message. Is that what you’re thinking?”

  “Exactly.” He glanced at the woman, stepping down from the stand and hurrying to her attorney at the front of the room. “Did you see how she reacted when the judge brought up Facebook?” Luke was talking fast, his words running together in his excitement. “Something’s up, and we’re going to find it.”

  He worked his way through Erin’s apps until he found Facebook. “Here we go.” His fingers shook slightly, but he was able to open it. The screen filled with a login page, and Luke reacted like he’d been sucker punched. “No … a password can’t stand in our way.”

  She mustn’t have ever used the app, otherwise it wouldn’t require a password. Ashley felt her heart sink. “Use her e-mail address for the sign-in.” Ashley checked the time on the wall. They’d already used three of their ten minutes. Naomi Boggs was talking with Candy and her attorney, all of them using hushed tones. Naomi had told Luke that she had to play a neutral role at the hearing, even though she agreed with Amy staying with Ashley and Landon instead of Candy. But it was hard to tell that here, by the way she was acting.

  Ashley tried to think what her sister might’ve used as a password. “Try using just the sign-in, and then it’ll ask you if you forgot your password.”

  “Good.” Luke raced his fingers across the screen, and just like Ashley said, a message flashed asking if the password was forgotten. Luke clicked yes, and another message appeared. Your password has been e-mailed to you.

  Once more Ashley checked the clock. They had four minutes left. “Check her e-mail.”

  “I’m tryi
ng.” He was definitely tapping the buttons as quickly as he could, but when he finally found the mail app, it required a password, too.

  Desperation crept into Ashley’s heart and bones. “Please, God … we need Your help,” she whispered the prayer out loud.

  “What about Spotlight?” Luke was shaking worse now, their time down to only a few minutes. “Her phone has it, I can tell. But I have a Droid, so I’m not sure how to use it on this phone.”

  “Here,” Ashley had an iPhone, too. “Let me do it.” She took Erin’s phone and slid the screens to the right until the page was black with only one search line at the top. “What should I search?”

  “Type the word, ‘Passwords’. It’s not a smart idea, but some people keep passwords stored in their phone. In a document or on a notepad.”

  Ashley couldn’t believe this would work, but they had no choice. As quickly as she could make her fingers fly across the keyboard, she typed in ‘Passwords’ and then she hit the search button.

  According to the clock they had less than two minutes. But in as much time as it took to exhale, a document title suddenly appeared. Ashley tapped it and it opened to reveal exactly what Luke had hoped for. An entire list of passwords.

  “Facebook … Facebook … Facebook …” They both kept their voices to a whisper, but even so Candy had shot them several angry and nervous looks over her shoulder during the break. Ashley scrolled down the list of passwords, and there … there at the very bottom of the list was this entry: Facebook: SECCHA2911.

  Ashley’s heart pounded so hard, she wouldn’t have been surprised to see it burst from her chest. She tried to still her fingers enough to open the Facebook app again and enter the information. First, Erin’s e-mail address, and then the password. S-E-C-C-H-A-2-9-1-1.

  And suddenly she was inside Erin’s Facebook page. Ashley couldn’t quite catch her breath, but she didn’t care. They had thirty seconds at the most.

  “Hurry.” Luke gave a quick look at the bench and then back at Ashley and the phone in her hand. “The judge’ll be out any second.”

  Again Ashley was familiar with the app because she had the same phone. In a matter of taps, she was looking at Erin’s private messages and there at the top …

  There at the top was a message from Candy Burns.

  “Dear God, You’ve done it,” she whispered. “Luke, this must be it. The proof Erin was talking about.” Ashley raced through the message, noting that the date was the day before the accident, and the time was early that morning. It was probably the last thing Erin had seen before she left the house.

  Luke read the message out loud in a panicky whisper, his words fast and jerky again. “Dear Erin, as you know I’m out of prison and I’m a changed woman. I really do think I’d make a good mother now. But I’m also open to a deal.” He stopped and stared at Ashley. As he finished, his tone was full of an excitement he could hardly contain. “My expenses are very high and I don’t have a job.” Luke swapped another look with her. Disgust flashed in his expression. “If the deal is right, I’m sure I could move on, start a new life, if you know what I mean. In the right situation, I could have other kids. I hate to mess up your happy family. Let me know your thoughts. Candy B.”

  Ashley shook her head, amazed. “She even signed her name? What sort of crazy person would put this kind of thing in writing?”

  “I’m not sure,” Luke stood, ready for the judge, and Ashley did the same. He leaned close, keeping the whispered tone as they finished the conversation. “The kind of crazy person who just lost custody of her little girl.”

  Elation swept through Ashley, but she wouldn’t believe it, wouldn’t stop praying until the judge returned and Candy Burns took the witness stand again and her brother held up the phone once more. “I have the proof, your Honor.” He raised his brow. “May I approach the bench?”

  The judge looked intrigued. “This isn’t that text, is it?”

  “No, your Honor.”

  “Okay, then … you can approach.”

  Luke walked past the younger attorney, his expression humble and kind. His faith evident in his eyes. The judge seemed to like Luke, his candor and determination. The woman was clearly interested in whatever the evidence might be.

  “You mentioned Facebook.” He held up the phone, and the judge took it from him. “If your Honor would please read the private message written — in letter form — to my sister. The letter is from Candy Burns.”

  Ashley loved how Luke used the word “letter” to describe the private message. The judge had already said that a letter was evidence, whereas a Facebook post was usually nothing more than gossip.

  Again Ashley couldn’t draw a full breath while she waited to hear the judge’s response. The evidence was there. Now it was a matter of the judge fully seeing what Candy Burns was referring to, what she meant by wanting to make a deal with Erin. Ashley looked at the witness stand. Candy Burns’s confidence was shredded. She anchored her elbows on the stand and rubbed her face, her eyes. As if she couldn’t bring herself to watch what was about to happen.

  The judge knit her brow together and scowled at Candy. “Ms. Burns, are you familiar with a private message you wrote to Erin Hogan on Facebook?” She seemed to check the date. “It was on the last Friday in June?” She hesitated, angrier than before. “Please remember you are under oath, Ms. Burns.”

  Candy twisted her hands together and glanced from Naomi Boggs to her attorney and then to the judge again. She was so squirmy she looked like she was being attacked by fire ants behind the witness stand.

  “Do you understand the question?” The tone of the judge’s question proved she was beyond appalled.

  “Yes. I understand.” She pursed her lips, clearly angry with herself. But in the next few seconds, she seemed unwilling to commit perjury, either. “Fine.” She spat the word in the direction of Ashley and Luke. “I wrote the letter.” Her eyes found the judge again. “I didn’t see anything wrong with it. I still don’t.” She cleared her throat and sat a little higher in her seat. “I was just out of prison and I was desperate to have a little money.” She managed a laugh, but it was completely without any sort of humor. “I didn’t really mean it. I was sort of testing Erin. If she really loved my girls I figured I could ask her to help me out.” She hesitated. “Plus I went out drinking the night before and I got a little carried away. Which hurt my judgment.”

  With every word, every line Candy sunk herself deeper. The judge sat back in her high leather chair and let Candy ramble. At one point she looked at the court stenographer, as if to check that the woman was getting all of this. At the same time, Candy’s lawyer lowered his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

  Candy was winding down. “… Which was why I thought a Facebook message would work. I mean, it’s private and all and I really didn’t need a lot of money. I was willing to let Erin keep the girls if that’s what she wanted.”

  “What about your mother, Ms. Burns? She’s not here today, so can I assume she doesn’t want custody of her granddaughter?”

  “No. She doesn’t want her.” Candy seemed to relish the chance to make her mother look bad. “She wants to work on cruise ships. She said she’d only stay with me and Amy if there was a lot of life insurance money.”

  Ashley wondered if the judge might laugh out loud or call for Candy Burns’s arrest. In the end she did the latter. “Ms. Burns, by acknowledging that you wrote this Facebook message, you just incriminated yourself on the witness stand. You understand that, right?”

  Candy blinked. She seemed at a complete loss for words. “Yes?”

  The judge looked from Candy to the bailiff near the door and back to Candy. “You are under arrest, Ms. Burns, for attempted extortion. The bailiff will read you your rights.” She looked at the deputy again. “Please submit Ms. Burns to drug and alcohol tests and cuff her. I’ll contact the DA to determine exact charges in the next day or so.”

  “Wait!” Candy shouted out. “Can I have a second chance, he
re? It’s not like I knew this was coming!”

  “Be quiet!” The judge snapped and held up her hand. “Don’t make me add other charges!”

  Candy shut her mouth. While the bailiff approached her with handcuffs, the judge turned to Luke. “Mr. Baxter, does someone in your family have temporary power of attorney over the minor child in question?”

  “Yes, your Honor.”

  Ashley could barely stand it. She wanted to jump up and wrap her arms around Luke’s neck and celebrate like they’d done when they were kids when their team won. Only this was so much bigger. She folded her hands, and kept quiet.

  “Very well, I’d like a home study conducted on your sister,” she checked her notes. “Ashley Baxter Blake, please stand.”

  Ashley practically leapt to her feet. “Your Honor.”

  “Are you and your husband willing to adopt Amy Elizabeth Hogan?”

  “Yes, we are.” Tears flooded Ashley’s eyes. “It is our greatest desire, your Honor. We love her like she is our own child.”

  “Very well. Once the home study is complete, this court will void the previous adoption agreement, thereby allowing you and your husband to adopt her free and clear.”

  “Thank you.” Ashley refused her tears. Instead she smiled at the judge. She wanted to tell the woman about her promise to Erin and about how well the girl was adjusting in her new home already. How far they had to go to tap into her emotions. But the judge had other matters so she kept her response short. “My husband and I truly appreciate this.”

  For the first time, the judge allowed the hint of a smile. She looked at Luke and gave a slight nod. “It’s all about the evidence.”

  Luke and Ashley were dismissed, and when they were out in the hallway, Ashley did what she had wanted to do since the matter swung their way. She locked her arms around her brother’s neck and held on to him with everything she had. “I can’t believe it … Luke, thank you. Dear God, thank You! It’s a miracle!”

  He swung her around and then took a big step back. “We have to call the others. They’re all praying, waiting for word.”