Lady Afraid Read Free Page B

note.”
    “Note?” Sarah frowned.
    “Yes. Something that will clearly state, from the beginning, your legal position in the matter. Type the document if you wish, but sign it. And leave it in a conspicuous place. And you might leave more than one copy, being sure to place them where they will positively be found.”
    “You mean,” Sarah asked, “a statement of the facts?”
    “Something like that. And I would suggest that you append your address to the statement, to give a genuinely honest touch.”
    Sarah’s head came up; alarm widened her eyes. “Oh no! The Lineyacks would find me at once!”
    “They’re going to find you quick enough anyway, you know.”
    She shook her head stubbornly. “No, they won’t, not at once. Because I’m going away for a few days.”
    “Going away?” the lawyer said. “Going away?”
    “Yes.”
    “Disappear?”
    “Well—yes. For a few days.”
    Brill turned down a mouth corner briefly, said, “Not so good, Mrs. Lineyack.”
    “You’re not going to talk me out of it, Mr. Brill,” Sarah said stubbornly. “I’ve already made plans.”
    “You mean you’re set on doing that?”
    Unalterably, flatly, she replied, “Yes… I’m going to have a few days alone with the child. After those few days—well, I can face what will come then.”
    His right hand shot up, his mouth opened; in the end he did not say it, whatever it was, and his hand fell to the table. He contemplated the hand, turned it over, inspected the neat manicure, made a fist of the hand, said, “Well, if you’re that determined…” The hand became an open palm, as if it had released a bird. “I suppose it won’t look too bad,” he added.
    “Wouldn’t it help if I put in the note that I’m going away with my son?” she asked.
    “Yes, by all means. I advise that. Put it in the note you’re going to leave.”
    “I will do that, then.”
    “This disappearing you’re going to do—only for a few days, you say?”
    “Yes.”
    “How many days?”
    “Well… about a week.”
    “Make it a week exactly. Let’s not have any abouts,” Brill said. “Today is Thursday. Next Thursday you and the boy be back in town.”
    “Will they… then…” The words crossed like sticks in her throat.
    “Will they then let you live a normal life with your son?” Brill shrugged. His hands released the bird again. “I don’t know how normal it will be. But by that time I’ll have slammed so much law at them that they’re not going to be rambunctious. I’ll have yanked them into the juvenile division of the circuit court, demanding that they show where you consented in writing to the adoption. They can’t show that, because you say you never signed any such consent. Adoption is of purely statutory origin, and statute must be strictly complied with. The statutes of the State of Maine say the consent of parent is required except in the following cases: First, the parent is insane. Second, the parent is intemperate. It is the clear intent of the statute that there shall be no cutting off of parental relationship without consent. You weren’t insane, and you weren’t a drunk. In habeas corpus by mother, her moral fitness and financial ability cannot be questioned. That sinks them. They’re going to have a mess on their hands. Just so they’ll know it, I’m going to slap a damage suit in their faces too.”
    “I don’t want their money.”
    Brill smiled fiercely. “I do.”
    She was silent, and shortly Brill added, “You want to keep in mind the two main points. These: You’re tricking Lineyacks into showing they’re the aggressors. The persecutors. And you’re also taking the child to establish mother-love in the eyes of the court. It’s been nearly two years since they took the kid away from you, and the judge is going to wonder why you waited.”
    “But I did try to see him!” Sarah gasped.
    “Uh-huh. So you’ve said.” Brill’s eyes flicked over her casually. “But two years sounds like a