Chapter 5 - The Intake Office After Hours
I woke up when the SUV stopped and I didn't know where I was for a second.
The engine ticked. The parking lot lights were already on and the sky outside had gone gray. My cheek was pressed against the seat and my bear was still in my arms, squeezed tight against my chest. I could feel his worn fur under my chin. Marcus was turned around in the front seat looking at me, and Lily was beside me with her seatbelt still on. The bodyguard stood outside by the back door with his hands clasped in front of him.
"We're here, sweetheart," Marcus said quietly. His voice was low and even. "You fell asleep. It's okay."
I sat up. My dress was still dirty and my legs were cold. Through the window I saw a low brick building with a sign that said LINCOLN COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES. The lights inside were bright and white, not warm like the park.
Lily reached over and touched my hand for just a second. She didn't say anything. I held my bear tighter.
Inside, the air smelled like coffee and cleaner. The woman at the front desk buzzed us through a locked door to a small office with too many chairs and a box of tissues on the table. A caseworker was waiting. She was maybe forty, with her hair pulled back and a county badge clipped to her sweater. She smiled at me first, not at Marcus.
"Hi, Emma," she said. "I'm Ms. Alvarez. Thank you for coming in. This is just a safe place to talk, okay?"
I nodded. I didn't let go of my bear. Marcus crouched down next to my chair so his eyes were level with mine, his silver watch catching the fluorescent light. He didn't tell me what to say.
Ms. Alvarez sat across from me with a notepad. She asked me how old I was and where I lived. I told her my mom's apartment, the number I remembered. She asked who I lived with now.
I stared at the edge of the table. My throat felt tight.
"Where's your mom?" Ms. Alvarez asked, gentle.
I breathed in and the words came out the same way they had in the park, quiet and shaking. "She died 3 months ago. Aunt Karen told me to wait here for the sun came up."
Ms. Alvarez didn't correct me. She wrote it down exactly as I said it. She looked up at Marcus, then back at me.
"And how long did you wait in the park, Emma?" she asked.
I shrugged a little, my arms still around my bear. "Since the sun came up," I whispered.
She noted the time. "That's consistent with a three-month window since her mother's death," she said, more to Marcus than to me. "We have a death certificate on file for Claire Dunne. That matches."
Claire. My mom's name sounded strange when someone else said it. I pressed my face a little into my bear's head.
Ms. Alvarez turned her chair toward Marcus. Her tone changed, more formal. "Mr. Blackwell, I understand you want to help, but I need to be clear about procedure. In Illinois you cannot take a non-relative minor home without an approved placement. Even with good intent, that's considered an unlicensed custody. We have to follow emergency placement rules."
Marcus listened, his hands resting on his knees. I could see the tattoo on his hand move when he flexed his fingers.
"I understand," he said. "What are our options tonight?"
"We will place Emma in an approved emergency shelter for the night," she said. "It's staffed, it's safe, and it's two blocks from here. It's not with the aunt. We have already flagged the aunt's address for non-contact pending review. If you are willing to be considered for kinship or emergency contact, we can start that process now, but it requires steps. Background check, home study, and — given the possible family connection you mentioned — a parentage pathway."
I didn't understand all the words. I just heard shelter and not with Aunt Karen and I felt my shoulders drop a little.
Marcus nodded. "I want to be listed. Formal temporary kinship if the connection is proven. Whatever paperwork you need tonight."
Ms. Alvarez slid a stack of forms across the table. "This is an emergency contact and supervised visitation consent. It doesn't grant custody, but it approves you for visits and keeps you informed. The DNA test would be voluntary and court-admissible if you pursue it. We can schedule the collection tomorrow."
He signed where she pointed, his signature quick and dark. Lily stood behind his chair watching, her pink bow a little crooked now. The bodyguard waited by the door, still and silent.
When it was time to go, Ms. Alvarez knelt down to me with a small bag — a toothbrush, socks, a bottle of water. "You'll stay with Ms. Patel tonight at the shelter," she said. "She's very nice. Mr. Blackwell and Lily can visit you tomorrow afternoon, if you'd like that?"
I looked at Marcus. He was still crouched, looking at me, not rushing me.
"Would you like that, Emma?" he asked.
I nodded, holding my bear out just enough so I could see his face. I didn't want to be left again.
He didn't promise he'd take me home. He just said, "We'll be there. I give you my word."
May you like
Ms. Alvarez walked me to the hallway where a younger woman in a soft blue sweater waited. I held my bear with both arms the whole way. Behind me I heard Lily whisper, "Bye, Emma," and I turned and gave a tiny wave without letting go.
The shelter was not far, but the office door locked behind us with a click, and I understood I wasn't going with Marcus tonight. I wasn't going back to Aunt Karen either. I was going somewhere in between, and tomorrow there would be a test to see if the man who looked at me like I was his was actually anything to me at all.
