Emergency Custody
Chapter 04 - Emergency Custody
Child Protective Services arrived less than an hour later.
Eli sat in Mack’s office with a blanket around his shoulders while a caseworker photographed the bruises on his arms and back.
Mack waited outside the door.
Every muffled question made his hands curl into fists.
Bear stood beside him.
“You can’t break Grant’s jaw,” Bear said.
“I know.”
“You’re thinking about it.”
“I’m thinking about several things.”
“Most of them are felonies.”
Mack looked through the office window at Eli.
The boy was holding the wooden motorcycle against his chest.
“Then keep me here.”
Grant remained near his truck, speaking rapidly into his phone. Within minutes, an attorney arrived carrying temporary guardianship documents.
According to the paperwork, Sarah had signed over authority to Grant three months earlier.
Eli would legally be returned to his stepfather unless the caseworker found immediate danger.
Grant presented himself as a worried parent.
He described Eli as troubled, dishonest, and angry over his father’s death. He claimed the bruises came from the boy fighting at school.
Then the caseworker asked for the school’s name.
Grant hesitated.
Eli had not attended school in nearly three weeks.
That changed everything.
The caseworker issued an emergency protection order, but Mack was not automatically approved as a guardian. He had never met Eli, had an old assault conviction from his twenties, and ran a motorcycle club the county had investigated twice.
Eli was scheduled to spend the night in a temporary foster home.
When he heard, he began to cry.
“You said I found you,” he told Mack. “You said you were my grandfather.”
Mack crouched in front of him.
“You did find me.”
“Then why can’t I stay?”
“Because I have to prove I’m safe.”
Eli stared at the bikers gathered beyond the office door.
“They look scary, but they gave me soup.”
Bear lowered his eyes, pretending not to hear.
Mack placed both hands on Eli’s shoulders.
“I will come for you tomorrow morning.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
As the caseworker led Eli toward her car, Grant watched from across the yard.
His face was no longer friendly.
He waited until Eli was out of earshot.
“You should have stayed out of my family,” Grant told Mack.
Mack stepped close enough that Grant could see every line in his face.
“That boy is my family.”
May you like
Grant gave a cold smile.
“Then you’d better find Sarah before I do.”
