His thumb moved across the screen.
Then he turned the phone toward me.
The photograph had been taken inside LaGuardia.
David was standing near the arrivals area in a gray jacket.
I knew that jacket.
Next to him were a man and woman I did not recognize.
The message beneath the picture came from someone named Marcus.
Man says he is David Vance. Arrived with two licensed PIs. Asking airport personnel whether Blaire Vance and minor daughter are on inbound ORD flight. Says emergency custody matter. Counsel checking public docket now.
The cabin suddenly felt too small.
“That’s my husband.”
Luca looked at me.
“Your husband?”
“Technically.”
My hands began shaking.
I hated that he saw it.
Luca turned the phone away.
“You don’t have to explain anything to me.”
“I told him Fiona was safe.”
“Okay.”
“He changed the locks three days ago.”
Luca’s expression hardened.
“He put our things outside. He cut off my access to the household account. I told him we were staying with family.”
The phone vibrated again.
Luca read the new message.
“There appears to be a filing in Cook County,” he said carefully. “My attorney is pulling it.”
“What filing?”
“It says emergency custody.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not the person who should explain that.”
His answer surprised me.
A different man might have pretended to know everything.
Luca did not.
“But,” he continued, “I have attorneys who can make sure you speak with the right person before you walk into that terminal.”
I looked at Fiona.
“She can’t take Fiona from me because he lies, can she?”
“I don’t know what a judge has seen or what he filed. But nobody standing at an airport gets to decide that by himself.”
I swallowed.
David had always been good at certainty.
He said things as if saying them firmly enough made them true.
You’ll never manage without me.
Nobody is going to believe that.
The money is mine because I earned it.
You’re being emotional.
You’re making this worse.
I had spent years confusing confidence with authority.
“I need to call Natalie.”
“Call her.”
I did.
She answered immediately.
“Did you land?”
“Almost.”
“What happened?”
I looked at Luca.
“My husband is at the airport.”
There was a long silence.
“David?”
“Yes.”
