Chapter 9 - THE INTERVIEW ROCCO WASN’T ALLOWED TO HEAR
Ava’s formal child-advocacy interview happened without Rocco.
Without Bianca.
Without Bellandi attorneys in the room.
Rocco hated every minute of waiting.
That was precisely why the process mattered.
Ava needed one room where nobody powerful could shape the answer.
The interview lasted nearly two hours.
When the child advocate finally met Rocco afterward, she did not tell him everything.
“She disclosed a pattern.”
Rocco’s hands tightened.
“Against Noah?”
“Against both children.”
He stared at her.
The advocate continued carefully.
“Some things Ava said need corroboration. But you should prepare yourself for the possibility that you misunderstood her role.”
Rocco remembered Ava standing in the doorway.
Pillow.
Blanket.
Upset face.
Guard dogs don’t need sleep.
“She participated.”
“Yes.”
“Did she want to?”
The advocate did not answer directly.
“She believed refusal had consequences.”
Rocco felt sick.
“What consequences?”
“That will be addressed with her legal guardian and the court.”
Bianca.
Rocco hated that the words legal guardian still meant Bianca.
But law did not rearrange itself around his anger.
The advocate asked one final question.
“Did you ever hear Ava independently demand that Noah guard her room before that night?”
“No.”
“Did any staff member?”
Rocco thought.
“No.”
“Did anyone ever hear her complain when Noah was removed?”
“No.”
The advocate nodded.
“That’s important.”
Before leaving, she handed Rocco the pillow and blanket Ava had carried that night.
Ava had asked for them back.
Rocco looked at the initials stitched into the fabric.
The same initials on the bedding hidden in the linen closet.
May you like
The clues were no longer pointing toward a spoiled twelve-year-old.
They were pointing toward a child who had been trying to do something nobody had understood.
