He needed thirty seconds.
Then another minute.
Then another.
Not to deceive police.
To slow Grant.
If Grant believed Ruby had found family, maybe he would argue instead of trying to move her immediately.
Bear did not know whether it would work.
It had.
So far.
Grant looked at Ruby.
“Last chance.”
Ruby’s stomach twisted.
“For what?”
“To walk out with dignity.”
Bear's eyes hardened.
Ruby said:
“I’m staying.”
Grant nodded slowly.
“Okay.”
Too calmly.
Ruby knew that tone.
Grant reached inside his jacket.
Theo shifted.
Bear raised one hand toward Theo.
Wait.
Grant removed a folded document.
Nothing more.
He placed it on the counter.
“Then read this.”
Ruby stared.
“What is it?”
“Court paperwork.”
Her blood turned cold.
Grant unfolded it.
At the top was a county seal.
Ruby saw her name.
Her vision blurred.
Grant tapped the paper.
“You want to play adult?”
“Fine.”
“This says you're required to return for evaluation.”
Ruby’s hands went numb.
Bear looked at the document.
“Can I see it?”
Grant laughed.
“No.”
“Then show Ruby.”
He slid it toward her.
Ruby picked it up.
Legal language.
Petition.
Emergency mental health evaluation.
Filed by Grant.
She saw dates.
Statements.
Claims.
History.
Her history.
Depression after her mother died.
Therapy at fifteen.
An episode at sixteen when Ruby told a counselor she sometimes wished she could disappear.
Grant had saved everything.
The petition claimed Ruby had become increasingly unstable.
Paranoid.
Delusional.
Estranged from family.
At risk.
Ruby's knees weakened.
“It's not an order.”
Bear said.
She looked at him.
He had leaned enough to read the top.
“It's a petition.”
Grant snapped:
“You're not a lawyer.”
“No.”
Bear looked at Ruby.
“Neither is that an order.”
Grant’s face darkened.
“The court will approve it.”
Ruby stared at the date.
Filed yesterday.
No judge signature.
No hearing.
No order.
Just filing.
Bear had caught it immediately.
Ruby breathed again.
Grant leaned closer.
“You think that's going to matter when the court sees everything?”
Ruby looked at him.
For years, Grant’s greatest weapon had not been force.
It had been making Ruby imagine future authorities siding with him.
Teachers.
Police.
Doctors.
Judges.
He had never needed all of them.
Only the possibility.
Grant whispered:
“You know what they'll think.”
Ruby's eyes filled.
Then Bear's phone vibrated again.
Headlights moved across the front windows.
Dale noticed first.
He looked outside.
Two marked patrol cars entered the parking lot.
Grant turned.
Everything in his face disappeared.
For one second Ruby saw what lived beneath the careful expression.
Fear.
Then it vanished.
Grant smiled.
“Good.”