24. Family Emergency

24

FAMILY EMERGENCY

“ S loane, there’s a woman on the phone who says she’s an attorney from someplace in Tennessee. I didn’t catch much more,” Natalie said. Natalie worked the least but mainly mornings.

“Did she say what she wanted?” she asked. Sloane couldn’t imagine why anyone would be calling her from Tennessee and almost didn’t want to think of what it could mean.

“No. She said she needed to speak to you right away. I said I’d track you down because you weren’t in your office.”

She was in the back room going over inventory.

“I’ll take it in my office,” she said. She walked to the back of the building and shut her door, then picked up the phone. “Hello, this is Sloane Redding. How may I help you?”

“This is Miranda Star from Knox County Children Services. I’m an attorney for the county. Are you Nadine Redding’s daughter?”

She frowned. “I am.”

She didn’t know why anyone from Children Services would be calling her. Nor from Knox County. She’d been born closer to Huntsville in Scott County, but last she knew her mother was in Virginia.

“I’m sorry to inform you that your mother passed away over a week ago.”

Her ears were ringing and she wasn’t hearing much more. She interrupted Miranda. “What happened to her?”

She heard some buttons clicking and papers moving. “It’s unclear the cause of death, but no one suspects foul play. She was working at the hospital and someone found her in the supply closet. I believe it’s routine for the hospital to do an autopsy, but you’d have to get answers there. That isn’t why I’m calling.”

She was writing down what she could. “Can you tell me what hospital she was working at?”

“We can get to that information soon, but it’s not why I’m calling,” Miranda repeated. “Your mother had you listed as her emergency contact and the guardian of Shiloh Redding.”

“Who?” she asked, her jaw dropping.

“When was the last time you spoke with your mother?” Miranda asked.

“It’s been years,” she said. “We don’t have a close relationship with our mother. Me and my sister.”

“You have another sister? I don’t have any information other than you’re listed here in all her paperwork. Shiloh is Nadine’s five-year-old daughter. Your sister.”

Sloane was glad she was sitting down because otherwise she might have had to slide to the floor.

“I had no idea,” she said.

“As I said, you’re listed as her guardian. But in order to release Shiloh to your care we’d have to do some background and assure you are who you say you are. If it’s not something you feel you can do or want to do, then she will remain in foster care as she’s been for a week now.”

There was so much running through her head that she didn’t know where to start or what to do.

“Why did it take so long for me to find out about this?” she asked.

“I believe someone in your mother’s apartment building was watching Shiloh. She was afraid Shiloh would end up in foster care and didn’t notify us right away when she found out about your mother. But everything ends up coming out in the end.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “I’m not sure what to do or what you need. This is all coming as a shock to me. What about Shiloh’s father?”

She needed to know these things. Especially if her mother was back in Tennessee. There was no saying if her mother went back into the cult and Shiloh was just another child born into it like all the other half siblings she had.

Though this was different and she knew it.

“There is no father listed on the birth certificate,” Miranda said. “We’ve asked around and no one knows.”

“Can I ask where my sister was born?” This would give her an idea of if it was in a cult or not.

“North Knoxville Medical Center,” Miranda said after she clicked a few more keys. “Can I ask why you needed that?”

“The last I knew my mother was in Virginia,” she said. “I was just curious.” Which at least told her one thing, but not much more. If Shiloh was born into the cult there’d be no hospital records.

“We can keep Shiloh in foster care if that is your preference, but you’ll need to sign off on rights. I’d recommend you retain an attorney. ”

“No,” she said. “I need to come get her. I should.”

“Again,” Miranda said, “I’d advise you to consult an attorney. When we let you leave the state with her we’ll have to set up visitations with services where you live. That’s in Durham, correct?”

“Yeah,” she said. “How soon can I come there? What do I need? I’m sorry. I own a business. I need to get an attorney and get my affairs in order. I’m not sure where to begin, but I’d like to come get her as soon as possible. I should, right?”

She at least had a spare bed already, but that was it.

“That is your choice,” Miranda said. “We’d need to make an assessment first, but I’m sure you could be granted temporary custody as you are listed as her legal guardian should something happen to your mother.”

“Can I come tomorrow? Then it’s the weekend so I’m sure your office is closed.”

“If you can get here tomorrow, why don’t we schedule an appointment in the afternoon? You’ve got at least a five-hour drive.”

“If you can do it around lunch or so that will work,” she said. “I’ll leave first thing.”

Sloane was writing notes to have all her appointments rescheduled or canceled or if anyone else could take them. Thankfully she’d scheduled somewhat of a light day tomorrow because Dane was off and they had plans before he got his kids on Sunday.

“Do you have an email where I can send you everything we’ll need from you tomorrow when you come? If you don’t think you can get it, we’ll reschedule for next week.”

She read her email off to them and then hung up.

There was a knock on her door and she answered for them to come in. “Everything okay?” Natalie asked.

“No,” she said. “It’s not. I need you to cancel, reschedule or see if anyone can take my appointments the rest of today into Wednesday next week.”

She hoped that was enough time to figure things out. She’d have to get daycare and school set up. Much more for sure, but the least she could do was bring Shiloh here if she had to.

“Are you okay?” Natalie said. “Are you sick?”

“No,” she said. “It’s a family emergency. I need to go out of town tomorrow.”

“I’ll get to it then,” Natalie said, closing her door.

Sloane didn’t even know where to start.

She did the one thing she’d said she’d never do. She called someone for advice.

She called Dane.

He was the first person in her life that she felt she could talk to about this.

She’d have to let him know anyway since she’d be canceling her plans with him.

There was no way he was going to answer though, so she decided to text him instead that she needed to talk to him when he had a minute.

Sloane was on her computer and looking at the schedule and was thankful that either Kaitlyn or Heather was scheduled to open or close for the next several days.

She jumped when her phone rang. She’d been refreshing her email hoping to get one from Miranda.

She looked at her cell phone and saw that it was Dane.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” she said.

“It’s fine,” he said. “You never reach out during the day. You don’t sound good. What’s going on?”

She told him what she’d just found out. “I don’t know what to do first. There is part of me that didn’t want to even go and then I said I could do that. ”

“I’ll go with you,” he said right away.

“No,” she said. “You don’t need to do that. You’ve got to work.”

“They will reschedule my appointments for tomorrow,” he said. “It will be easier with me telling them now to do it.”

“I’m not sure if I’ll be back by Sunday or not,” she said. “You’ve got the kids.”

“This is one of those times where Mel would keep them. I’ve had to do that for her too before when she’s on vacation or sick. Sloane, I’m not letting you go alone. Plus, I think it will go a long way if you show up with your pediatrician boyfriend.”

She snorted. “Good point. I need an attorney. I’ve got a business one, but I need a family law attorney. Guess I’ll see if anyone knows someone and if I can get them right away.”

“If you don’t mind, the brother of one of Chloe’s closest friends is an attorney. He’s got an office in one of the Fierce buildings. Actually, he’s one of the Fierce setups. I’m positive Trent will take it once he hears what is going on and your connection to Chloe through me.”

“Do you want your family to know about this?”

“They know about you,” he said. “And Chloe knows your background. Sounds like you don’t even have much information on your sister.”

“Nothing,” she said. “I’m going to need to figure that out too. But one thing at a time. If you can get me Trent’s number I’ll start there.”

“Let me call Chloe, who will go speak to Megan. They will give Trent a heads up so that he takes your call. I’ll text you in a few with his number.”

“Thank you, Dane. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. Oh, here is the email with the information they need from me tomorrow when I go. I’ve been watching for it. Phew, I’ve got everything.”

“What do they need?”

“Just ID of who I am for the most part. Not an issue. The bigger problem is going to be getting everything I’ll need for a five-year-old. I have no clue.”

“I do,” he said. “Let me help you. It’s going to be fine.”

“No, Dane,” she said, forcing out a laugh. “Not even close to being fine, but it’s not the worst thing that has happened in my life so I guess all I can do is put one foot in front of the other.”

“That’s right,” he said. “You’ll hear from me soon.”

She hung up and put her head down on the desk.

This is what they call losing control of your life.