The Heartbreak Lounge by Wallace Stroby

might be difficult.”
    â€œYou say that,” she said, “because you don’t know him.”
    â€œLet’s back up a little,” Ray said. “You gave the child up immediately after delivery, right?”

    â€œYes.”
    â€œSo the father’s never seen him? Has no legal claim on him?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWhere was he incarcerated?” Harry said.
    â€œFlorida,” Ray said. “A place called Belle Glade.”
    â€œAnd he just got out?”
    â€œLast week,” she said.
    â€œHow do you know that?” Harry said.
    â€œThank the Florida Department of Corrections,” Ray said. “They have a system you can access online. I had a look. It’s unbelievable. Everything’s right there. Arrest records, sentencing, date of incarceration, date of release. All public record. You can type in a name, get it all in a few seconds.”
    â€œI was registered with them,” she said. “As someone to be notified when he was released. I got a letter two weeks ago.”
    â€œSo you knew this was coming?” Harry said.
    â€œNo. Not this soon.”
    â€œIt looks like he swung some sort of early release,” Ray said. “Not sure why. He was sentenced to nine years, did a little short of seven when they released him.”
    â€œParole?” Harry said.
    Ray shook his head. “Not in Florida. They eliminated parole per se, War on Crime and all that. They’ve got a similar system—a tougher one—called Gaintime, but that’s not the case here either. Whatever the reason was, it’s not part of the public record.”
    â€œAnd how do we know he’s back up here?”
    â€œIf he’s not yet,” she said, “he will be.”
    â€œYou had any communication with him in the interim? Threatening letters, phone calls?”
    She shook her head.
    â€œNo. Not since that last letter. I never wrote back.”
    Harry picked up his mug, sipped cooling coffee, looked at Ray.
    â€œWhat I need to know,” she said to Ray, “is whether you’re going to help or not. And if not, tell me that right now.”
    â€œLet’s slow down a minute … .”

    â€œFrom what I know of the adoption process,” Harry said, “there are already a lot of safeguards in place, for mothers who change their minds, that sort of thing.”
    She looked at him.
    â€œWhat makes you think they won’t work?” he said.
    â€œDo you have a problem with me?” she said. “Because if so, why don’t you just say it?”
    â€œNo problem,” he said, shaking his head.
    â€œWhoa,” Ray said. They both looked at him.
    â€œChances are,” he said, “Harry’s probably right. I mean, the system’s in place for just this kind of thing. There’s likely no chance at all of him being able to track the boy down to his adopted family.”
    â€œI need to be sure,” she said.
    â€œI understand that. And it’s not like you’re exactly helpless here. We can look into it, at least make some sort of notification to the agency about a possible threat. Give them a heads-up. That’s a start.”
    â€œAnd you could do that in a letter,” Harry said to her, feeling Ray’s eyes on him. “You don’t need us for that.”
    â€œBut the bigger question,” Ray said quickly, “is, do you feel like you may be in danger yourself?”
    â€œMaybe. I don’t know.”
    â€œBecause that’s an issue we can do something about. And that’s pretty straightforward. We can look into it, find out where he is, if he’s in the area or not. Do what we call a threat assessment. And we can keep you safe.”
    â€œHow much would that cost me?”
    â€œIt would depend,” Ray said. “We’ll draw up a regular contract, but it’s negotiable. It all depends on what’s involved.”
    She gave that a moment, looked