A Wrongful Death by Kate Wilhelm

agreement gave me visitation rights, and she can't refuse to let me have access to him."
    Sarah Kurtz was sitting straight upright, as if ready to get to her feet. "Ms. Holloway, I don't know what story she told you. No doubt a pack of lies. Now hear the truth of the matter. She trapped my son, pursued him relentlessly, that cheap Spanish dancer. As soon as she got what she wanted from the union, the assurance of a child, she abandoned Terry and brought her lesbian lover into their apartment. And now she's engaged in some kind of illegal activity that has put my grandchild in mortal danger. We handled the affair very quietly some years ago. It was too ugly to take public, and she benefited handsomely from her settlement. Blackmail is a more appropriate word for it. It will not be so civil this time, I can assure you." She stood up and Terry jumped up from his chair and retrieved her coat, then held it for her.
    Sarah Kurtz started to walk toward the door, then stopped and regarded Barbara. "Yes, I have resources, Ms. Holloway, and I won't hesitate to use them. Tell Elizabeth I fully intend to gain custody of my grandchild and ensure that he has a decent upbringing, a decent home. If she resists, I shall crush her in the process, and anyone who comes to her aid, as well. Good day."
    Terry reached the door before she did and held it open for her to pass through. Without another glance at Barbara, they left.
    An hour later Maria tapped again, and this time she said, "Terry Kurtz is on the line, Barbara. Do you want to speak with him?"
    Barbara spread her hands in a what-the-hell gesture. "Why not? Put him on."
    She picked up her own phone a second later when Maria buzzed. "Holloway," she said.
    He sounded hesitant when he said, "Ms. Holloway, I apologize for this morning. Would it be possible to see you again? Alone? Just me this time?"
    "I doubt I can be of any more help than I was earlier," she said coolly.
    "I'd like to talk to you about what happened with Elizabeth," he said. "This morning wasn't the right time, I'm afraid."
    She said, "Sure, come along," and he said fifteen minutes.
    Although when he arrived this time his manners were as impeccable as before, he looked more like a college boy dreading a confrontation with a wrathful mentor than a self-assured man of the world. He fidgeted in his chair and looked past her at the wall as he said, "I'm afraid my mother is a little off her rocker these days. My dad had heart surgery last month, and he lingered in intensive care for weeks before he passed away. It was tough on my mother, and then for Elizabeth to take off without a word just added to her misery. She keeps going on that Jason and I are all she has left. Grandfather, her father, is nearly ninety, and she knows he could go any day, any hour. She's pretty upset."
    Barbara did not say a word. Then, after a moment, Terry said, "Norris called the house about the attack, and we all thought it had to be Elizabeth and Jason. She knew about the cabin. We went there once, she and I. She knew where the key was and could get in. We all assumed that it was her, and when he said you were in the nearby cabin and you had found her, Mother got it in her head that Elizabeth must have met you there. Why else would you both suddenly be at the same isolated place like that? I don't know what she thinks you had to consult about, but there it is, what she believes."
    He stopped studying the wall behind her and looked directly at her then. "How badly was she hurt?"
    She told him what she had told everyone else. "I don't know that it was Elizabeth Kurtz. I don't know who she is."
    "Didn't she say anything at all? Didn't the boy?"
    She shook her head. "All he said was, 'Mama's hurt.' Not another word."
    "She didn't see who attacked her?"
    "Mr. Kurtz, I've told you everything I can about it. She was unconscious, or semiconscious at the best. I didn't try to question her."
    He got up and began to walk about the office aimlessly. Turned away