Snatched

Part 76 - Westchester Social Services

Wendy picked up her phone and turned her chair around, so that she was facing away from the laptop screen. She was careful to hit the 'mute' button on her keyboard, so that nobody could hear her.

'Hello..' Wendy answered the phone, tentatively. The voice that replied was sharp and formal. 'Is that miss Wendy Nichols I'm speaking to?'
'Yes,' Wendy replied, 'could I please ask who it is that I'm speaking to?'
The man on the other end of the phone cleared his throat. 'My name is Michael Chester and I'm a solicitor calling on behalf of Chester & Cavandish Legal Services..'
'Just bear with me', Wendy interrupted the man.

She turned back around to face the computer screen and pressed the 'unmute' button. 'Sorry guys', she said, tilting her head apologetically. 'I kinda gotta go. It looks like this calls gonna take a while. Do you mind if I give this one a raincheck and rearrange for a couple days time?'
'Yeah sure', Rory and Logan chimed in unison.
'Ermm fine', Wendy could sense a tone of disease in Cynthias voice. But, she dismissed this for now and ended the call.

Wendy picked up her phone and took the caller off of hold.
'I'm so sorry' she said. 'I just had to end another call'.
'Oh ok', the solicitor said. 'No worries, I can give you a call back at another time, if it's more convenient?'
'No', it's ok', Wendy giggled, to make it sound as if she was at ease with this phone call. 'That call wasn't quite so important'. Wendy lied. The truth was that she was desperate to hear what the solicitor had to say. 'Now what was it you were calling about?'

'Oh, alright'. The solicitor cleared his throat again. 'As I explained before, my name is Michael Chester and I'm a solicitor calling from Chester and Cavendish Legal Services. I'm calling you today on behalf of my clients; a Mr Antoine and Mrs Maddie Touissant, who I hear you're familiar with'.

Wendy paused to think for a few seconds. These names sounded familiar, but she wasn't sure where from.
'I'm sorry', she said. 'As I'm sure you're aware, I come into contact with a lotta people in my day-to-day work as a social worker and I can't 100% recall a Mr and Mrs Touissant.'

'That's absolutely no worry!' Michael said. 'I'm sure I can help jog your memory. Mr and Mrs Touissant approached me for my legal services, as part of their plight to gain custody of a Master Daniel..'
Before Michael could finish his sentence, Wendy gasped. Her gasp must have been audible as Michael asked, 'I'm sorry miss Nichols are you ok?'

In an attempt to sound professional, Wendy responded 'I'm sorry Mr Chester, as I'm sure you're aware, Daniels case has been quite a tragic one and it's been quite harrowing for even a hardened social worker like me.' She attempted a joke, but Michael didn't seem to find it funny.

'I see..' Michael said. 'Well Mr and Mrs Touissant would like to claim custody of Daniel. They claim to have been a fixed and stable part of his life, since he were just a couple months..'

Wendy felt a sudden urge to defend Rory and Logans honour, so she interrupted Michael.
'With all due respect, Mr Chester..' She paused, to take a sharp intake of breath. 'I'm not sure if you're aware of this fact, but we have recently come into contact with Daniels birth parents, a Miss Rory Gilmore and Mr Logan Huntzberger, and we are aiming to reunite the family in the next couple of weeks.'

'With all due respect in return, Miss Nichols..', Michael responded. 'My clients have been made aware of that fact, but would still like to press for custody. Now if I may, could we please discuss the legal arrangements surrounding this case?'