“Your strongest evidence is still the source records,” she said.

“Not whatever someone sends you to scare you.”

She was right.

Fear could pull me away from what I knew.

I had a habit, trained through years of audits, of building a story before I had enough documents.

I needed to resist it now more than ever.

The next day a legal aid organization connected me with attorney Grace Moreno, who agreed to review the custody matter on a reduced-fee basis and seek funding for further representation.

I almost cried when she asked to see my binder.