I let Avery stay here after her mother’s rehab placement. I did not, and will never, give you the authority to evict my daughter from her own bed.”

Richard’s face flushed a deep, ugly crimson. “You wouldn’t throw out family.”

“No,” I said, staring directly into his watery blue eyes. “You already did.”

I pulled out my phone and dialed the non-emergency police line. Patricia shrieked that I was humiliating them, but I didn’t raise my voice. I just gave the dispatcher my address.

While we waited for the police, I went to the front closet for a towel. As I reached past the recycling bin, I noticed a crumpled, official-looking letter half-buried under a stack of old magazines.

The logo caught my eye: Department of Health and Human Services — Child Protective Services.