In Her Tracks (Tracy Crosswhite #8)(104)
Tracy had never been in these circumstances, but she had done research before leaving Seattle. First and foremost, she had no legal recourse she could enforce. China was not a party to the Hague child abduction convention, nor was there any indication that China intended to join the convention. There were no international or bilateral treaties in force between China and the United States dealing with parental child abduction, and it was highly unlikely a foreign court order would be recognized in China, especially an order related to foreign child custody. Chinese law required the existence of a treaty or de facto reciprocity to enforce a foreign judgment; neither existed between the United States and China. Beyond that, the convention specifically required that hearings be conducted expeditiously and concluded within six weeks. A Hague case instituted more than a year after the abduction of a child was subject to the exception that if the child had become settled in the new environment, it was highly unlikely the court would send the child back.
Beyond all of that, Tracy suspected that if Jewel found out about Elle and made some attempt to recover her, Elle could again disappear into a population of more than a billion people. And what good would it do, to pull the little girl from a safe environment, a loving environment, a place she could truly call home, and return her to a dysfunctional mother and a dysfunctional parenting plan? Tracy knew that to send Elle back would only cause her further damage. Even if the Hague convention were applicable, it emphasized the interests of the child to be paramount, and any order would not be enforced if there was a grave risk that her return would expose the child to physical or psychological harm or otherwise place the child in an intolerable position.
“What did you tell Elle?” Tracy asked.
“Initially we told her that her mother and father agreed that she would come and live with me, her uncle, and my parents until after the divorce. When I told her that she didn’t have to go home, she cried. She was so happy.”
“She’ll have more questions when she gets older.”
“Already. And at some point, Elle will have to decide for herself.”
“Does Elle ever ask to see or talk to her mom?”
“Initially she did. But mostly she asked to see her daddy. She rarely asks about Jewel, and she never says that she wants to go back.”
Tracy wondered if Jewel Chin knew or perhaps suspected Gloria Chin had taken Elle—if that was the reason she mentioned, three times, that Elle’s abductor had been an Asian woman. Did she know Gloria had taken Elle? Did she acquiesce because she knew it was in Elle’s best interests, or because she never wanted to be a mom in the first place, and the burden to her lifestyle outweighed whatever pain she could inflict on her former husband, and it was enough to know that he didn’t get to keep Elle either? Tracy hoped it was the former.
“What does Elle call you?” Tracy asked.
“Lola. She calls my husband Uncle Bo.”
“And she’s happy?”
“You see for yourself.” She motioned for Tracy to look in the other room. Elle sat watching television. Back in the kitchen, Gloria asked in a soft voice, “Why did you come all this way?”
Tracy knew Gloria remained concerned that Tracy’s motives were not altruistic, that she had come to take Elle. She explained to Gloria what she had learned about the Hague child abduction convention, though she suspected Gloria knew much already. Then she explained that was why she had come without official authority. “I recently started working cold cases, and this case caught my attention because it seemed so tragic on so many levels. I have a counselor.” She paused. “I lost my sister when she was eighteen. I was supposed to watch her, but I failed. She never came home again.”
“I’m sorry,” Gloria said.
“My counselor thinks I have an obsession to save young women.” Tracy shrugged, smiling. “I guess she’s right. There could be worse obsessions. When I figured out what happened to Elle, where she was, I guess I just needed to know she was safe.”
Gloria waited. Then she asked, “And what have you found?”
“I think Elle is going to help me understand that I can’t save every young woman, and in some cases, that I don’t need to. Her aunt and her uncle have already saved Elle.”
Tears rolled down Gloria’s cheeks. “Will you tell Jewel?”
“No. I think to do so, without Jewel having any recourse, would only be cruel to her and to Elle. And a part of me thinks Jewel already knows but isn’t saying because to admit it would be to admit that Bobby won. This way, neither of them won.” Tracy thought of her conversation with Jewel Chin, and of the investigative reports in the file that each said Jewel had moved from the house to a hotel and refused to cooperate in the investigation to find her daughter. Tracy had no doubt that if she told Jewel about Elle, Jewel would then be forced to use Elle to reopen old wounds. She’d once again blame Bobby, say that he had orchestrated the taking, and maybe make Elle the center of an international tug-of-war that could threaten to tear her apart, maybe this time irreparably. “Do you know the story of King Solomon?”
Gloria shook her head. “I do not.”
“It’s in the Bible. Two women claimed to be the mother of a child. To determine the true mother, Solomon suggests cutting the baby in half. One woman agrees, but the true mother begs that he give the child, unharmed, to the other woman.”