Chapter 13 - A Deal Offered at Midnight
I did not meet Ryan alone.
Evelyn replied that all communications would go through counsel unless a court approved otherwise.
An hour later Roarke requested a settlement conference.
He offered to support a temporary placement with me if I agreed to dismiss allegations of intimidation, avoid public comment, and sign a confidentiality agreement covering the foundation.
The offer also required me to accept supervised contact at a center chosen by the Carter family.
Evelyn read it, set it aside, and looked at me.
"We don't bargain away a child's safety for their silence."
"No."
Ryan's next message claimed he had a document proving Vivian planned to make him the family's scapegoat.
He said his mother had controlled the trust, the lawyers, and the public statements.
I believed that Vivian exercised extraordinary power.
I did not believe her son was powerless.
At four the next morning, Daniel called to say someone had broken into the foundation's records office.
The intruder stole two laptops and left expensive electronics untouched.
One missing laptop had been assigned to Miriam Sloane, the trust administrator.
The other belonged to Roarke's assistant.
Bell secured entry logs and nearby surveillance.
A masked figure appeared on camera carrying an ordinary canvas bag.
The person left in a compact rental car.
The plate led to a vehicle rented with Ryan's corporate account.
He told deputies the account could be used by several employees.
His attorneys insisted this did not identify the driver.
They were technically correct.
Elise's nightmares returned after a television news segment mentioned the family name.
We stopped watching local news.
I bought a board game with absurd plastic animals that fell off a bridge.
She laughed when my elephant went into the imaginary river.
I held on to that laugh like proof that the world still contained good things.
The next afternoon we visited the rehabilitation clinic.
Elise completed a painful exercise, then asked whether her arm would ever feel normal.
The therapist gave a careful answer about recovery and patience.
No promises beyond what medicine could support.
Elise accepted the answer better than I did.
On the drive home, Evelyn called.
Miriam Sloane had contacted the prosecutor.
She said foundation officers had ordered her to transfer funds into an emergency legal-defense reserve.
When she resisted, her laptop disappeared.
She had kept paper copies of instructions she believed were improper.
The records were now in counsel's possession.
Ryan's name appeared on one authorization.
Vivian's appeared on another.
And one payment memo contained a description that made Evelyn go quiet.
'Witness readiness — child video preparation.'
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The transaction predated the attack by eleven weeks.
