Chapter 16 - The Last Bargain
Victor Sloane asked to meet in the conference room at Elias's office.
He arrived with two lawyers and a briefcase so polished I could see the overhead lights reflected in it.
He did not pretend to be family.
That made him easier to understand than Richard.
Sloane said he had financed a struggling business and expected contractual obligations to be honored.
He denied having any role in the airport plan or the warehouse fire.
Elias acknowledged those denials and asked for documents.
The conversation stayed focused on the business's actual obligations and the trust's legal position.
Grandma listened without interrupting.
Sloane proposed a settlement.
The trust would recognize certain property rights, the lender would provide temporary operating cash, and the parties would release specified claims.
In exchange, employees might avoid immediate disruption.
It was carefully phrased.
But the proposed release was broader than Grandma was prepared to accept without a complete accounting.
"You keep talking about the building," she said.
"How many people work there?"
Sloane gave a number.
"And how many of them signed these agreements?"
"None, to my knowledge."
"Then don't use them as bargaining chips."
For a moment he seemed to respect her.
He leaned back.
"Mrs. Carter, this is business."
"It has been business since my husband built it," she replied.
"What it has not always been is honest."
Elias proposed exchanging verified records and exploring a limited arrangement that would protect operations without surrendering Grandma's disputed rights.
The negotiations continued for hours.
No one emerged with a final deal.
But Sloane supplied information that changed our understanding of Richard's position.
He claimed Richard had assured him that Grandma's consent was already secured.
He produced an email saying so.
Dad had sent it the day before the family left for Europe.
While Grandma was carefully packing her cardigan, he had been assuring a financier that she would cooperate.
I wondered whether he had planned to obtain her signature after abandoning her.
Or whether the airport humiliation was meant to make her grateful for any scrap of attention when he returned.
On the drive home Grandma asked to stop at Grandpa's grave.
She walked slowly over the grass and placed a single rose by the marker.
"I was angry with you for writing that clause," she whispered.
I stood a few steps away.
She went on speaking as though Grandpa could hear.
"I thought you were punishing our children before they had done anything wrong."
The leaves shifted in a cold breeze.
"But you were leaving me a choice."
When we returned home, Ruth had made soup.
The house felt warmer than it had in weeks.
Then Aaron called.
He sounded frantic.
Blake had agreed to speak with investigators about the warehouse fire.
But before the meeting, someone had offered him money to change his account.
"Who?" I asked.
"He says it came through Uncle Richard's lawyer."
I told Aaron not to assume anything without evidence and urged him to have Blake report the approach to his own counsel.
By evening, Blake had preserved the message and passed it to the appropriate investigators.
The incident could have serious consequences if substantiated.
I sat beside Grandma as she read Aaron's update.
"I thought the airport was the worst thing they could do," I said.
She looked at Grandpa's photograph.
"No," she answered.
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"The worst thing would be letting them teach the next generation that this is how a family survives."
