Chapter 12 - THE DEAL
David’s attorneys requested a meeting.
I refused.
Then David sent a message through Caroline.
Ask Anna who paid for her mother’s hospital.
My mother died after a long illness.
My father had always told me insurance covered most of the treatment.
The rest came from savings.
David’s message suggested otherwise.
My father went quiet when I showed him.
“What is he talking about?”
He looked older than he had the night Grace was born.
“Your mother’s final treatment was experimental.”
“It was not covered.”
“Who paid for it?”
He did not answer immediately.
“An anonymous foundation.”
I understood before he finished.
“The Jefferson Circle?”
“I did not know that name then.”
“But you accepted the money.”
“Yes.”
“Did it affect a case?”
“No.”
“Did they expect it to?”
“I never learned who provided it.”
David had found the secret.
He believed it could destroy my father.
He believed it would force us to accept his deal.
I asked Caroline to arrange the meeting.
It took place in a federal detention facility.
David sat behind thick glass.
He looked thinner.
His hair was uncombed.
But his eyes were still sharp.
He picked up the phone.
“You finally came.”
“I came for the truth.”
“You always say that like truth is clean.”
“It isn’t.”
“It still matters.”
He smiled faintly.
“Your father accepted money from people with cases before the Court.”
“He did not know who they were.”
“That is what he says.”
“What do you have?”
“Records.”
“Names.”
“Proof that Marcus Dean arranged the payment.”
I watched him carefully.
“What do you want?”
“Your support for the cooperation agreement.”
“I do not control prosecutors.”
“You influence your father.”
“My father is not directing this case.”
David leaned closer.
“You still protect him.”
“You do not understand loyalty because you confuse it with obedience.”
His expression hardened.
“I protected you.”
“You recorded me.”
“I kept you safe from your father’s world.”
“You married me to enter it.”
For the first time, his confidence slipped.
“You think everything was false?”
“I think whatever was real was never stronger than what you wanted.”
He looked away.
I continued.
“You watched your mother push me.”
“You heard me beg for an ambulance.”
“You destroyed my phone.”
“Tell me which part of that was love.”
David’s eyes returned to mine.
“I panicked.”
“No.”
“You calculated.”
He placed one hand against the glass.
“If I give the government everything, dozens of people go down.”
“Then give it.”
“What do I get?”
I stood.
“The chance to tell the truth before someone else does.”
As I turned away, David spoke again.
“Anna.”
I stopped.
“Marcus knew about Christmas.”
I faced him.
“He ordered my mother to create a medical emergency.”
“Why?”
May you like
David’s voice dropped.
“Because they did not need you after the baby was born.”
