Chapter 11 - He Knew Enough
There was a recording.
Vance Meridian automatically recorded certain executive calls for compliance purposes.
David had forgotten.
Or perhaps he never knew.
At 10:56 p.m., Rebecca called him.
Music thundered in the background.
People were laughing.
Wind roared across the yacht deck.
“David, the hospital keeps calling.”
“What hospital?”
“The pediatric center in Chicago.”
A pause.
Then David said:
“Is Maya calling too?”
“Yes.”
“She’s doing this deliberately.”
“I don’t know.”
“Block both numbers.”
Rebecca hesitated.
“What if it’s Lily?”
David answered.
“If something were actually wrong, Maya would text me.”
I had texted him.
Fourteen times.
Rebecca said that.
“Maya has texted you.”
David’s response came immediately.
“I’m not reading them.”
Then Julianne’s voice appeared faintly in the background.
“Come back.”
David laughed.
“Handle it, Rebecca.”
The call ended.
I sat perfectly still.
Rachel’s eyes were wet.
Adrian stopped the audio.
Rebecca was sobbing.
“I should have called you.”
“Yes.”
“I should have called the hospital back.”
“Yes.”
“I was afraid I’d lose my job.”
I looked at her.
“My daughter lost her life.”
Rebecca bowed her head.
“I know.”
“No.”
I stood.
“You know a sentence.”
“You don’t know what that means.”
I left the room.
In the hallway, I finally broke.
Not because I had learned David caused Lily’s illness.
He had not.
Not because he had known exactly how sick she was.
He had not.
The truth was simpler.
And somehow worse.
He had known enough to check.
He chose not to.
That afternoon, David was charged with multiple financial offenses related to the trust.
The state prosecutor also began reviewing possible charges connected to forged documents and the fraudulent insurance policy.
There was no criminal law that could perfectly describe what he had done on the yacht.
A father ignoring calls was not the same as a father causing a death.
The law could prosecute his money.
His lies.
His signatures.
His fraud.
But it could not put a number on the moment Lily looked at the ICU door and asked whether Daddy was coming.
I thought that would be the end of the surprises.
I was wrong.
At 6:40 p.m., Rachel arrived at the temporary apartment where I was staying.
She carried a sealed evidence envelope.
“What is it?”
“Something found in David’s office safe.”
Inside was a handwritten letter.
My name was on the front.
The handwriting belonged to my father.
He had been dead for four years.
I opened it with shaking hands.
May you like
The first sentence read:
Maya, if you are reading this, David has finally done what I was afraid he would do.
