Chương 12
Arianne saw his face.
“What now?”
He looked at her.
“Roger knew about Derek’s company.”
Her expression went flat.
“And the money?”
“He says Derek told him it was being spent because of you.”
Arianne did not speak.
Gideon kept drawing.
Baldric watched his daughter’s face change slowly from shock to something colder.
Not fear this time.
Not even anger.
Recognition.
“He was building a case.”
Her voice was almost calm.
Baldric said nothing.
Arianne looked toward the wedding ring in the plastic bag.
“For how long?”
The question was not really for him.
She picked up the bag.
For a moment Baldric thought she might throw it.
Instead she opened it, removed the ring, and held it between two fingers.
Gideon watched.
“Are you putting it on?”
Arianne looked at her son.
“No.”
She placed the ring on the tray table.
Then she pushed it away.
“I think I’m finally taking it off.”
At one twenty-three that afternoon, the hospital brought a tablet into Arianne’s room and propped it on a rolling stand beside the bed.
Melissa sat next to her with a legal pad balanced on one knee.
Baldric stayed against the far wall.
Gideon had been taken downstairs with Ms. Ramos to get lunch and, according to him, inspect whether the cafeteria had improved its pancakes since breakfast.
The video connection opened to a small courtroom.
Derek appeared at one table beside two attorneys.
Bertha sat behind him.
Roger was not there.
Arianne’s breathing changed when Derek’s face appeared on the screen.
Melissa noticed.
“You can look at me instead.”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t get points for suffering efficiently.”
Arianne looked at her.
“That sounds like something my father would say.”
Baldric raised a hand.
“I’m staying out of it.”
The judge entered.
What followed was less dramatic than Baldric expected.
There were no speeches.
No gasps.
No sudden declarations.
Mostly there were documents, dates, interruptions, procedural questions, and lawyers disagreeing over what could be established from incomplete information.
Derek’s attorney described Arianne as emotionally unstable.
Melissa objected to the characterization.
The judge sustained part of the objection and told both sides to stick to facts they could support.
Derek stared at the screen throughout.
Arianne avoided looking back until his attorney referenced the psychiatric treatment.
Then she lifted her head.
The attorney said Derek had become concerned for his wife’s mental health months earlier.
Melissa asked whether Derek had disclosed his financial connection to the clinic involved in arranging that treatment.
Derek’s attorney stopped speaking.
The silence was brief.
It was enough.
The judge looked down at the papers in front of her.
“What financial connection?”
Derek leaned toward his lawyer.
Bertha’s mouth tightened.
Melissa did not overplay it.
“We have information suggesting a company controlled by Mr. Vance made substantial payments to the clinic during the same period.”
The judge asked whether the claim had been verified.
“Not fully.”
“Then I’m not making findings on it today.”
“Understood.”
Arianne’s fingers loosened slightly around the edge of the blanket.
The judge continued reviewing the immediate allegations.
Photographs of Arianne’s injuries had already been submitted.
The hospital’s preliminary toxicology result was admitted only for the limited purpose of establishing that an unexpected sedating substance had been detected.
Derek’s attorney argued there was no proof Derek administered it.
Melissa agreed that had not yet been proven.
Then she added that Gideon’s separate child-services interview had produced information law enforcement was investigating.
Derek’s head snapped toward his attorney.
For the first time, Baldric saw fear on his face.
Not anger.
Fear.
The judge ordered that neither parent question Gideon about the incident outside professionally supervised interviews.
Then she granted Arianne temporary physical custody and issued an interim protective order prohibiting Derek from contacting her except through counsel.
Derek’s shoulders slumped.
Bertha whispered something to him.
The judge was not finished.
She prohibited both sides from removing Gideon from the county pending further proceedings.
She also ordered that Derek’s visitation be supervised until the allegations could be evaluated.
Arianne closed her eyes.
Melissa touched her sleeve.
“You got what we asked for.”
Arianne whispered, “For now.”
“For now is enough for today.”
The hearing ended.
The tablet screen went dark.
For several seconds nobody moved.
Then Baldric crossed the room.
He stopped before reaching the bed.
“Can I?”
Arianne looked at his hand.
Then she placed hers in it.
He squeezed once.
She did not cry.
Neither did he.
Melissa began gathering papers.
“We still have work.”
“Of course we do.”
Arianne sounded tired.
Melissa looked at Baldric.
“And you have a board meeting tomorrow.”
He frowned.
“How do you know that?”
“Your daughter told me.”
Arianne shrugged.
“I’m beginning to enjoy knowing things about you.”
Melissa stood.
“Whatever happens there, keep it separate.”
Baldric nodded.
“I intend to.”
Arianne watched him.
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
She gave him a look.
“I’m trying.”
“That answer I believe.”
The hospital discharged Arianne shortly after four.
Baldric drove her and Gideon home in the old pickup.
Gideon complained that his seat smelled like motor oil.
“It does not.”
“It smells like old tools.”
“That is a respectable smell.”
Arianne rested her head against the window.
For the first time since the call at 1:12 that morning, she smiled without immediately losing it.
Baldric’s house had two bedrooms.
Gideon claimed the smaller one.
Arianne took Baldric’s room after protesting for nearly five minutes.
He took the couch.
“You’ll hate it.”
“I’ve slept on worse.”
“When?”
“Your mother made me sleep in a folding chair at the hospital after you were born.”
Arianne stopped.
“She did?”
“She said I snored.”
“You do.”
“She lacked compassion.”
Arianne shook her head.
That evening, Melissa called to say law enforcement had served a search warrant at the Vance residence and Derek’s attorney’s office.
She offered no details beyond that.
Arianne did not ask for more.
She helped Gideon with a puzzle at the kitchen table.
Baldric made grilled cheese.
May you like
He burned two.
Gideon inspected the black edge on his sandwich.
