Chương 9
Baldric had laughed along.
He had told himself their contempt was harmless because it cost him nothing.
Now he could make that contempt expensive.
The temptation embarrassed him.
“I should be there.”
“Why?”
“To make decisions.”
“Then make them without enjoying it.”
He looked at her.
“That’s not exactly controllable.”
“No.”
She held his gaze.
“But you can control whether you turn what happened to me into the best day of your business life.”
The words hit harder than Bertha’s insult had.
Baldric looked away.
After a moment, he said, “You’re right.”
Arianne seemed exhausted by being right.
“I wish everyone would stop making me say difficult things.”
“I’ll work on being easier.”
“That would be new.”
At eight eleven, a child-services worker entered with Gideon.
He wore pajama pants under a winter coat that was too warm for the season.
His hair stood up at the back.
For one second he stopped in the doorway.
Then he saw Arianne.
“Mom?”
Arianne made a sound Baldric had never heard from her before.
Gideon ran.
She climbed halfway out of the bed before the IV line pulled tight.
Baldric caught the pole while Gideon threw himself against his mother.
Arianne wrapped both arms around him and winced but did not let go.
Gideon buried his face against her chest.
“I thought you went away.”
“I’m here.”
“Grandma said you were sick.”
“I’m okay.”
He pulled back enough to examine the bruise under her chin.
“Your face isn’t okay.”
Arianne’s mouth trembled.
“No.”
She brushed his hair down.
“My face needs a little time.”
Gideon looked at Baldric.
“Grandpa.”
“Hey, buddy.”
“Your truck is broken.”
Baldric blinked.
“What?”
“You ran over your trash can.”
Arianne stared at him.
Despite everything, Baldric felt offended.
“How do you know that?”
“You have a driveway camera.”
Arianne started laughing.
Gideon looked between them, confused.
Baldric shook his head.
“Apparently everyone is a detective now.”
Gideon climbed carefully onto the edge of the bed.
For several minutes nobody asked him about Derek.
Nobody asked about Bertha.
Nobody asked about blue pills.
Arianne simply held him while he complained that the nanny made oatmeal too watery.
Baldric stood near the window and listened.
It was the most important conversation in the room.
Eventually Gideon became quiet.
He traced one of the bruises around Arianne’s wrist with a finger that barely touched her skin.
“Dad said you scratched him.”
Arianne’s breathing stopped for half a second.
“I did.”
“Why?”
She looked toward the child-services worker.
The woman did not intervene.
Arianne chose her words carefully.
“Because I was scared and trying to get away.”
Gideon stared at the bruise.
“Did he squeeze you?”
Arianne did not answer immediately.
“Yes.”
Gideon nodded as though confirming something to himself.
Then he looked at Baldric.
“Grandma said I imagined it.”
Baldric’s chest tightened.
Arianne pulled Gideon closer.
“What did you imagine?”
Gideon looked toward the door.
No one was there.
He lowered his voice anyway.
“Dad putting the pills in your water.”
Arianne went completely still.
The child-services worker reached for her notebook but did not speak.
Gideon continued because nobody stopped him.
“He told me they were vitamins.”
Arianne swallowed.
“When did you see that?”
“Before Grandma came.”
Gideon rubbed his nose against his sleeve.
“I went downstairs because I wanted my dinosaur cup.”
Baldric felt the entire morning rearrange itself around that ordinary detail.
Not a secret recording.
Not a hidden camera.
A seven-year-old wanting the cup with a green dinosaur printed on the side.
Gideon looked at his mother.
“Then Dad told me to go upstairs.”
Arianne’s voice barely worked.
“Did he say anything else?”
Gideon nodded.
May you like
“He said you were going to sleep for a long time.”
Arianne did not move.Gideon seemed to notice the adults had stopped breathing around him.He pulled his hand back from his mother’s wrist.“Am I in trouble?”Arianne’s face changed immediately.“No.”She reached for him.“No, sweetheart.”“I wasn’t supposed to come downstairs.”“You are not in trouble.”“Dad said I never listen.”Arianne gathered him against her carefully.“You did nothing wrong.”Gideon looked over her shoulder at the child-services worker.“Is Dad in trouble?”The woman crouched a few feet away instead of approaching the bed.“My name is Ms. Ramos, remember?”Gideon nodded.“I remember.”“I’m going to let some other people talk with your mom about grown-up things.”His forehead wrinkled.“That means yes.”Ms. Ramos glanced at Arianne.“It means grown-ups are figuring things out.”Gideon clearly disliked the answer.“So yes.”Baldric almost smiled.Arianne pressed her lips into Gideon’s hair.“Can Grandpa take me to get pancakes?”The request surprised everyone.Baldric looked at Arianne.She hesitated.Then Ms. Ramos said, “There’s a cafeteria downstairs.”Gideon made a face.“That’s not pancakes.”“It has pancakes.”“Hospital pancakes.”Baldric picked up his jacket.“You’re becoming difficult.”“I learned from you.”Arianne laughed once and wiped under her eye before Gideon could see.Baldric held out his hand.“Come on.”Gideon took it.At the doorway he turned.“You’re not going away?”Arianne shook her head.“I’ll be right here.”“You promise?”Her expression tightened.“Yes.”Baldric caught the fear behind the promise.She had just discovered how little control she actually possessed over the next several hours, yet she gave her son certainty anyway.Parents did that.They borrowed confidence from tomorrow and handed it to children as if it already belonged to them.Gideon accepted it.In the elevator he leaned against Baldric’s side.For three floors he said nothing.Then he asked, “Is Grandma mad at Mom?”“Yes.”“Why?”“Grandma gets mad about a lot of things.”“That’s not an answer.”Baldric glanced down.“You really are Arianne’s child.”Gideon studied the glowing floor numbers.“Dad says Grandpa doesn’t know when to shut up.”“That may also be true.”Gideon looked at him.“Are you mad at Dad?”Baldric considered lying.Children usually recognized bad lies faster than adults because adults helped each other pretend.“Yes.”“Really mad?”“Yes.”“Are you going to hit him?”The elevator doors opened.Baldric did not step out.A hospital employee waiting to enter looked at them, then at the open doors.“Sir?”“One second.”He looked down at Gideon.“No.”Gideon searched his face.“Even if he hit Mom?”“Even then.”The boy nodded slowly.“Why?”“Because hitting him wouldn’t help your mom.”The employee cleared her throat.Baldric stepped aside.“Sorry.”The cafeteria pancakes were better than Gideon expected and worse than Baldric claimed.Gideon ate four bites, peeled the paper from a syrup packet, then forgot the pancakes entirely when he saw a maintenance worker replacing a ceiling tile.Baldric watched him watch the ladder.“Do you want some orange juice?”“No.”“You asked for orange juice.”“I changed my mind.”“Excellent financial planning.”Gideon dragged a plastic fork through syrup.“Mom says you’re cheap.”“Your mother is spreading propaganda.”“What’s propaganda?”“Something we’ll discuss when you’re thirty.”Gideon accepted that more readily than Baldric expected.A family sat two tables away with a toddler wearing a bicycle helmet.The child banged a spoon against a tray until his exhausted father took it away.The toddler screamed.Gideon glanced over.“He’s loud.”“So were you.”“I was not.”“You once screamed through an entire grocery store because your mother wouldn’t buy a balloon.”“I don’t remember that.”“Convenient.”Gideon pushed his plate away.Then, without warning, he said, “Dad told me Mom was dangerous.”Baldric stopped drinking his coffee.“When?”“Yesterday.”Baldric set the cup down.“What exactly did he say?”Gideon looked at the syrup on his fingers.Baldric corrected himself.“You don’t have to tell me.”The boy frowned.“Why not?”“Because there are people whose job it is to ask you these things the right way.”“You mean cops?”“Sometimes.”“I don’t like cops.”“You met one?”“Dad says they make problems.”Baldric felt something heavy settle behind his ribs.He kept his voice ordinary.“Your dad says a lot of things.”Gideon nodded.“So do you.”“Unfortunately.”Gideon wiped his fingers on a napkin.“Can we go back?”They returned upstairs.Two sheriff’s investigators were waiting outside Arianne’s room.Deputy Ellis stood with them.She intercepted Baldric before Gideon reached the door.“We need to speak privately with your daughter.”Baldric nodded.“And Gideon?”“A forensic interviewer is on the way.”Gideon heard his name.“What’s forensic?”Ellis looked at Baldric.He looked back.“You started it.”She crouched beside Gideon.“It means somebody who knows how to talk to kids without putting words in their mouths.”“I already know how to talk.”“I can see that.”“Will they ask about Dad?”“They may ask what happened at home.”Gideon looked toward Arianne’s door.“Mom said I didn’t do anything wrong.”“She’s right.”Ellis stood.Baldric waited until Gideon went inside with Ms. Ramos.Then he asked, “The toxicology?”“Hospital staff notified us about the screening result.”“Is that enough?”“Enough for more questions.”“Not an arrest.”Ellis gave him a tired look.“Mr. Hale, I understand what you want.”“No, I’m learning that what I want is usually the least useful thing in the room.”That surprised her.“Good lesson.”“Expensive one.”One of the investigators stepped away to answer a call.Ellis lowered her voice.“We located Derek.”Baldric’s attention sharpened.“Where?”“At an attorney’s office downtown.”“With the laptop?”“We don’t know.”“Can you search it?”“Not because someone saw him carrying a gray bag.”Baldric looked away.“Right.”“You’re doing better.”“Don’t patronize me.”“That sounded more familiar.”The investigator returned.His expression had changed.He whispered something to Ellis.She frowned.“What?”Baldric asked.Ellis ignored him for a moment.Then she said, “We have to go.”“Where?”“Mr. Hale.”“I’m not asking for classified information.”“You’re asking for information I’m not giving you.”She left with the investigators.Baldric watched them disappear through the security doors.His phone rang almost immediately.Daniel.Baldric answered in the stairwell.“What?”“I need you to sit down.”“No.”“Fine.”Daniel sounded strained.“Marwick isn’t the only company.”Baldric closed his eyes.“How many?”“At least four.”“Owned by Derek?”“Two directly.”“And the others?”“One appears tied to Bertha.”Baldric opened his eyes.“Bertha?”“Registered manager is her personal assistant, but the formation records list Bertha as beneficiary through a trust.”“How much money?”“We’re still tracing.”“Daniel.”“North of twenty million.”Baldric leaned against the concrete wall.The stairwell smelled faintly of disinfectant and dust.“And Roger?”“We don’t know whether Roger benefited.”“That wasn’t my question.”“I don’t know what Roger knew.”Baldric rubbed his forehead.“Are these Northline funds?”“No.”“Then it isn’t ours to investigate.”“It becomes ours if Vance companies misrepresented financial condition while negotiating secured contracts with us.”Baldric looked at the red EXIT sign above the door.“What happens if we suspend everything?”“Everything?”“All active support.”“Operationally?”“Yes.”Daniel hesitated.“It could create immediate cash problems.”“How immediate?”“Payroll could become an issue within weeks.”Baldric straightened.“No.”Daniel went quiet.“No what?”“We don’t take five hundred employees down because Derek may be a criminal.”“I didn’t suggest that.”“I did last night.”“And last night you didn’t know this.”Baldric stared at his shoes.One lace was still tied differently from the other.“Find the minimum action that protects Northline without unnecessarily collapsing their operations.”“That’s going to be complicated.”“Good.”“Good?”“If it were easy, I wouldn’t trust it.”Daniel sighed.“Roger is already calling lenders.”“How do you know?”“One called us.”“What did you say?”“Nothing beyond the suspension notices.”“Keep it that way.”“Baldric.”“What?”“The board meeting tomorrow might not remain private.”“Why?”“Roger’s creditors are nervous.”Baldric laughed without humor.“They should be.”“Yes, but nervous creditors talk.”“Then let them talk.”“They may talk to reporters.”Baldric stopped.For decades, privacy had been one of the few luxuries he valued.Northline did not bear his name.His photograph appeared nowhere on the company website.Industry people knew him, but outside those circles he was invisible.He had built that invisibility deliberately.“You still there?”Daniel asked.“Yes.”“If you attend tomorrow, that may end.”Baldric thought of Bertha standing under the portico.He thought of her looking at his truck.Then he thought of Arianne telling him not to make her worst night into his best business day.“If I don’t attend?”“You can authorize us.”Baldric looked through the narrow stairwell window at the morning traffic.“I’ll decide later.”He returned to Arianne’s room and found Melissa Grant there in person.She was shorter than he remembered and wore sneakers beneath a navy suit.A legal pad rested on her knee.Arianne sat upright with Gideon asleep against her hip.Melissa pointed at Baldric.“You.”He stopped.“That rarely sounds promising.”“Sit.”Arianne looked almost pleased.Baldric sat.Melissa closed the legal pad.“I’ve spoken with law enforcement and child services.”“And?”“We have enough to file for emergency protection.”Arianne’s shoulders loosened.Melissa did not let the relief last.“But Derek filed first.”The room went silent.Arianne stared at her.“Filed what?”“A petition alleging you’re a danger to yourself and to Gideon.”Baldric felt heat rise into his face.Melissa raised one hand before he spoke.“No.”“I didn’t say anything.”“You were about to.”“What is he asking for?”“Temporary sole custody.”Arianne looked down at Gideon.The boy slept with his mouth slightly open.Melissa continued.“He also claims you stole confidential business records.”Arianne’s face hardened.“Of course he does.”“And that you threatened to expose private financial information unless he agreed to your custody demands.”“That never happened.”“I believe you.”“Can he prove it?”“Not if it didn’t happen.”“That isn’t how this works.”Melissa held her gaze.“No.”Arianne looked suddenly older.“So what happens?”“We respond.”“With what?”“The hospital records.”Melissa counted quietly on her fingers.“Police photographs.”“The toxicology screen.”“Your communications with me before last night.”“The apartment application.”“Anything establishing that you planned to leave before the incident.”Arianne nodded.“And Gideon?”“We do not use Gideon as ammunition.”Arianne’s eyes flashed.“I’m not.”“I know.”Melissa softened.“But Derek’s filing means everyone is going to become very interested in what that child saw.”Baldric looked at Gideon.Arianne whispered, “He’s seven.”“Yes.”“That should matter.”“It does.”“Then why does he have to be involved at all?”“Because adults involved him before any of us got here.”Arianne closed her eyes.Baldric expected tears.Instead she said, “File.”Melissa nodded.“I will.”“And Melissa?”“Yes?”“Include everything.”Her lawyer watched her carefully.“Everything relevant.”“No.”Arianne looked at Baldric.“The financial files too.”Melissa’s expression changed.“I told you I need to review how those were obtained.”“I know.”Arianne’s voice remained steady.“But if Derek is using custody to keep me quiet about money, I’m done helping him hide it.”Baldric leaned forward.“Arianne, once you open that door—”She turned toward him.“I know.”He stopped.For the first time since arriving at the hospital, she did not look like someone asking to be rescued.She looked frightened.She looked exhausted.She looked injured.But she was making a choice anyway.Melissa reopened her legal pad.“Then we document the connection carefully and let the proper people decide what matters.”Arianne nodded.Baldric’s phone vibrated.He ignored it.It vibrated again.Then a third time.Melissa glanced at him.“You should probably check that.”Baldric looked at the screen.Three missed calls from Roger Vance.A text appeared beneath them.BALDRIC, I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING, BUT CALL ME BEFORE YOU DESTROY BOTH OUR FAMILIES.Baldric read it twice.Arianne watched his face.“Who?”He handed her the phone.She read the message.Then she looked up.“He knows.”Baldric nodded slowly.Either Roger had finally traced Northline’s ownership structure, or someone had told him.Arianne handed the phone back.“Are you calling him?”Baldric looked at Roger’s name.Every angry part of him wanted to.Instead he turned the phone facedown on the table.“No.”Arianne watched him.“Why?”“Because this morning you asked me not to make the next decision for you.”He looked at Gideon sleeping against her.“And Roger Vance can wait until you’ve made yours.”
