Chapter 8 - The Capacity Event
"Capacity event?" I repeated.
Laura's expression changed. "That can mean several things. Medical incapacity. Court finding. Temporary conservatorship."
"Or a manufactured crisis," Aaron said.
I looked through the glass at Ella asleep on the couch.
"Vanessa wanted Ella to accuse me of drinking and abandoning her."
Laura nodded slowly. "If she had enough statements, enough staged incidents, maybe a police call or a hospital visit, she could ask for emergency orders."
"And while everyone fought over whether I was fit, she gets control of Ella."
"And possibly influence over the trust until a judge sorts it out."
My phone rang.
Vanessa.
I put it on speaker.
"Where is my wife?" I asked.
"Your wife?" Laura murmured.
I knew. I was not ready to say the other word yet.
Vanessa sounded calm. Too calm.
"Ethan, we need to talk privately. You are frightening Ella with all this."
I almost laughed.
"Where are you?"
"At the house."
"I told you to leave."
"My attorney advised me not to abandon the marital residence."
Of course she had an attorney already.
"Who is your attorney?"
A pause.
"Caleb Ross."
Laura's eyes snapped up.
She wrote on a legal pad: HE REPRESENTS SILVER PINE.
My blood went cold.
Vanessa continued, "Come home alone. We can fix this before you ruin everything."
"What exactly am I ruining?"
Her voice sharpened. "Our family."
"You put my daughter on the floor with dog food."
Silence.
Then, very softly, she said, "Be careful what you accuse me of, Ethan. You don't know what I already have on you."
The call ended.
Laura turned her laptop toward me.
She had pulled the corporate registration for Silver Pine Holdings.
The formation date was six months earlier.
May you like
The witness signature belonged to someone I knew.
My own assistant, Derek Shaw.
