Chapter 16 - The Price of a Lie
The offer came in a sealed envelope delivered to my door at seven the next morning. Seventy-five thousand dollars for medical expenses, lost wages, and "inconvenience." In exchange, I would sign a statement that Sunset Mile had never provided Leo with a plastic toy, and that Jax Mercer's actions were reckless and unnecessary.
Rachel read the pages, then looked at me. "They think you're desperate enough to sell him out."
"I am desperate," I said. "That doesn't mean they're right."
My boss at the assisted-living center had already taken me off the schedule because strangers were calling to complain. My rent was due. Leo needed follow-up visits, and I needed a job where no one recognized me from a twenty-second video.
I sat on the kitchen floor after Rachel left, the check-sized promise on one side of me and my son's dinosaur on the other. For one ugly minute, I considered signing. Not because I believed them. Because I wanted a night when I didn't have to be brave.
Then Leo appeared in the doorway wearing mismatched socks.
"Mommy, are you sad?"
"A little."
"You can sit by me."
He lowered himself beside me, careful not to touch my arm until I opened it. I put the papers back in their envelope.
At noon, I called the attorney. "I won't sign."
"Consider your son's future," she warned.
"That's exactly what I'm doing."
I told Detective Grant about the offer. She asked for the original documents and their envelope, and I brought them downtown.
When I returned home, Malcolm was waiting across the street beside a battered hatchback. He looked ten years older than he had at the diner.
"I sent the receipt," he said before I could speak. "And the warning."
"Why?"
His eyes filled. "Because I watched your kid stop breathing, and all I cared about was whether Calvin would fire me."
May you like
He opened his palm. A small black flash drive lay against his skin.
"This is the part he told me to destroy."
