Chapter 15 - The Woman Who Wouldn't Blink
Diane chose the entrance to my workplace for our next confrontation.
I was leaving an overnight shift when she stepped out of a silver SUV, dressed for a charity luncheon, with a small gift bag hooked over her wrist. She smiled at the hospital volunteer near the doors.
"Emily, sweetheart. Can we speak privately?"
"Contact me through my lawyer."
Her smile hardened. "You don't understand how much this is hurting Ryan. He is falling apart."
"Lily was hungry while he watched."
"Children exaggerate. You know how they are."
"I know what the video shows."
She opened the bag. Inside were expensive toddler shoes, still wrapped in tissue. "A peace offering. Let's stop this before the press finds out you turned a family matter into a criminal accusation."
I didn't touch the shoes.
"I have never spoken to the press," I said. "And I'm not trading Lily's safety for silence."
Diane stepped closer. "You think a nurse can fight people with our resources? I could bury you in lawyers until Lily's old enough to vote."
My hospital security officer walked toward us. He hadn't heard everything, but he saw Diane blocking my path. When I asked for assistance, he stayed until I reached my car and noted the encounter in his incident report.
Naomi took my account and asked the hospital to preserve nearby security footage. Diane's gifts and threat would not determine custody alone, but the pattern was no longer confined to the Mercer dining room.
That night Judith called. Her voice, usually measured, sounded strained.
"The trust's internal review found a draft payment request for two hundred eighty thousand dollars. It wasn't approved. It was prepared for submission immediately after an expected custody ruling."
May you like
"For what?"
"A residential treatment program," Judith said. "For your daughter. In a facility that appears not to exist."
