Chapter 6 - Eighty-Four Thousand Dollars
Ethan stared at the transfer authorization on Shah's desk. "That can't be right. Grace's money was for Lily's future."
"It's money you were responsible for protecting," Shah said. "Whose account received it?"
"Vanessa handled the paperwork. I thought we were paying for extra help."
"Eighty-four thousand dollars' worth?"
He didn't answer. The question was easier than the real one: how had a father who could afford an expensive house made his daughter work like a servant while someone drained her savings?
Vanessa's attorney called me that afternoon. He offered to "resolve the family misunderstanding" if I withdrew my statement about the incident. He said Vanessa might otherwise accuse me of attacking her in front of the children.
"She can tell investigators what happened," I said. "I already have."
By evening a clipped video was circulating among family friends. It began with me slapping Vanessa, skipped the scene at the sink, and ended with Ethan crashing into the shelf. Underneath someone had written: VIOLENT GRANDMOTHER SEEKS CUSTODY.
My phone filled with furious messages. A cousin told me I should be ashamed. A neighbor asked if the children were safe with me. I turned off my phone.
Lily was in the living room fitting wooden blocks together. She asked, "Are people angry because you helped us?"
"Some people haven't seen what happened before I came in."
"Will they make us go back?"
I knelt beside her. "Adults are working out what's safest. I'm not going to stop telling the truth."
A detective called just after dinner. The investigators had traced the edited clip to an account registered to Paige Mercer.
"There's something else," Shah said. "The original recording contains audio from an earlier conversation. Vanessa tells someone she needs one more incident to make a judge believe Lily is dangerous."
I looked at my granddaughter building a crooked tower on the rug.
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"And who is the someone?" I asked.
"We're still identifying the voice," Shah said. "But he calls your son by his first name."
