Chapter 6 - THE COST OF BEING LATE
Lucas did not thank Ethan for uncovering the business records.
He barely spoke to him.
“You knew she took money from Mom’s account,” Lucas said.
“I knew about one withdrawal.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“You were fourteen.”
“It was mine when I was fourteen.”
Ethan tried to explain that he believed the business would repay the money.
Lucas turned away.
“That’s what Candice says whenever she takes something.”
The temporary protection order was extended after the hospital records, photographs, customer schedules, and Brooke’s bank-account statement were presented.
Candice could not contact Lucas or enter the house.
She remained free to communicate with Ethan through attorneys because the abuse allegations had not yet produced a criminal case.
Ethan’s mother, Ruth, called from Dublin and demanded that he stop humiliating Candice.
“She made a terrible mistake,” Ruth said. “That doesn’t mean she’s some monster.”
“She starved Lucas.”
“According to Lucas.”
Ethan hung up.
Two days later, Ruth came to the house carrying a casserole and asked to speak with her grandson.
Lucas refused to leave his room.
Ruth placed the dish in the refrigerator and noticed the lock Candice had installed on the pantry door.
The key hung from a chain inside the cabinet above the refrigerator, beyond Lucas’s reach.
Ruth stared at it for a long time.
“What was that for?”
“Ask Candice.”
Ruth did.
Candice told her Lucas had binge-eating problems and required medical supervision.
There were no medical records supporting that claim.
Ruth called Ethan the next morning.
“I should’ve asked more questions.”
“So should I.”
She offered to let Lucas stay with her while the house was searched and the court case developed. Lucas accepted.
His decision felt like another consequence of Ethan’s absence.
At Ruth’s condo, Lucas slept with food in the bedside drawer. He attended school part-time under a reentry plan arranged by counselor Monica Perez.
Monica had received emails from Candice describing anxiety, aggression, and a home-based entrepreneurship curriculum.
The emails contained Ethan’s name at the bottom.
He had never seen them.
Yet some included phrases copied from texts he sent Candice.
He’s old enough to contribute.
Don’t let him manipulate the rules.
Whatever it takes.
Candice had built authority from fragments Ethan supplied.
Brooke’s cooperation weakened after Candice stopped paying her tuition balance. She hired her own attorney and refused another interview.
Without Brooke’s testimony, several business actions could be attributed to her rather than Candice.
Lauren warned Ethan that truth inside a family was not the same as admissible proof.
Then FreshFold’s former delivery driver contacted Samuel Ortiz.
Candice had told him Lucas was an eighteen-year-old high-school graduate who preferred to remain behind the scenes.
The driver had never met the owner.
He had, however, received weekly instructions from someone signing messages as LAM.
May you like
Lucas Andrew Mercer.
The phone number attached to those instructions belonged to Candice.
