Chapter 13 - The Last Lie Greg Tried to Sell
The meeting took place at the county courthouse.
Greg sat behind reinforced glass.
Months in custody had changed him.
He had lost weight.
His expensive confidence was gone.
But his eyes remained the same.
Always calculating.
Carolyn sat across from him.
David was beside her.
Rebecca warned her before they entered.
"He may be lying."
Carolyn nodded.
"He usually is."
Greg picked up the phone.
Carolyn did the same.
For several seconds he only looked at her.
"You look good."
Carolyn said nothing.
"I heard about the company."
Silence.
"You always were smarter than Sarah."
David leaned toward the glass.
Carolyn lifted one finger.
He stopped.
Greg smiled.
"Still controlling everyone."
Carolyn finally spoke.
"You asked for this meeting."
Greg leaned forward.
"I can tell you what happened the morning Robert died."
Carolyn's grip tightened around the phone.
"What happened?"
"I was there."
"We know."
"He called me."
"Prove it."
Greg's expression flickered.
"He wanted to talk about the money."
"According to your previous statement."
"He changed his mind."
"About what?"
"The loan."
Carolyn almost laughed.
"Robert recorded himself saying he would never give you the money."
Greg's jaw tightened.
"He was angry when he recorded that."
"What happened that morning?"
Greg leaned closer.
"He told me he was changing the trust."
Carolyn did not react.
"He said Sarah wouldn't get anything as long as she stayed with me."
David looked at Rebecca.
That was not in Robert's documents.
Greg continued.
"We argued."
"Then?"
"He got angry."
"And?"
"He grabbed his chest."
Carolyn stopped breathing.
David became perfectly still.
Greg watched their faces.
"He collapsed."
Carolyn whispered, "What did you do?"
Greg did not answer immediately.
"What did you do?"
"I panicked."
"You called an ambulance?"
Greg looked away.
Carolyn's voice broke.
"Did you call an ambulance?"
"No."
David shot out of his chair.
Rebecca grabbed his arm.
Greg continued.
"I thought he was faking."
Carolyn stared at him through the glass.
"Robert was on the floor."
"He was conscious."
"For how long?"
"I don't know."
"Greg."
"Maybe a minute."
"What did he say?"
Greg swallowed.
"He told me to call you."
Carolyn closed her eyes.
Robert had been fifteen feet from the house phone.
Greg had carried a cell phone.
Either call could have brought help.
"What did you do?"
"I left."
Carolyn opened her eyes.
"Why?"
"He told me Sarah would lose everything."
"So you left a seventy-year-old man having a heart attack alone because you were angry about an inheritance."
Greg slammed his hand against the counter.
"I didn't know he would die."
David grabbed the phone.
"You watched my father collapse and walked away."
Greg looked at him.
"He was still breathing."
David's voice dropped.
"You walked away."
"He insulted me."
David moved closer to the glass.
Rebecca touched his shoulder.
Greg continued quickly.
"This is why I wanted to negotiate."
Carolyn understood.
He wanted reduced sentencing in exchange for telling them how Robert's final minutes had happened.
The cruelty of it almost overwhelmed her.
Not only had he abandoned Robert.
He had kept that truth hidden for more than a year.
Now he wanted to sell it.
Carolyn took the phone back.
"No."
Greg stared at her.
"What?"
"No deal."
"You want the truth."
"I have it."
"There's more."
"Then tell the prosecutor."
Greg's face changed.
"Carolyn."
"You left my husband without help."
"I panicked."
"You stole from me."
"I made mistakes."
"You isolated me."
"Sarah did that too."
"And she admitted it."
"She's pretending."
"Perhaps."
"She only wants your money."
Carolyn smiled sadly.
"There is no money waiting for her anymore."
Greg stopped.
"What?"
"Sarah's inheritance is gone."
He stared.
Carolyn continued.
"It goes to Lily."
Greg's face turned pale.
"No."
"Yes."
"Sarah wouldn't agree."
"Sarah doesn't control it."
Greg gripped the phone.
"You can't do that."
Carolyn almost laughed.
"My money. My decision."
The sentence returned to her from that terrible dinner.
This time nobody blocked the door.
Greg slammed the receiver down.
He shouted something through the glass.
Carolyn could not hear him.
She stood.
David looked at her.
"You okay?"
"No."
It was the truth.
David took her arm.
Carolyn looked once more at Greg.
Then she walked away.
The prosecutor later established that Greg had failed to call for assistance when Robert collapsed.
Whether earlier medical attention would have saved Robert could not be proven with certainty.
Greg was not charged with causing the heart attack.
But his admission affected sentencing.
The judge called his conduct toward Carolyn calculated, prolonged, and predatory.
He received a substantial prison sentence for financial exploitation, fraud, forgery, identity theft, and related offenses.
At sentencing, Carolyn spoke.
She did not ask for revenge.
She did not ask for mercy.
She said only this.
"Greg believed that because I loved my family, I would accept anything from them. He believed love would keep me quiet. I want the court to understand that love and surrender are not the same thing."
Sarah sat in the back row.
She cried silently.
Afterward, Lily asked Carolyn a question.
"Are you happy Dad is going to prison?"
Carolyn considered it carefully.
"No."
Lily looked surprised.
"Why?"
"Because none of this is happy."
"Then why did we do it?"
Carolyn knelt in front of her.
"Because something can be sad and still be necessary."
Lily nodded slowly.
Sarah stood several feet away.
Carolyn looked at her.
Sarah whispered, "I should have understood that."
Carolyn stood.
"Yes."
Sarah waited.
Then Carolyn added, "Now you do."
May you like
It was not forgiveness.
But Sarah knew it was closer than yesterday.
