Chapter 11 - The Vote That Would Bury Me
"They're calling you unstable," Evelyn said. "Cole has sent a psychiatrist's letter to the board. It says your grief made you paranoid."
"Which psychiatrist?"
"The clinic director from Briar Glen."
I laughed once. It sounded ugly. "The place that locked Nora in a basement? At least they're consistent."
Evelyn spread six board-member profiles across a waiting-room table. Two trustees were traveling. One was ill. That left three members in Chicago, including Evelyn. Cole needed only a temporary majority to suspend my authority over the foundation.
"Blake controls the proxies," she said. "If they vote at nine, he can sign the reserve withdrawal before noon."
Detective Brooks explained that a criminal investigation did not automatically freeze every legitimate account attached to a corporation. The bank could hold a transfer for suspicious activity, but the board was still legally allowed to meet. We needed a judge's order and an immediate fraud alert.
I called the bank's compliance officer, an unsmiling woman named Hannah Kim. She agreed to flag the trust and request enhanced review. She would not promise a permanent freeze without documents.
"Bring me original records," she said. "Not rumors. Not screenshots from social media. I need something that can survive scrutiny."
"I'll get it."
By sunrise the story had turned vicious. Vanessa's lawyer accused me of paying a child to embarrass a vulnerable pregnant woman. A news van parked outside Nora's hospital. Somebody posted Ellie's school online.
"She's six," Nora said through clenched teeth. "They're making her a target."
"We'll keep her safe," I promised. This time I made a promise I could actually help fulfill. Brooks arranged protective measures through the authorities, and Nora chose a secure place to stay with Ellie. I paid for counsel and expenses without asking Nora to trade her testimony for help.
Ellie stopped at the elevator and tugged my sleeve.
"Daniel?"
"Yeah, kiddo?"
"You looked at me at the party like you were mad."
I crouched. "I was scared. I should have listened faster. I'm sorry."
She considered that. "Grown-ups get scared too?"
"All the time."
She gave me a solemn nod, then disappeared beside her mother.
Evelyn's phone rang. Her face drained while she listened.
May you like
"The emergency hearing has been canceled," she said. "Cole claims the judge has a conflict."
And then she showed me who had signed the objection: my oldest friend, Blake Warren.
