Lewis Carrick agreed to meet the following morning, but not at Cardinal\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
He chose Bernard\u2019s conference room.<\/p>\n
Evelyn objected at first.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he\u2019s represented by Cardinal counsel, I\u2019m not letting anyone create an ethics problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrick solved that by bringing his own attorney.<\/p>\n
Her name was Naomi Feld.<\/p>\n
She arrived five minutes before him, placed a recorder on the table, and announced that Carrick was speaking only about matters he was legally permitted to discuss.<\/p>\n
Nobody argued.<\/p>\n
Carrick entered looking smaller than his voice had sounded.<\/p>\n
He was seventy, silver-haired, neatly dressed, with the tired eyes of a man who had spent years making decisions in rooms where nobody wanted minutes taken.<\/p>\n
He shook my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry about Harold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you like him?\u201d<\/p>\n
The question surprised everyone.<\/p>\n
Carrick considered it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he like you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood. At least we\u2019re starting accurately.\u201d<\/p>\n
We sat.<\/p>\n
Evelyn began with the forged Redwater agreement.<\/p>\n
Carrick said Cardinal first received it through Redwater during acquisition planning.<\/p>\n
At that stage, he believed it valid.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you personally review it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you notice Todd lacked power of attorney?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRedwater represented that Harold had executed the agreement directly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The signature page made it appear so.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat changed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold called me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the county hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n
That contradicted Cardinal\u2019s formal response.<\/p>\n
Evelyn noticed immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour company\u2019s letter says Mr. Vance\u2019s dispute was not clearly communicated until later.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrick\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat letter was drafted by counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it accurate?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot completely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naomi shifted beside him.<\/p>\n
Carrick continued anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold called and said the agreement was fraudulent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI contacted Redwater.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey assured us he was trying to renegotiate after signing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you believe them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you call Harold back?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat if I wanted to know whether he signed something, I should ask the man whose name was on it instead of the people getting paid to tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again, unmistakably Harold.<\/p>\n
Carrick said he asked Harold to provide a written denial.<\/p>\n
Harold refused.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he wasn\u2019t going to prove a negative for our convenience. He told us to produce an original.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was no original.<\/p>\n
Redwater claimed Todd retained it.<\/p>\n
Todd claimed Harold had it.<\/p>\n
Harold said it never existed.<\/p>\n
Cardinal continued moving its application forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou testified all rights were secured,\u201d Evelyn said.<\/p>\n
Carrick looked at the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing Harold disputed that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Naomi spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy client can explain his own reasoning but is not making legal conclusions regarding Cardinal\u2019s filings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrick nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project team believed the dispute would be resolved before construction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t what you testified.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
His answer was painfully simple.<\/p>\n
I watched him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Harold threaten you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he ask for money?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he ask you to stop the project?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe record corrected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrick looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause correcting it would have delayed the project.\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
No corporate phrasing.<\/p>\n
No complicated explanation.<\/p>\n
Delay.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much delay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnknown.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPotentially.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd money?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSubstantial.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you tried to buy Harold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tried to acquire his rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith a release.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking your earlier claim true after the fact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrick said nothing.<\/p>\n
The first offer after the dispute was one million dollars.<\/p>\n
Harold rejected it.<\/p>\n
Then negotiations widened.<\/p>\n
Cardinal learned more about the underground estate.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s own geologists identified potential storage value.<\/p>\n
The price rose.<\/p>\n
Eight million.<\/p>\n
Fifteen.<\/p>\n
Twenty-four.<\/p>\n
Then thirty-two.<\/p>\n
Each time, Harold demanded two things.<\/p>\n
Payment for the rights.<\/p>\n
Correction of the filings.<\/p>\n
Cardinal would agree to the first.<\/p>\n
Not the second.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy thirty-eight point four?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Carrick almost smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold calculated our cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat cost?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe expected present cost of redesign, delay, additional environmental review, and losing the storage component.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew your numbers?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot precisely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was annoyingly good at estimates.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down.<\/p>\n
That, too, was Harold.<\/p>\n
Carrick said the company\u2019s internal estimate was slightly higher.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
Naomi intervened.<\/p>\n
\u201cLewis cannot disclose privileged or confidential internal financial information beyond what is appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not need the number.<\/p>\n
Harold had been close enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Todd have to do with the thirty-two-million offer?\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrick\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cTodd approached us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDirectly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough Redwater.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he could persuade Harold to sign.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know the full arrangement.\u201d<\/p>\n
We showed him the payments to TGV Land Services.<\/p>\n
Carrick recognized the company.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was Todd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Redwater used a family intermediary. I did not know the entity belonged to Harold\u2019s son until later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter Harold confronted me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Todd promise?\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrick looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Harold would ratify the agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said his father was old, tired, and eventually would rather take the money than keep fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt heat rise into my face.<\/p>\n
Harold had not even been seriously ill when the first efforts began.<\/p>\n
Later, once he was sick, Todd apparently saw the disease as pressure.<\/p>\n
Carrick continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt some point, Todd told Redwater Harold\u2019s health was declining.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melissa made a sound beside me.<\/p>\n
She had been silent until then.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do with that information?\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrick turned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told the acquisition team I wanted direct communications with Harold only.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid they listen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melissa\u2019s hands were clenched beneath the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did my brother do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrick looked at Naomi.<\/p>\n
She nodded slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe brought documents to Harold while Harold was receiving treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat documents?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRatification papers.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered the hospital.<\/p>\n
Todd had visited twice during Harold\u2019s first round of treatment.<\/p>\n
Once he stayed twenty minutes.<\/p>\n
The second time I left them alone because Harold asked me to get coffee.<\/p>\n
I had thought they were trying to repair their relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold refused.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe called me afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrick\u2019s expression softened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me if anyone connected to Cardinal sent his son into a hospital room with paperwork again, he would personally spend whatever life he had left making sure the project never crossed his property.\u201d<\/p>\n
My eyes burned.<\/p>\n
I remembered returning with coffee.<\/p>\n
Todd had been standing beside the window.<\/p>\n
Harold looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
I asked whether everything was all right.<\/p>\n
Harold said yes.<\/p>\n
He lied to protect me.<\/p>\n
Or Todd.<\/p>\n
Or both.<\/p>\n
Melissa stood abruptly and walked out.<\/p>\n
I followed.<\/p>\n
She was in the hallway, crying angrily.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe used Dad when he was sick.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I defended him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
She wiped her face.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Todd told me Dad was being stubborn about money, I told him to keep trying.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you think he meant?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Dad wouldn\u2019t help with another debt.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pressed her palms against her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told Todd, \u2018He always gives in eventually.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t the same as knowing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels close.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
I surprised myself with the firmness of my answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t borrow guilt that belongs to Todd.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a moment, she simply stared.<\/p>\n
Then nodded.<\/p>\n
We returned.<\/p>\n
Carrick described the May 5 meeting.<\/p>\n
Harold arrived with his affidavit.<\/p>\n
He placed it on Carrick\u2019s desk and said the Redwater agreement was fraudulent.<\/p>\n
He demanded Cardinal stop relying on it.<\/p>\n
Carrick offered to negotiate.<\/p>\n
Harold said he would negotiate legitimate rights but would never ratify a forged agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why offer one million?\u201d Evelyn asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo resolve the documentation problem while we evaluated the larger acquisition.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeaning confidentiality.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harold rejected it.<\/p>\n
Later offers included the full property package.<\/p>\n
By then he had learned the western route was environmentally problematic.<\/p>\n
That was when his leverage became enormous.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t Cardinal accept thirty-eight point four?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Carrick looked almost embarrassed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause executives thought Harold was bluffing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRefusing thirty-two million while dying.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room became silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey thought illness would make him take less.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe changed his will.\u201d<\/p>\n
I leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter his hospital visit from Todd.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat exactly?\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrick looked directly at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018You people keep assuming the person inheriting this will be easier than I am.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
A chill moved over my arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked who was inheriting it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me that was none of my business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite everything, I laughed.<\/p>\n
Carrick smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen he said his children were making the decision easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
That hurt.<\/p>\n
Melissa looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Dad changed the will because of Todd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPartly,\u201d Bernard said.<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
Harold\u2019s earlier estate plan had divided Parcel 44-118 among me, Melissa, and Todd.<\/p>\n
One-third each.<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did that change?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJanuary seventeenth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The day of the envelope.<\/p>\n
The four-hour meeting.<\/p>\n
The competency evaluation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened immediately before?\u201d<\/p>\n
Bernard looked at Carrick.<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently the hospital incident.\u201d<\/p>\n
But there was more.<\/p>\n
Bernard retrieved his notes.<\/p>\n
Harold had arrived furious.<\/p>\n
He told Bernard that Todd had attempted to obtain his signature while he was medicated after treatment.<\/p>\n
Not unconscious.<\/p>\n
Not legally incapacitated.<\/p>\n
But exhausted and nauseated.<\/p>\n
Todd presented the papers as documents \u201cto clean up the land situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harold read enough to recognize Redwater.<\/p>\n
He refused.<\/p>\n
Then Todd made the mistake that ended his inheritance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d Melissa asked.<\/p>\n
Bernard hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold recorded it in his estate memorandum.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRead it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bernard did.<\/p>\n
Todd told his father that if he died before fixing the deal, the land would become \u201ca mess for everybody\u201d and that it would be easier if Harold signed while he still could.<\/p>\n
Melissa closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
Harold\u2019s memorandum continued.<\/p>\n
He wrote that Todd\u2019s conduct convinced him shared ownership would expose me to pressure after his death.<\/p>\n
So he changed the will.<\/p>\n
The land went entirely to me.<\/p>\n
Not as punishment.<\/p>\n
As protection.<\/p>\n
I sat very still.<\/p>\n
For days I had thought Harold designed some elaborate test.<\/p>\n
Perhaps part of him had.<\/p>\n
But the central reason was simpler.<\/p>\n
He knew Todd.<\/p>\n
He knew how hard Todd would push.<\/p>\n
And he knew I would be alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Melissa?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Bernard looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold wrote that he regretted excluding you from the parcel, but believed divided ownership would create conflict Todd could exploit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melissa nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bernard continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe compensated you with the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward me.<\/p>\n
The house.<\/p>\n
My home.<\/p>\n
The property she had arrived with moving trucks to claim.<\/p>\n
Her face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gave me the house because he took me off the land.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I tried to throw you out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody rescued her from that sentence.<\/p>\n
She needed to sit with it.<\/p>\n
So did I.<\/p>\n
Carrick left shortly after noon.<\/p>\n
Before leaving, he stopped beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold should have won this argument while he was alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry he didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo am I.\u201d<\/p>\n
He handed Evelyn his card.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Cardinal says I never warned them, call me.\u201d<\/p>\n
After he left, we returned home.<\/p>\n
Melissa followed.<\/p>\n
For the first time since Harold\u2019s funeral, she entered without behaving like the house belonged solely to her.<\/p>\n
She stopped in the living room.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want you to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou inherited it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wanted me out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat changed?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked around at the empty spaces left by the movers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned what Dad was trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I learned what I was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was harder to say.<\/p>\n
I could hear it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want the house if taking it means putting you out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want charity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
She swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe correcting something while I still can.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Cardinal.<\/p>\n
Harold.<\/p>\n
Todd.<\/p>\n
Corrections.<\/p>\n
Some came late.<\/p>\n
Late did not always mean worthless.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll deal with the house later.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melissa nodded.<\/p>\n
My phone rang.<\/p>\n
Todd.<\/p>\n
This time I answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d he demanded.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Evelyn present.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we don\u2019t meet.\u201d<\/p>\n
He cursed.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoreen, you have no idea what Cardinal will do if you blow up their permits.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds familiar.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll bury you in litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why are you worried?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Dad promised me part of the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, he didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou weren\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have his declaration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have papers Bernard helped him write when he was angry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have your recording.\u201d<\/p>\n
Todd stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat recording?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one where Harold tells you he never signed the Redwater agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then a whisper.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou opened the drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause there are things on there that don\u2019t belong to Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat things?\u201d<\/p>\n
He hung up.<\/p>\n
An hour later, Priya called Evelyn.<\/p>\n
She had finished recovering deleted files from the flash drive.<\/p>\n
There was another folder.<\/p>\n
Todd had erased it.<\/p>\n
Priya restored twelve documents.<\/p>\n
The first eleven were financial records.<\/p>\n
The twelfth was a draft agreement between Redwater and TGV Land Services.<\/p>\n
It promised Todd something far greater than the half-million dollars already paid.<\/p>\n
If Harold\u2019s underground rights were successfully transferred and Cardinal completed acquisition, Todd would receive a success fee.<\/p>\n
Three percent of the transaction.<\/p>\n
I did the arithmetic.<\/p>\n
At thirty-eight million dollars, Todd\u2019s fee would exceed one million.<\/p>\n
But the agreement contained a minimum.<\/p>\n
$2,000,000.<\/p>\n
Melissa stared at the page.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was trying to sell Dad\u2019s land so he could collect two million dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn kept reading.<\/p>\n
Then she stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
The amendment increased Todd\u2019s success fee if he obtained Harold\u2019s signature before a specific date.<\/p>\n
The date was six days after Harold\u2019s final hospital treatment.<\/p>\n
I felt something cold settle inside me.<\/p>\n
Todd had not merely pressured a sick father.<\/p>\n
Somebody had put a deadline and a bonus on it.<\/p>\n
At the bottom of the amendment was a signature from Redwater.<\/p>\n
Grant Heller.<\/p>\n
And beside it, another approval line.<\/p>\n
CARDINAL ACQUISITION AUTHORIZATION.<\/p>\n
The signature was illegible.<\/p>\n
But the typed name beneath it was not.<\/p>\n
Lewis Carrick.<\/p>\n
Lewis Carrick agreed to meet the following morning, but not at Cardinal\u2019s office. He chose Bernard\u2019s conference room. Evelyn objected at first. \u201cIf he\u2019s represented by Cardinal counsel, I\u2019m not … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3288,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3272\/revisions\/3288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}