Chapter 8 - TABITHA HAD PUT A PRICE ON TAKING LUCASThe draft side agreement shocked even Northline’s lawyer.
He claimed the firm rejected it.
The document had never been executed.
But Tabitha’s requested terms were clear.
If she successfully facilitated approval of the Mercer Audio sale, she wanted:
$25 million.
A consulting agreement.
The Nashville mansion transferred to her without trust claims.
And release from certain estate obligations.
Rebecca stared at the page.
“Twenty-five million.”
Rachel nodded.
“Requested.”
“Not accepted.”
“Important distinction.”
Rebecca appreciated it.
Northline may still have behaved aggressively.
But there was not yet proof the buyer agreed to bribe Tabitha.
The evidence showed she asked.
Caleb may have told her the money was possible.
Investigators found a message between them.
Tabitha:
I am not doing this for the house.
Caleb:
No one said you were.
Tabitha:
If they get Signal Labs, I want 25.
Caleb:
That number is unrealistic.
Tabitha:
Then they can negotiate with a six-year-old.
Rebecca’s stomach turned.
Caleb:
Do not put statements like that in writing.
Too late.
Another exchange.
Caleb:
The guardianship is temporary. Do not confuse access with ownership.
Tabitha:
Temporary is enough.
Exactly.
She didn’t need Lucas forever.
She needed a legal window.
Then the financial investigation widened.
Tabitha had significant debt.
Not ordinary.
Nearly $1.8 million.
Luxury spending.
A failed interior-design venture.
Private loans.
Credit lines Ethan didn’t know about.
Ethan discovered some before he died.
His old phone contained an argument.
Ethan:
Why did you borrow against the Nashville property without telling me?
Tabitha:
My name is on the house.
Ethan:
Not the trust-owned portion.
Tabitha:
Your entire family has money and I’m treated like I need permission to buy groceries.
Ethan:
You spent $340,000 on a company that earned $28,000.
Tabitha:
So Rebecca gets to fail at marriage and still control your son, but I make one mistake and I’m irresponsible?
Rebecca stopped.
There it was again.
Resentment.
Not only financial.
Tabitha measured herself against Rebecca constantly.
Ethan’s first wife.
Mother of his only child.
A permanent connection.
Ethan’s reply:
Rebecca has nothing to do with this.
Tabitha:
She always has something to do with everything.
Rachel looked at Rebecca.
“This sounds personal.”
“It became personal long before custody.”
Then another message showed Ethan setting boundaries.
Do not ask Lucas questions about his trust.
Tabitha:
He doesn’t understand them.
Ethan:
Exactly.
Rebecca felt gratitude toward a dead man she had once spent years arguing with.
Their divorce had been painful.
But Ethan understood one thing clearly:
Lucas was not supposed to become a participant in adult money.
Then police found Tabitha’s private notes.
Some related to custody.
Others were darker.
Lucas cries after Rebecca calls — useful.
Lucas says Nashville “feels like Dad” — useful.
Alma interferes.
Need stronger separation anxiety evidence.
Rebecca had to stop reading.
“Useful.”
Rachel quietly closed the folder.
“You don’t have to read all of this.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No.”
Rebecca looked at her.
Rachel continued.
“Police need it.”
“Lawyers need it.”
“You need enough to protect Lucas.”
“You do not need to consume every cruel thought Tabitha wrote.”
Rebecca sat back.
She realized Rachel was right.
Pain did not become parenting simply because she absorbed more of it.
Then detectives brought another development.
Caleb Shore wanted a proffer meeting.
He was considering cooperation.
Tabitha’s attorney reacted angrily.
That meant the alliance was breaking.
Caleb claimed Tabitha initiated the custody plan.
Tabitha claimed Caleb designed it.
Evidence suggested both.
During his preliminary session, Caleb admitted he prepared fake drafts.
Denied forging Rebecca’s signature himself.
“Who did?” investigators asked.
Caleb said:
“Tabitha brought me the signed page.”
“Did you watch Rebecca sign?”
“No.”
“You notarized it.”
“Yes.”
“Knowing you had not witnessed it.”
“Yes.”
Forgery-related misconduct.
But still not full answer.
“Why?”
Caleb looked down.
“Money.”
“How much?”
“Northline paid me advisory fees.”
“For?”
“Acquisition strategy.”
“While you represented Mercer Audio?”
“Yes.”
Conflict.
Then:
“Did Ethan know?”
“No.”
“He discovered it.”
“Yes.”
“Did you help Tabitha seek guardianship because it benefited your acquisition work?”
Caleb hesitated.
“Yes.”
There.
Then investigators asked:
“Who suggested using Rebecca’s Dallas trip?”
Caleb replied:
“Tabitha.”
Rebecca wasn’t surprised.
Then:
“Who arranged the conference invitation?”
Caleb swallowed.
“I did.”
“Through Shore Strategic?”
“Yes.”
The planning was proven.
But when asked about Lucas’s abuse, Caleb’s face changed.
“I knew nothing about that.”
Possible.
Then investigators played Alma’s video.
Caleb stared.
His face went pale.
“I never told her to do that.”
No one accused him yet.
He continued.
“I told her to prepare Lucas for the child advocate.”
“How?”
“Practice questions.”
“Tell him what to say?”
“No.”
“Did you know she was threatening to delete videos of his father?”
“No.”
“Did you know she was punishing him?”
“No.”
Then the investigator asked:
“Did you ever ask?”
Caleb went silent.
That silence mattered.
He helped build a legal strategy around a six-year-old.
But apparently never asked how Tabitha was obtaining the answers he needed.
Then Caleb offered something prosecutors had not known.
“Tabitha has a recording.”
Rebecca’s pulse changed when she heard.
“Of what?”
“Ethan.”
“Doing what?”
Caleb looked frightened.
“Arguing with Rebecca.”
Rebecca frowned.
Caleb continued:
“She planned to use it to prove the parents had a violent relationship.”
Rebecca stared.
“Violent?”
She and Ethan had argued.
Loudly.
During divorce.
Never physical.
“What recording?”
Caleb answered:
“A video from six years ago.”
Lucas had been an infant.
Tabitha wasn’t even married to Ethan then.
Rebecca felt cold.
“How did Tabitha get a private video recorded before she was part of the family?”
May you like
Caleb looked away.
And suddenly Rebecca realized Tabitha’s access to Ethan’s life may have started far earlier than anyone had admitted.
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