Chapter 6
I called three senior captains the next morning.
Not because I wanted retaliation.
Because I wanted to know what they had seen.
Thomas Hale arrived first.
He looked uncomfortable the moment I mentioned Elaine’s dinners.
Good.
“How many?”
He sighed.
“Five that I attended.”
“Why?”
“She said Andrew wanted family unity.”
“Did Andrew speak?”
“Sometimes.”
“What about Lucy?”
Thomas looked away.
There.
“Speak.”
“She would sit beside him.”
“And?”
“Elaine would ask simple questions.”
“Such as?”
“Who protects the family.”
My jaw tightened.
“What did Lucy answer?”
“Usually you.”
That almost made me smile.
Thomas did not.
“Then Elaine would correct her.”
“Did anyone object?”
Silence.
That answer mattered more than his words.
Men who would kill over disrespect to the family watched an old woman manipulate a toddler because it looked domestic.
Power hides well inside things men consider women’s territory.
“What did Andrew say?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Once Lucy said you were boss.”
I waited.
“Andrew laughed and said children repeat whatever they hear most.”
My hands tightened.
Dismiss the child.
Reframe the truth.
Then let Elaine supply the preferred answer.
“What did the men think?”
Thomas looked at me honestly.
“At first? Nothing.”
“And later?”
“That Andrew wanted something.”
Good.
Not everyone had been fooled.
“Did he ask for support?”
“No.”
“Elaine?”
“No.”
Smarter.
They never asked.
They displayed.
Repeated image.
Repeated language.
Repeated correction.
Political theater disguised as family dinner.
I looked at Thomas.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He looked ashamed.
“Because I thought it was marriage politics.”
That answer infuriated me precisely because it was believable.
May you like
They assumed humiliation inside a family was private.
That assumption had protected Elaine better than any bodyguard.
