Chapter 14
Bernadette eventually accepted a negotiated resolution on the charges prosecutors could support.
Because the planned removal had been interrupted before Ethan left the estate, the case did not become the dramatic kidnapping prosecution gossip expected.
The actual evidence mattered.
Falsified records.
Unauthorized entry into Daniel’s home.
Possession of Ethan’s passport.
The driver plan.
The attempted concealment arrangement.
Interference with custody.
The assault on Sadie.
Bernadette received probation with strict conditions, substantial legal and financial penalties, mandatory counseling, and court-enforced no-contact restrictions involving both children.
Her assistant received reduced consequences after cooperating.
The driver was not charged after evidence supported that he had been lied to about parental approval.
The relative at the lake property cooperated as well.
Inside the Costa family, Bernadette lost every position of authority.
Permanently.
Adriano refused to let an eventual end to criminal supervision become automatic restoration of family power.
That decision angered several relatives.
They adjusted.
Daniel declined the Seattle job.
Not because Bernadette had won.
A different position opened in Chicago with better hours.
He chose it.
Adriano made a point of not treating the decision as a victory.
Daniel noticed.
“You’re not going to say you’re glad Ethan is staying?”
“I am glad.”
“But?”
“But it’s your decision.”
Daniel nodded.
“Progress.”
The court gradually relaxed restrictions involving Adriano because Daniel requested it.
Not the Costa family.
Adriano.
The distinction was deliberate.
Ethan returned to occasional visits with Sadie.
At first at parks.
Then Daniel’s house.
Then Adriano’s smaller downtown residence.
The estate remained off-limits for several more months because Ethan associated it with the night he nearly disappeared.
Adriano did not push.
Eventually Ethan asked to return himself.
“Just to see the piano.”
Sadie had told him the broken bench had been replaced.
Daniel looked at his son.
“You sure?”
Ethan nodded.
Adriano said nothing until Daniel looked at him.
Then:
“You decide.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Ethan.
“He does.”
Ethan chose Saturday afternoon.
No reception.
No relatives.
Only Sadie, Daniel, Adriano, Grant, and pizza.
When Ethan entered the study, he stared at the black handbag’s old location beside the desk.
The bag was long gone.
The recorder remained with the legal evidence.
The grand piano was still there.
Sadie sat at the bench.
“Want to play?”
“I don’t know how.”
“Neither do I.”
She hit three terrible notes.
May you like
Ethan laughed.
The room stopped belonging to Bernadette.
