Chapter 12 - WHAT NATHAN SAID ON THE FLOOR
Grant looked smaller without an office.
Still polished.
Still dangerous.
But smaller.
Sadi sat across from him with Mara and prosecutors present.
Grant began:
“I did not go there to kill your father.”
Sadi stared.
“I don’t care what you intended before you shoved him.”
His jaw tightened.
“I grabbed the bag.”
“You shoved him.”
“Yes.”
“Then he fell.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t call an ambulance.”
Grant looked down.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I panicked.”
“No.”
He looked up.
“You calculated.”
Silence.
Sadi continued:
“You checked the bag first.”
Cole had said so.
Grant did not deny it.
Then he said:
“Your father was conscious for maybe a minute.”
Sadi stopped breathing.
“What did he say?”
Grant looked at her.
“He said, ‘You can still stop this.’”
Tears filled her eyes.
Of course.
Nathan thought even then someone could choose differently.
Grant continued:
“I thought he meant the fraud.”
“What did he mean?”
“I think he meant everything.”
Sadi looked away.
Then asked:
“Why stage the robbery?”
“Because if the company knew he died meeting me, Harbor collapsed.”
“Maybe.”
“The government contract was fragile.”
“Maybe.”
“Thousands of people—”
“Stop.”
Grant stopped.
“There it is again.”
“What?”
“The company first.”
He looked at her.
Sadi leaned forward.
“My father died on concrete and you still make payroll part of the sentence.”
Grant had no answer.
Then he said something unexpected.
“Your father was right about me before I was.”
Sadi almost laughed.
“Don’t make yourself tragic.”
“I’m not.”
Good.
Then prosecutors ended the meeting.
Outside, Mara asked:
“Did it help?”
“No.”
Then Sadi thought.
“Maybe.”
“What part?”
“He heard Dad tell him he could still stop.”
“And?”
“He didn’t.”
May you like
That was enough.
Intent did not need to be perfect for responsibility to be real.
