Chapter 14 - ELI’S STATEMENT
The state did not want Eli testifying in open court unless necessary.
He was five.
Recorded forensic interview existed.
Video from hospital room existed.
Security logs corroborated.
Prosecutors sought alternatives.
Luke’s defense challenged parts.
Eventually, a judge ruled a limited child statement could be admitted under appropriate procedures if trial required it, but the parties continued plea negotiations.
I was grateful.
Eli did not need to win a courtroom.
At school, another child recognized him from news coverage.
“Your dad stole a baby.”
Eli hit him.
Not hard.
A shove.
The school called me.
I sat with him in the principal’s office.
“Why?”
“He said Dad stole June.”
“That’s true.”
Eli stared.
“He said Dad is evil.”
“That’s different.”
“Is Dad evil?”
I hated the word.
“Dad did very bad things.”
“Do you love him?”
I took too long.
Eli noticed.
“I used to.”
“Do I?”
“You tell me.”
He cried.
“I don’t know.”
“Then you don’t have to know.”
Dr. Levin later helped us separate:
Love.
Fear.
Anger.
Missing someone.
Wanting contact.
They do not move together.
Luke requested supervised video contact with Eli while awaiting trial.
Guardian opposed initially.
Eli said no.
Court denied.
No contact.
With June, Luke’s parental rights were under evaluation.
His conduct involved physically removing her identification and giving her to another woman.
That carried enormous weight.
Still, termination requires legal standards.
No instant severance.
The family court waited for criminal facts.
I wanted faster.
The system wanted reliable.
Rose’s case moved too.
Marianne gained supervised visits after months of compliance.
She held her daughter for the first time since hospital custody.
A social worker present.
No Luke.
No Mercer staff.
Rose smiled at no one because she was an infant and people overinterpret babies.
I caught myself wondering whether I hated her.
I did not.
That relieved me.
She had slept beside me for one night under a stolen identity.
Sometimes I dreamed I was feeding her and June disappeared again.
Therapy.
Again.
The logistics audit revealed actual value.
Mercer Logistics worth approximately $910 million under fair market assumptions.
Northline’s $680 million bid dramatically underpriced it.
The family-linked post-sale entity stood to capture property upside.
The board terminated negotiations.
Northline denied wrongdoing and said valuation reflected liabilities.
Independent review found some legitimate discounts.
Not enough.
Civil litigation began.
Federal investigators examined whether related-party interests had been intentionally concealed from shareholders.
Luke’s baby fraud had opened a corporate file far larger than he expected.
Evelyn still insisted she only tried to protect the family after Luke panicked.
Then investigators found her handwritten board note:
ROSE OUTSIDE MARRIAGE = INDEPENDENT GUARDIAN. UNACCEPTABLE BEFORE SALE.
May you like
She had written it six weeks before delivery.
She understood exactly what Rose’s birth threatened.
