Chapter 7 - Confronting the Past
Two weeks later, I received a phone call from the Maricopa County District Attorney’s office.
Prosecutor Rachel Stern requested a private meeting with me at her office downtown. I left Samantha with my mother—who had flown in from California the moment she heard the news—and drove to the courthouse.
Rachel Stern was a sharp, non-nonsense woman in her fortys, sitting behind a desk covered in thick case binders.
"Ms. Mercer," Stern said, shaking my hand firmly. "Thank you for coming. I wanted to give you a direct update before the formal arraignment tomorrow."
"How are Derek and Brenda pleading?" I asked, sitting down.
"Their attorneys tried to negotiate a plea deal yesterday," Stern said with a cold smile. "They offered a guilty plea on the child neglect charges if we dropped the human trafficking and attempted murder counts."
"And?"
"I told them to go to hell," Stern said bluntly. "We have electronic paper trails connecting Derek to three offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands used to fund illegal surrogacy arrangements. We have testimony from Chloe Bennett, who has agreed to act as a federal state witness. And we have the life insurance documents with Brenda's signature on the accidental death endorsement."
"What kind of sentence are they facing?"
"If convicted on all counts—which I am ninety-nine percent confident we will achieve—Derek is looking at forty to sixty years in federal prison. Brenda is looking at twenty-five to thirty."
A deep, quiet calm settled over my chest. The monster was finally behind iron bars where he couldn't touch my child ever again.
"There's one more thing," Prosecutor Stern said, pulling a sealed envelope from her drawer. "Derek’s attorney submitted a request from Derek. He wants to see you. In the detention center. Before the grand jury indictment is finalized."
I stared at the envelope. "Why would I ever speak to him again?"
"You don't have to," Stern said honestly. "You owe him nothing. But his attorney mentioned that Derek is willing to sign over full, uncontested deed rights to his remaining non-frozen private properties—worth about one point two million dollars—directly into a private trust for Samantha, provided you agree to a twenty-minute visitation."
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I sat in silence, weighing the disgust in my soul against my daughter's financial security. Derek had tried to destroy Samantha’s life. If I could strip the last remaining piece of wealth from his hands and secure her future before the federal government absorbed it in fines, it was a price I was willing to pay.
"Set it up," I said firmly. "I'll talk to him."
