Chapter 9
The new evidence on the USB drive changed everything.
It added two more charges against Ryan and Carol—conspiracy to commit murder, and invasion of privacy.
The district attorney said it was enough to ask for the maximum sentence on all counts.
Ryan and Carol would each be facing up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
But then, two weeks before the trial was supposed to start, the DA called me.
Carol’s lawyer had approached him with a plea deal.
“Carol is willing to testify against Ryan,” the DA said. “She’ll tell the jury everything—how she planned the whole thing, how she drugged the kids, how they planned to kill you. In exchange, she pleads guilty to one count of child endangerment and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud. She gets five years probation, no jail time. She has to register as a child abuser for life. She can never have any contact with minors, including her own grandchildren, ever again. She has to pay full restitution for the money Ryan stole from the trust fund. And she has to give up all parental and custodial rights to the kids, forever.”
I was furious.
“No deal,” I said. “She belongs in prison. She drugged my baby. She helped plan to kill me. She ruined my life. Five years probation? That’s nothing. That’s a slap on the wrist.”
“I understand your anger,” the DA said. “I feel the same way. But here’s the reality. Without Carol’s testimony, Ryan’s lawyer can argue that Carol planned everything, that Ryan was just a weak son who went along with his mother’s plans. The jury might find him guilty on the lesser charges, but they might acquit him on the murder conspiracy. With Carol’s testimony? Ryan goes away for life. No chance of parole. He’ll never get out. He’ll never hurt you or the kids again. Carol will be on probation for five years. One mistake—one text, one phone call, one time she comes within a thousand feet of you or the kids—and she goes to prison for ten years, no exceptions. This is the best deal we’re going to get. It guarantees Ryan is locked up forever. Think about the kids. Do you want to risk Ryan getting out in ten or fifteen years, coming after you again?”
I thought about Emma.
I thought about Lucas.
I thought about Lila’s baby, growing up without a father because of Ryan’s choices.
I thought about what peace would feel like.
Not having to worry about Ryan getting out of jail one day.
Not having to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life.
Not having to put Emma on the witness stand, making her relive every terrible moment in front of a room full of strangers.
I took a deep breath.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll take the deal.”
The trial started a week later.
Carol was the first witness for the prosecution.
She testified for three days.
She told the jury everything.
How she’d hated me from the first day Ryan brought me home.
How she’d thought I was after the family money.
How she’d spent a year planning to get rid of me.
How she’d coached Ryan to start fights with me, to record me when I was angry, to make me look unstable.
How she’d installed hidden cameras in our house to catch me “misbehaving.”
How she’d told Ryan to throw Lucas on the floor that night, to make me snap.
How she’d drugged Lucas to keep him quiet.
How she’d threatened Emma to keep her from telling the truth.
How she and Ryan had planned to kill me in the hotel room, to make it look like suicide.
She cried on the stand.
She said she was sorry.
She said she’d been a terrible mother and a terrible grandmother.
She said she’d let her greed and her pride destroy her family.
No one believed her.
I saw it in the jury’s faces.
They hated her.
But they believed every word she said about Ryan.
Ryan’s lawyer tried to paint him as a victim.
A weak man, manipulated by his overbearing, evil mother.
A man who loved his kids, who’d been led astray.
But the evidence was overwhelming.
The videos.
The texts.
The emails.
The financial records.
The wire recording.
The murder plan on the USB drive.
Emma’s testimony, played for the jury on video, so she didn’t have to be in the same room as Ryan.
The jury deliberated for six hours.
They came back with their verdict.
Guilty on all eight counts.
Child abuse.
Conspiracy to commit child abuse.
Grand theft.
Forgery.
Conspiracy to commit fraud.
Invasion of privacy.
Conspiracy to commit murder.
Assault.
The judge sentenced Ryan to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional forty years for the other charges.
He would die in prison.
He would never be free again.
Carol was sentenced a week later.
Five years probation.
Lifetime registration as a child abuser.
Full restitution of the $47,000 Ryan had stolen from the trust fund.
Permanent termination of all custodial and visitation rights.
A permanent restraining order, good for life.
As the judge read the sentence, Carol stared at me.
Her eyes were full of hate.
But I didn’t care.
I walked out of the courtroom with Mia, my hand resting on Emma’s shoulder, Lucas in my other arm.
May you like
It was over.
Really over.
