Chapter 28 - SAMUEL CREED FINALLY TOLD THE TRUTHThe trial never happened.
Samuel pleaded guilty eleven months later.
Wire fraud.
Embezzlement.
Obstruction.
Identity theft.
Healthcare fraud.
Prosecutors recovered thirty-seven million dollars.
Civil settlements recovered more.
It was not enough.
It never was.
At sentencing Samuel asked to speak.
Lorenzo attended.
Nora did not want to.
Then changed her mind.
Samuel stood in a dark suit.
Older.
Smaller.
He looked toward Lorenzo.
“I spent my life believing I was smarter than violent men.”
Nobody moved.
“I told myself that because I didn't carry a weapon, I was better.”
He swallowed.
“But I learned something.”
Nora watched.
“Violence is not only what you do with your hands.”
Samuel looked toward several families from his nursing facilities.
“You can hurt people with budgets.”
“With staffing ratios.”
“With forged signatures.”
“With silence.”
Nora felt her throat tighten.
Samuel continued:
“Giovanni Moretti frightened people.”
He looked at Nora.
“I made people disappear on spreadsheets.”
The judge sentenced him to nineteen years.
Outside, reporters surrounded Lorenzo.
“Do you feel justice was served?”
Lorenzo looked at them.
“No.”
Cameras flashed.
One reporter frowned.
“Why not?”
“Because justice isn't a sentence.”
He glanced toward Nora.
“It is what happens to the people who have to live after the damage.”
Then he walked away.
That evening Brody arrived to pick Lily up for the weekend.
He had bought a house.
Small.
Two bedrooms.
A swing set he assembled incorrectly twice.
Lily adored it.
Before leaving, Brody looked at Lorenzo.
“You okay?”
Lorenzo stared.
The question surprised him.
“Yes.”
Brody nodded.
“Good.”
Four years earlier they might have hated each other because that seemed simpler.
Now they were two men carrying Lily's pink backpack to Brody's car.
Life had become less dramatic.
May you like
And far more difficult.
Nora preferred it.
