Mercer faced charges arising from the assault and a knowingly false account of the encounter, along with allegations connected to his effort to recover the records for Vance. The contractor faced a separate set of fraud and intimidation allegations concerning the equipment and the message to Tessa.
Rachel read the charging documents carefully. She reminded Daniel that allegations were not verdicts and that some questions would remain disputed until evidence was presented in court.
“What do I do today?” he asked.
“Exactly what you planned, unless investigators or prosecutors contact us. You don't have to perform a reaction for anyone.”
He had planned to deliver a repaired heater to an older customer whose apartment was cold. Ben drove, and Daniel carried only the light tool bag, but the ordinary visit became difficult when the customer's television displayed Mercer's photograph.
“That's him,” the woman said, reaching for the remote.
Daniel nodded. She switched to a cooking program without asking him to explain, then offered them tea while the heater warmed the room.
Outside, Ben asked if he wanted to go home. Daniel said he wanted lunch and fifteen minutes without a phone, and they ate sandwiches in the van beside an empty ball field.
The relief he expected from the charges did not arrive cleanly. It came mixed with dread about testifying, worry about Tessa receiving more messages, and the old fear that strangers would find a way to make everything his fault.
That evening, he met with the prosecutor assigned to the force-related case, Adrian Bell. Rachel attended as Daniel's lawyer, and Bell explained the difference between representing the public interest and representing Daniel personally.
“You may disagree with decisions I make,” Bell said. “You should ask questions when that happens. I will tell you what I can.”
Daniel appreciated the warning. Too many people had treated official titles as substitutes for explanations.
Bell described the likely process without giving a trial date he could not guarantee. There would be hearings, disclosure of evidence, and opportunities for the defense to challenge both the charges and the reliability of particular materials.
“Will they show Lily?” Tessa asked.
“We will seek limits on unnecessary public use of her image. Some evidence includes her because she was there, and the judge will decide disputed issues.”
It was not the answer she wanted, but it was one she could prepare for. They discussed where she could wait during testimony, whom she could call for updates, and how to keep the baby's routines intact.
Price was expected to testify about the records and his interactions with Vance. His own conduct would be examined too, including the incomplete delivery sheets and his decision to conceal the drive from Daniel.
“He isn't being presented as perfect,” Bell said.
“Good,” Daniel replied, then softened the word. “I want him to tell the truth. I don't need him to be ruined.”
After the meeting, Price waited outside the building with Nora. He had asked Rachel whether Daniel would accept a brief conversation, and Daniel agreed only after Tessa said she was comfortable waiting nearby.
The older man did not ask what Daniel had told the prosecutor. He handed him a written apology and said he would pay any repair bill for the scanner regardless of what happened in court.
Daniel accepted the paper but refused the money. “The scanner can wait. Don't mix that with what happened to my family.”
Price nodded. He looked smaller than he had in the shop, and Daniel realized that anger was easier when the person who had failed him remained an idea rather than an aging man beside his daughter.
“I can't tell you it's all right,” Daniel said.
“I know.”
“But I heard you.”
At home, he put the apology in the same drawer as his medical records, then changed Lily while Tessa warmed dinner. The child caught his thumb and held it fiercely, and for a moment the case became only one part of the room rather than its whole atmosphere.
Later that night, after putting the letter away, he took it out and read it once more. The letter named the hidden drive directly and acknowledged the choice taken from him; it did not ask Daniel to explain the decision away. He appreciated that much, even while recognizing that an honest sentence could begin repair without completing it. Tessa let him decide where to keep the page.