I inhale deeply. The scent of honey-glazed salmon and roasted vegetables makes my stomach growl. "There she is," Sebastian says as I enter. “Mark made your favorite."
“He spoils me," I look at Thorne. “I told Lillianna, I’m kidnapping him when I return h-home.”
“She has threatened,” Lillianna says, smiling.
Thorne isn’t smiling. Did he catch how I stumbled over calling New York home? Does it make his heart ache too, thinking about taking opposite paths when this is all over?
Shaking off my melancholy, I ask, “Where is Rosalia?”
“Had a meeting with the staff at 3Bs. I promised to take notes for her,” Lillianna tells me.
"What's the update on the remediation plan?" asks Lillianna.
"Containment barriers are in place. Monitoring wells are operational," Sebastian reports. "The crew finished the initial phase last week. So far, the permits for 'drainage improvements' are holding up as cover."
"And the contamination levels?" Thorne asks.
I answer this time. "Still below mandatory EPA reporting thresholds. Barely. But we're remediating anyway,” I add, though my stomach twists. We're walking a legal tightrope—fixing the problem without disclosing it. Defensible, but risky as hell.
Sebastian's phone rings. He glances at the screen. “It’s Hanna, my PA. Let me see what she needs.” He answers. "Hello?"
His face loses all color. “When?” A pause. “This morning?"
Lillianna's hand moves to her mouth and she looks at me. I shrug, but what little I ate of dinner hardens in my stomach. Whatever the news is, it isn’t good.
Sebastian's knuckles whiten around his phone. "What are the charges?" He nods. “Environmental fraud. And he's cooperating?”
Shit. That doesn’t even sound in the realm of good. I push away my plate, the smell of salmon suddenly too much.
"Understood. Thanks for the call." Sebastian ends it and sets his phone down carefully, like it might explode. He looks at each of us in turn. “That was our contact at the EPA. Williams was arrested this morning.”
“Oh, shit,” Lillianna whispers.
"Yes. He's charged with environmental fraud and accepting bribes. And from what I'm hearing, he's looking to cooperate with prosecutors to reduce his sentence."
“Williams knows about the contamination,” I say, my stomach sinking. "If he tells prosecutors your father bribed him to skip inspections and hide the contamination during the landpurchase, and then they find out we've been quietly remediating for weeks?" I shake my head. "Our whole defense falls apart..."
“Because it looks like we've been hiding it all along," Sebastian finishes.
"Technically, we're within our legal rights to remediate at these levels without reporting to EPA. But if Williams tells prosecutors your father bribed him to hide the contamination, and they find out we've been quietly remediating? It looks like a cover-up, even if it isn't."
Thorne sets down his glass with controlled precision. "This is exactly what I said would happen."
Sebastian's jaw tightens. "Thorne—"
"No." Thorne's voice cuts through the room like a blade. "I told you. All of you. We should have kept Williams comfortable. On the payroll. But you wanted to do things 'the right way.'" He makes air quotes, his expression hardening. "Well, congratulations. We tried it your way. Not covering all our bases, and Williams has been arrested and is cooperating with prosecutors.
Lillianna looks at me. “And if he does? How bad is this for us? Are we talking a PR nightmare or more?” She leans toward me, her words barely making it across the table.
I clear my throat, hating that I have to be the one to deliver all this bad news. "If Williams talks, he could implicate Blackstone Bourbon in the bribery schemeandexpose the contamination we're quietly remediating. Your father is dead, but the company faces massive fines for the bribery scheme, illegal land acquisition, and possible criminal charges.”
"But none of us participated," Lillianna says. "None of us knew about it until after the fact. Until Madison told us."
“It's Dad's name on those bribes," Sebastian says, looking at Thorne. "Not ours. We didn't commit his crimes."
Thorne laughs, but there's no humor in it. "You think that matters? Williams is looking at serious prison time. He'll say whatever reduces his sentence. And right now, the only people left to rely on are us." He leans forward. "But if we'd kept him on the payroll like I suggested, we could have paid him enough to report someone else. Point him at other EPA violators. Give prosecutors bigger fish to fry."
"We're not criminals," Sebastian says.
