Chapter 6 - The Broken Alliance
Prison changes people fast, but panic changes them faster.
Three weeks before the formal trial was set to begin, the unified defense between my mother and sister shattered completely.
Sitting in a concrete cell twenty-three hours a day, facing twenty years in a maximum-security state facility, Briana realized that her mother's promises of "handling things" were completely worthless. Linda couldn't buy her way out. She couldn't manipulate the judge. She couldn't call a favor from a wealthy friend.
On a Tuesday afternoon, Detective Miller called Ethan and me into his office at the police headquarters.
"Briana's attorney just reached out to the District Attorney," Miller said, sliding a document across his desk. "She wants to offer a full proffer statement. She's willing to plead guilty to Aggravated Assault and Wire Fraud in exchange for testifying against your mother on the Attempted Murder and Embezzlement charges."
I leaned back in the chair, looking at the document. "She's turning on Mom?"
"She's trying to save her own skin," Miller replied dryly. "In her statement, Briana claims that Linda was the mastermind behind the entire event. She alleges that Linda explicitly instructed her to start an argument with you near the fire pit, and that Linda promised her $200,000 from the trust fund if Autumn was 'removed from the picture' before the sixtieth birthday audit."
Ethan let out a low, cold whistle. "Mother of the year."
"What is the DA offering her?" I asked.
"The DA is willing to recommend a fifteen-year sentence with eligibility for parole after eight years," Miller explained. "If she turns state's evidence, your mother will face the full brunt of the Attempted Murder charge alone—which carries a mandatory minimum of twenty-five years without parole."
I sat in silence for a long moment, looking out the window at the city skyline.
For thirty-four years, Linda and Briana had been an unbreakable duo—a toxic, codependent unit that chewed up anyone who stood in their way, including my father and me. Now, faced with the real consequences of their cruelty, they were tearing each other apart like wild animals over a scrap of meat.
"Accept the plea," I said softly.
May you like
Ethan looked at me, surprised. "Are you sure, Autumn? Eight years still feels light for what she did to you."
"Eight years in a state penitentiary for a woman who couldn't survive a week without a manicurist and a luxury SUV is a lifetime, Ethan," I replied, my eyes steady. "And watching her own daughter take the stand to put her in prison for twenty-five years... that is a justice more complete than anything a prosecutor could write."
