Chapter 7
Rourke wanted Althea brought to him.
His lawyer said:
“You say that again and I walk out.”
Rourke stared.
The lawyer continued.
“You have a child-protection case open, an old missing-person file reopened, and a federal audit touching your family money. If anyone near you threatens Althea, witnesses stop cooperating and Posie pays.”
Rourke sat down.
That was new.
Old Rourke had mistaken restraint for weakness.
Fatherhood had not cured that.
Fear of losing Posie began to.
Child protection required an emergency safety plan.
No Althea contact.
No unsupervised access to Posie by any adult tied to Althea’s household staff.
Court-approved childcare.
A therapist for Posie.
Regular visits from the investigator.
Rourke resisted only one condition:
No armed Bellacourt men around Posie’s bedroom.
The caseworker said:
“You cannot use criminal loyalty as childcare.”
He almost argued.
Then remembered Denise, the housekeeper, saying she had been afraid to tell the truth because of those same men.
He signed.
Detective Mara also reviewed the slap.
Rourke admitted he struck Althea after Posie had been freed and handed to a guard.
The prosecutor offered misdemeanor diversion because the incident occurred immediately after a child rescue but was not strictly necessary force.
Anger-management sessions.
Community service with no Bellacourt donation.
No contact with Althea.
No intimidation of witnesses.
Rourke accepted.
His captains looked embarrassed for him.
Rourke said:
May you like
“You should be embarrassed that a seven-year-old had to point under bedding before any of us saw what was in our own garden.”
No one answered.
