Chapter 4 - CHRISTINE’S CHOICE
Christine was interviewed before sunrise.
She asked for Randall’s attorney to remain.
Investigators denied the request because Gregory Sloan represented Randall, creating a potential conflict.
Christine retained separate counsel.
Her first statement claimed she entered the driveway after Jake fell.
The drone video disproved that.
Her second statement claimed she froze in fear.
The recording captured her warning Randall about Mrs. Patterson and helping the men avoid discovery.
Her third statement admitted she knew they were “questioning” Jake but denied seeing serious violence.
Medical evidence disproved that too.
Finally, she asked to speak with me.
The meeting occurred through glass.
Evelyn and Christine’s attorney remained inside the room.
I sat on the other side.
Christine looked exhausted.
Mascara streaked beneath her eyes.
“Is Jake awake?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Can I see him?”
“No.”
“I’m his mother.”
“You watched three men beat him and helped them continue.”
“I didn’t help.”
“You warned them about the neighbor.”
“I was trying to stop Dad from panicking.”
“Jake was bleeding.”
“I thought Dad had only slapped him.”
“The scan shows older injuries.”
Her face changed.
That was the moment I knew.
“You knew,” I said.
Christine looked at her attorney.
He said nothing.
“The rib,” I continued. “The wrist.”
“Dad can be rough.”
“With an eight-year-old?”
“He believes boys need discipline.”
“Did you see him break Jake’s rib?”
“No.”
“Did Jake tell you?”
She began crying.
“He said Grandpa squeezed him.”
“And you told me he fell from his bicycle.”
“I wanted to handle it.”
“You returned him there.”
“Dad apologized.”
“You returned him there.”
“I didn’t think this would happen.”
“The wrist?”
Christine covered her face.
“Ray grabbed him after Jake went into Dad’s office.”
“Why?”
“He found old files.”
“What files?”
“Your files.”
Randall had collected articles, public filings, and photographs from my prosecution years.
He knew far more about my history than I realized.
Christine continued:
“Dad believed you were waiting to come after him.”
“Was he still committing crimes?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You watched him remove bridge evidence.”
“He said the project had testing problems that competitors were exaggerating.”
“And Jake’s drone recorded it.”
“Dad only wanted the card.”
“So he beat our son.”
“I told him to stop.”
“You told Mrs. Patterson that Jake was fine while he bled onto the curb.”
She lowered her hands.
“I was scared of him.”
“So was Jake.”
“You don’t understand what Dad does when people betray him.”
“I understand exactly.”
Christine stared at me through the glass.
“What are you going to do?”
“Protect Jake.”
“I mean to Dad.”
“You still think I am the danger in this room.”
She began shaking.
“If the bridge investigation expands, Dad will destroy everyone.”
“Then everyone should stop protecting him.”
“He paid for our first house.”
“With what money?”
“He helped with Jake’s school.”
“With what money?”
“He gave me a job when you were traveling.”
“What job?”
Christine had been receiving $8,000 per month from Hughes Community Development as a family-relations consultant.
She had described it as occasional marketing work.
Investigators later found she performed almost none.
The payments gave Randall access and loyalty.
They also exposed her to financial questions she had avoided asking.
Christine whispered:
“I didn’t know about the defective concrete.”
“You knew enough to hide the video.”
“I deleted the cloud account.”
The confession entered the room quietly.
“You deleted Jake’s recordings?”
“Dad told me the footage could ruin hundreds of employees.”
“Did you know the drone had a physical card?”
“No.”
That was why they kept asking Jake for the password.
The cloud account was gone.
The child had preserved the original.
I stood.
“Michael, please.”
I stopped at the door.
“Grandpa told Jake I wasn’t coming.”
Christine cried harder.
“I’m sorry.”
“You helped make him believe it.”
The emergency court granted me temporary sole custody.
Christine received no unsupervised contact while the investigation continued.
Randall, Ray, and Nolan Briggs were arrested that morning on charges connected to Jake’s assault and evidence tampering.
Additional warrants followed.
The Cedar Run Bridge closed before the first school bus crossed it.
Engineers found the concrete strength far below specifications in critical support sections.
The bridge was not guaranteed to collapse that day.
It was unsafe enough that no responsible official could justify keeping it open.
Nearly nine hundred children traveled across it during an average school week.
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Randall later called the closure political theater.
Jake’s video showed him planning to destroy the test samples proving why it was necessary.
