Chapter Ten: The Terms of Silence
Friday morning brought a letter from Alder Spring’s attorneys.
It arrived electronically, addressed to Ethan, Nina, and Raymond.
The letter said the business was concerned about false and damaging statements made by local residents.
It demanded that the residents stop implying the company had interfered with municipal water services.
It also invited them to discuss a private resolution.
Nina read the letter twice at Ethan’s kitchen table.
“They want us to promise not to talk,” she said.
Raymond frowned at the screen.
“Can they make us do that?”
“Not just by writing a letter,” Ethan said.
He had called a local attorney, Mara Singh, to ask what they could safely say in public.
Mara advised them to describe what they had personally seen and to leave official findings to the inspectors.
She urged them not to speculate about health effects or criminal charges.
“He is counting on us exaggerating something,” Ethan told the others.
“Then he can argue that everything we say is unreliable.”
Raymond tapped the table.
“I can say my father never discovered a magical spring.”
“You can,” Mara said over the speakerphone.
“And you can say whether you gave permission for your image to be used.”
June arrived with news from the staff.
Adrian had ordered employees to sign a statement saying all demonstrations were safe and properly approved.
“Did anyone sign?” Nina asked.
“Three people did,” June said.
“They thought they’d lose their jobs if they refused.”
“What about you?”
“I asked to read the supporting inspection report.”
“And?”
“They sent me home.”
Ethan noticed she was carrying a cardboard box containing a coffee mug and a plant.
“They fired you?”
“They said I was being placed on unpaid leave.”
“That’s not better.”
June gave a small shrug.
“It means they want me quiet until after tomorrow.”
Mara advised June to preserve her own employment communications and speak with a qualified employment adviser.
She also cautioned her not to take company property or enter restricted areas.
June nodded.
“I don’t need to steal anything,” she said.
“I was told to say things that weren’t true, and I remember who told me.”
After the call, a message arrived from Carol.
Adrian wanted to meet her at the theater that afternoon.
He had promised to release her from the personal guarantee if she signed an explanation blaming Derek for the tubing.
Ethan read the message aloud.
“She’s thinking about it,” Nina said.
“Wouldn’t you?” Raymond asked.
“If someone had my house in his fist, I’d probably think about it too.”
Ethan shook his head.
“She can’t make another person responsible for what she did.”
“Nobody said she should,” Raymond replied.
“I’m saying fear makes a dishonest offer look like the only offer.”
They invited Carol to join them at a coffee shop before her meeting.
She arrived with the same careful expression she wore whenever she prepared to complain about someone else’s property.
This time she put a handwritten page on the table.
“Adrian wants me to say Derek acted alone,” she said.
“Was that true?” Nina asked.
“No.”
“Then don’t sign,” Ethan said.
Carol rubbed the edge of the paper.
“He says he’ll call the loan.”
Mara, who had joined by phone, asked to see the guarantee before anyone made assumptions about its terms.
Carol admitted she had not shown the documents to an independent lawyer.
“He told me it was normal business paperwork,” she said.
“Then you need advice from somebody who isn’t Adrian,” Mara replied.
“You don’t know whether he can do what he’s threatening.”
Carol looked at Ethan.
“Why are you helping me?”
“I’m helping us stop another lie,” he answered.
“You still owe me a water line.”
For the first time in two days, Carol almost smiled.
“I know.”
The meeting with Adrian went ahead, but Carol did not sign the explanation.
She agreed only to listen and to take copies of anything he wanted her to approve.
When she returned, her hands trembled.
“He said the city would never dare challenge an institution supported by so many donors,” she reported.
“Then he told me tomorrow would make everything irreversible.”
“What did he mean?” Ethan asked.
Carol looked directly at June.
“He said the founding patrons were going to invest enough money to buy the bottling company outright.”
June closed her eyes.
“Then the launch isn’t just advertising.”
Ethan felt the story shift beneath his feet.
Adrian was trying to turn a collection of customers into financial backers before the false origin story collapsed.
The people who paid for expensive water might soon be asked to finance the company selling it.
