Parker was already at the coffee shop when I arrived. Corner booth. Two cups on the table. He stood when he saw me. Didn't hug me. Just nodded and sat back down.
I slid into the seat across from him. Picked up the cup. It was still hot.
"Black," he said. "Like you used to drink it in college."
"I still do."
He folded his hands on the table. Looked at me with that steady, clinical gaze that used to make people nervous in seminars. "Tell me what you're thinking."
I told him. All of it. The phone call. The poker parlor. Larry Garza with his beer and his baseball game. The way Ashton's voice had sounded through the study door. Tender. In love. Delusional.
Parker listened without interrupting. When I finished he was quiet for a moment. Then he leaned back and exhaled slowly.
"Voluntary commitment requires a signed consent form," he said. His voice was low. Precise. "Once it's signed, the individual is agreeing to psychiatric evaluation. The facility has legal authority to hold them for seventy-two hours minimum. Longer if the attending physician determines there's clinical justification."
"What counts as justification?"
"Severe delusional ideation. Erotomania. Persistent false beliefs that pose a risk to self or others." He paused. "A man who believes a middle-aged poker room owner is his pregnant girlfriend would meet that threshold."
I took a sip of coffee. It burned going down but I didn't care.
"What's the risk to you?" I asked.
"If it's discovered that I knowingly facilitated a fraudulent commitment, I lose my license. Possibly face criminal charges." He said it the way someone reads a weather report. Factual. Unemotional. "But if the consent form is legitimately signed, and the clinical presentation at intake supports the documented delusion, then it's a lawful admission."
"And you'd be willing to oversee the intake."
"Yes."
I looked at him. Really looked at him. "Why?"
He met my eyes. "Because you asked."
We sat there in the noise of the coffee shop. Someone's phone rang. A barista called out a name. Parker reached into his bag and pulled out a yellow legal pad.
"I'll draft it tonight," he said. "Standard psychiatric consent language. I'll format it to match legal document typography exactly. You'll need to bury it in a stack of divorce paperwork. Page fourteen or fifteen. Numbered sequentially. He won't read it. Men like him never do."
"What if he does?"
"Then you're getting a divorce and nothing changes." Parker tapped the legal pad with one finger. "But if he signs it, you own him."
I finished my coffee. Set the cup down. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet," he said quietly. "This only works if you can stay cold."
I met his gaze and didn't blink. "I can."
I went home and played the part. Ashton was in the kitchen making eggs when I walked in. He looked up and smiled. Actually smiled.
"Hey," he said. "Where were you?"
"Thinking," I said. I set my bag on the counter. Kept my voice even. Calm. "You're right. There's no point dragging this out. Let's just handle the paperwork like adults."
His face lit up. Relief. Triumph. He set the spatula down and came around the counter. For a second I thought he was going to hug me. He stopped a foot away instead.
"I'm glad you're being reasonable about this," he said. "I know it's hard. But it's the right thing."
"I'll get the settlement drawn up," I said. "No lawyers. We'll keep it simple."
"Perfect." He picked up his phone. Tapped the screen. Held it to his ear. "Mom? Yeah. She's fine. She's making it easy." He glanced at me. Smiled again. "I know. I told you she would."
I walked past him into the guest room and closed the door. Sat on the edge of the bed and listened to him laugh in the kitchen. Listened to him tell his mother how reasonable I was being. How mature. How dignified.
My phone buzzed. A text from Patricia. *Leave the keys on the counter when you go. And don't take anything that isn't yours.*
I deleted it. Opened my laptop. Logged into the building's security portal. Found the footage from yesterday morning. Patricia entering the lobby at 9:47 a.m. Tote bag hanging loose and empty from her arm. Patricia leaving at 11:23 a.m. Tote bag bulging. Heavy. Full.
I downloaded the file. Saved it to three separate drives. Encrypted each one.
Parker's text came through at midnight. *It's done. I'll bring it tomorrow. 10 a.m. Same place.*
I didn't sleep. I sat at the desk in the guest room with the lights off and built the trap. Divorce settlement pages on top. Standard language. Equitable distribution. No-fault dissolution. Clean. Reasonable. Boring.
Page fourteen. Voluntary Admission for Psychiatric Evaluation. Consent to seventy-two-hour hold. Authorization for treatment as deemed clinically necessary. Signature line at the bottom.
More settlement pages after. Custody of assets. Division of property. Final declarations. Page twenty-three. Signature line. Witness line. Date.
I formatted every page identically. Same font. Same margins. Same page numbers in the bottom right corner. I printed the whole stack and paper-clipped it together. Set it on the desk. Stared at it until the window turned gray.
Ashton knocked on the door at eight. "Marley? You awake?"
"Yeah."
"I'm heading out. Meeting with a friend. I'll be back this afternoon."
I listened to his footsteps fade. The front door closing. The apartment going quiet.
I picked up the stack of papers. Held them in both hands. Felt the weight of them. The future folded into twenty-three pages.
I thought about the bracelet in Patricia's tote bag. The cash from my safe. The way Ashton had smiled when he told me to leave with my dignity.
I set the papers back down. Smoothed the top page with my palm.
"Like adults," I said quietly to the empty room. "No drama."
