Chapter 16 - MARGARET'S OLD JOB
Margaret had worked at Bell House for six months before I was born.
She had reported Bell after he kept a vulnerable girl past her legal discharge date.
Authorities returned the girl home.
Her stepfather hurt her.
The girl survived, but Margaret carried the guilt.
Bell later named Margaret as an advisory beneficiary precisely because she had challenged him.
He wanted somebody who distrusted his judgment.
The trust required both our signatures.
“I don’t want control,” Margaret said.
“Neither do I.”
“What do we do?”
“We ask people who know more than us.”
We began assembling an independent board made up of former foster youth, social workers, pediatric specialists, legal advocates, and parents.
The mansion would become a transparent family support center.
No secret placements.
No one-person decisions.
Then Aaron Pike gave a jailhouse interview.
He claimed Bell’s eighteen-million-dollar trust had been funded with stolen money.
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The project froze overnight.
