There was no doubt in Vance's mind that his mother just wanted to see how much of Vance's money she could get her hands on, and unfortunately for him, the answer likely "a lot of it." He didn't have the cards to play to prevent it, and his freedom would be worth everything he had. The estranged pair began what was somewhere between a delicate dance of conversation and brutal tactical negotiation. She scored verbal point after point on Vance, making him feel like a small child. He was a fool for failing to plan ahead, he was a fool for not having an alert system or safe place, he was a fool for not having a judge in his pocket...to hear his mother tell it, there was virtually nothing Vance had done right his whole life other than managing to get his hands on a little bit of money.
Vance tried a similar deal with his mother that he did with Ravi, offering her some small guaranteed money as a sign of faith, with the promise of a larger reward once she got him out, but this was swiftly rejected. Why take a little now, when she could take a lot now? It was as simple as that. Eventually, Vance agreed to give her the ability to access his personal bank account, and she agreed to both bribe the judge and secure his bail, so that if one part failed he'd have a backup. Vance suspected she would do one of the two, at the most, ensuring that she could keep an even bigger percentage of his money, but he was getting desperate, so he at least pretended to take her at her word. What he really wondered was if she'd do anything at all, or simply abscond with his life's savings? It's what he would have done, but throughout the conversation, he did get a hint of...something. That maybe his mother, despite her selfishness and greed, still cared something for her youngest son. Vance could only hope that while helping herself, she'd do what she promised and free him as well.
Once she was gone, Vance reflected again on his new reality. He had lost his power, lost his future, lost his money, lost everything. He was confident that his mother would take as much of his wealth as she could; she might not know about all of his secret stashes, and his company money was surely unavailable, but he had more than enough for her to live a comfortable "retirement" in the time she had left, just in the account that he had given her access to that afternoon. But the loss of money was simply a symptom that reflected the change he was struggling to accept; Vance had been the captain of his own ship, master of his destiny, and so on. Or so he thought. Now, he had nothing, and very little hope. Better to be poor and free than rich and locked up, and he had a good idea that he was actually about to be poor and locked up - the worst possible outcome seeming more likely all the time as he replayed their interaction over and over.
Nothing happened over the next few days. Vance wasn't sure how surprised he should really be, but at this point, it was safe to assume he'd given away the only bargaining chip he had available to the first person to make a play for it. Maybe his mother had been right, and he really was a fool. Ravi seemed to understand how Vance felt, and although he was disappointed that his opportunity at making some money off of Vance (no matter how theoretical it might have been) had disappeared, he clearly sympathized with a man who would be scammed by his own mother. In any event, Ravi hadn't heard anything about his own trial date, so even if Vance's mother had never appeared, it likely wouldn't have made much of a difference to him.
Throughout the week, Ravi became ill, with the "prisoner's sickness." It was all too common in the jail, where the poor hygiene, lack of nutrition and medical care, and general malaise all combined in the form of nasty stomach bug that quickly led to a myriad of secondary problems. In Ravi's case, he stopped eating, and over the next day and a half, gradually lost the ability to get up or even speak normally for any length of time before becoming confused. Vance didn't particularly want to be locked up with a dead man (or a dying one, to be less hypothetical about his current situation), but at the same time, there wasn't much that he could do for Ravi - or anyone else - given the circumstances. The guards inspected the sick man twice, with not much care, although on the second visit they declared Ravi to have a serious fever. They doused him with cold water, and claimed that they would send for a healer. One never came - Vance suspected that caring for prisoners wasn't exactly a priority, even if they hadn't technically had a trial yet.
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Ravi seemed to make a small recovery the next night after Vance had fallen asleep, standing on his own and walking to the privy in their cell; however, it was a step too far for his weakened body. Ravi fell, hitting his head on the hard floor, and this time he did not stir again. Vance awoke at the sound of the crash, and the guards simply hauled Ravi's unmoving form out of the cell, leaving Vance alone.
Nearly a week passed before his mother made another appearance, and she came with quite a story to tell. She had tried to secure bail for him, she claimed, but his wealth made him too much of a flight risk, and wasn't possible. Vance laughed in spite of himself at this, because the joke was on them - he was broke now. In any event, his mother did say that she identified the judge that would hear his case (and soon, if her information was right) and she was working on the bribe...but then came the inevitable push to get more money. Surely Vance had some hidden away, and a larger bribe would make a better deal - beside, in for a copper, in for a gold, right? Vance saw the logic in her argument, but her play was so transparent, her eyes so predatory, that he resisted. She had already been able to get plenty for a sizable bribe, and while Vance might be able to get someone else to his stashes later, he was already nervous he wouldn't have enough left for another play if needed a backup.
She frowned a little. "Hmm. Good to see you have at least a tiny bit of sense in your head, but now is not the time to be hedging here, if that's what you think you're doing. I know you've got more. Use it intelligently. Your father would have made the same dumb mistake, if I had let him - not knowing how and when to use his money." Vance pulled back from the bars like a man slapped. It was the first time in more than a decade that his mother had even mentioned Vance's father, and he wasn't quite sure how to react. She lowered her voice and continued. "You know, you're more like him that you realize, although Richard is cut from a different cloth. But your father, he was a good smuggler. Smart, too, but he never really understood security. I used to tell him - security only happens when you take care of yourself first, your own next. He either didn't get it, or was too foolish to act in a rational way."
His mother leaned forward a little, looking through the bars directly into Vance's eyes as she softly spoke, her long hair covering much of her face and making it nearly impossible for anyone else to know what she was saying. "Getting caught doing something bad is a problem, but it is bound to happen if you do enough worth getting caught at - and it doesn't have to be that big of a deal. I tried to get him to plan to head, to be ready, be just never did. And then when he did get caught, what was he going to do? He was willing to turn over everything he had, even his partners and contacts, just to stay out of prison. He was going to do it, too, that night. Of course, I couldn't let him do that. He was, shall we say, surprised at my reaction. Made me wonder if he had ever really paid attention at all. You should learn from his mistake."
Vance reeled, and had to sit down on his bed to steady himself from the shock. Why was she bringing this up now, and what was he supposed to think of all this? Was there something that he could use, or was she just trying to frighten him? "What do you do to him?" Vance asked, as the long-ignored memories flooded his brain, of his mothers' appearance and silence the night his father disappeared. She didn't answer him for a moment. Slowly, his mother stood straight back up, looking down at Vance's unnerved expression, and smiled a bit. She raised her eyebrows at him, then turned around. "I take care of myself first, Vance." she said, and walked out.
Vance sat in the dark cell, lost in his thoughts. He replayed their conversation, her expressions, his memories, over and over again. Eventually the guard came over and started speaking, jolting him out of his stupor. The man was standing in front of the bars holding a piece of paper. "Busy day for you, worm. First a visitor, and now this. You're a little celebrity, arent' you?" The guard sneered at him and held the paper up to the bars for Vance to read. "Get some sleep while you can, since it seems like your little stay at our vacation resort has come to an end. You've been put on the docket; your trial is tomorrow." The man's tone became a bit more rote, more formal, as he continued. "Your advocate, provided by the court, will pick you up at sunrise to work on your defense. Should you be found guilty, your sentence will be carried out immediately at the conclusion of the trial."