“Why tell me now?” Abigail asked, holding her cup with both hands.

“Because yesterday he started asking whether you’d come into any money,” Naomi said. “I was afraid he’d get you to sign something.”

At five that afternoon, Abigail sat down with Ray Lawson, an attorney who specialized in asset protection. She showed him the winning ticket and the forged credit forms.

“I want my son’s medical treatment paid for,” she said. “But I don’t want him able to withdraw a dollar in cash.”

Lawson proposed a medical trust, set up immediately. The fund would pay the hospital, the specialists, the medications, and the rehabilitation directly.

Spencer would get complete care; his other debts would be excluded.