Chapter 14 - THE CHOICE
The flare hit the walkway, not the gasoline.
Dana had fired first.
Her bullet struck Carter’s hand.
The flare spun across the metal grating and fell into the river below.
I reached Sophie and cut the rope around her wrists.
Carter ran toward the roof.
Dana followed, but I was closer.
Rain had begun falling. The roof was slick, and the river churned thirty feet below.
Carter stood at the edge.
“It was supposed to be mine,” he said.
“What was?”
“The company. The house. Camden’s respect.”
“You thought putting me in prison would make him love you?”
“It made him look at me.”
“That isn’t love.”
His burned face twisted.
“What would you know? He chose you every time.”
“He testified against me.”
“And he still spent three years trying to clear your name. When my life fell apart, Mom told me to be stronger.”
“Reagan didn’t make you strong. She made you useful.”
He rushed me.
We crashed onto the wet roof. Carter struck my injured ribs, then wrapped both hands around my throat.
I grabbed his burned wrist and twisted.
He screamed.
The roof panel beneath us broke.
Carter slid toward the edge.
I caught his hand.
For the second time, his life hung from mine.
“Why?” he gasped. “Why do you keep saving me?”
“Because I have to live with who I become after tonight.”
His other hand reached inside his jacket.
He pulled out a small pistol.
Dana shouted from behind me.
Carter aimed at my face.
My grip loosened.
He fired.
The bullet grazed my shoulder, and his body dropped.
His hand caught a metal support below the roofline.
Dana could have shot him.
I could have walked away.
Instead, we lowered a rescue line.
Carter was arrested alive.
As officers dragged him past me, he whispered, “You should’ve let me fall.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But then I’d have to carry you for the rest of my life.”
Lucas reunited with Sophie and immediately surrendered for evidence tampering and obstruction.
He gave Dana every hidden file from my original case.
Weeks later, Reagan pleaded guilty after learning Carter planned to blame everything on her.
Mother and son turned against each other the moment loyalty stopped paying.
Victor Hale was convicted of killing Thomas Vale and helping murder my mother.
Mercer received twenty-two years.
Carter received forty-eight.
Reagan received life.
The law finally named what they had done.
But one question remained.
What was I supposed to do with the house where my family had been destroyed?
My father handed me the silver key.
“That choice belongs to you.”
May you like
I looked at the black front door Reagan had once closed in my face.
Then I unlocked it.
