Chapter 14 - THE LAST NIGHT AT CROSSMOOR
Victor forced Ruth through the side gate.
He had explosives strapped beneath his coat.
“Ledger.”
Damon stood on the terrace.
Mara stayed behind him.
Victor smiled.
“All this because your father taught you to confuse evidence with power.”
Damon held the ledger.
“You let Ruth go.”
“First the ledger.”
Ruth shouted, “Don’t!”
Victor struck her.
Mara moved.
Damon grabbed her.
“No.”
Victor laughed.
“The nanny has more courage than you.”
Mara looked at the boys’ windows.
Micah was watching.
Again.
Always watching.
Mara realized something.
Victor expected Damon to protect the ledger.
He did not understand Damon anymore.
Mara whispered, “Burn it.”
Damon looked at her.
“Burn it.”
Victor’s face changed.
Damon took out a lighter.
He set the ledger on fire.
“No!”
Victor shoved Ruth aside and lunged forward.
That was the opening.
Ruth dropped.
Security fired.
Victor ran toward the garden.
His explosive vest began beeping.
Mara’s blood froze.
“EVERYBODY DOWN!”
Damon tackled Victor before he reached the house.
Victor screamed.
A security officer grabbed Damon and pulled him away.
The vest exploded near the fountain.
Stone shattered.
Glass blew inward.
Mara covered Lily and the boys beneath the dining table.
For several seconds, nobody heard anything but ringing.
Then Micah whispered, “Mara?”
“I’m here.”
“You stayed.”
She looked at him.
“Yes.”
Outside, Victor Shaw was dead.
Ruth survived.
Damon survived.
Crossmoor House survived.
Barely.
The next morning, Mara stood outside family court.
Bryce entered through a separate door wearing county jail clothes.
His attorney no longer looked confident.
Neither did he.
Mara held Lily’s hand.
Damon stood several feet behind them.
Not beside her.
He understood this fight belonged to Mara.
The judge reviewed everything.
Bryce’s arrest.
His financial ties to Victor.
His deliberate attempts to manipulate Mara.
The motel incident.
Lily’s school reports.
Mara’s employment.
Her housing plan.
Then the judge looked at Mara.
“Ms. Ellison, are you currently residing at Crossmoor House?”
Mara inhaled.
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“And do you believe that environment is stable for your daughter?”
Mara looked at Lily.
Then at Damon.
Then at the four boys waiting outside with Ruth.
She answered.
“Not because the house is safe.”
The judge raised an eyebrow.
Mara continued.
“Because the people inside it are finally learning how to keep each other safe.”
The courtroom went silent.
May you like
The judge looked down at the file.
Then she made her decision.
