Chapter 14 - The Shot
Darkness.
A gunshot.
Wood splintered beside my head.
I hit the floor.
Denise screamed.
Raymond cursed.
I knew the workshop better in the dark than he knew it in daylight.
Every bench.
Every tool cabinet.
Every extension cord.
Every step.
I crawled left.
Another shot.
Metal rang.
He was firing blind.
Bad choice.
“Frank!”
Denise’s voice came from behind the bench.
“Stay down!”
The emergency lights flickered red.
Raymond saw me.
Raised the gun.
I threw the first thing my hand touched.
A wooden mallet.
It hit his wrist.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
He shouted.
I charged.
We crashed into the assembly table.
His gun skidded across the floor.
He punched me.
I hit him back.
He grabbed a metal clamp.
Swung.
It caught my shoulder.
Pain exploded down my arm.
I stumbled.
Raymond lunged for the gun.
Denise moved first.
She kicked it beneath a cabinet.
Raymond turned on her.
“You ruined this!”
He grabbed her throat.
I tackled him from the side.
We went down.
Sirens grew louder.
Then voices.
“Police!”
Raymond crawled toward the rear door.
I grabbed his ankle.
He kicked me in the face.
Blood filled my mouth.
He reached the door.
Opened it.
Three officers stood outside with weapons drawn.
“Hands!”
Raymond froze.
“Hands where we can see them!”
For one second, I thought he would surrender.
Then he reached toward his waistband.
The officers moved.
Fast.
They drove him to the ground.
Cuffs clicked.
Raymond screamed.
Threats.
Insults.
Promises.
Then they dragged him away.
Denise sat on the workshop floor.
I leaned against my workbench.
The shredded suit was still there.
Covered in sawdust.
Officer Blake walked in.
“You hit?”
“No.”
“Anybody hit?”
“No.”
He looked at the bullet hole near my workbench.
“Lucky.”
I stared at it.
“No.”
I looked toward the doorway where Raymond disappeared.
“Prepared.”
By sunrise, the full picture was coming together.
The fake accounts.
The stolen identity documents.
The fraudulent loans.
The forged signatures.
The planned flight.
The gun.
The notebook.
The insurance attempt.
This time, Raymond wasn’t walking out on bail.
Denise gave a full statement.
So did Sabrina.
Both would need attorneys.
Both could face charges.
Being manipulated did not erase what they had done.
That mattered.
It had to matter.
Around seven in the morning, Sabrina came to the workshop.
Ethan was with her.
They stood near the doorway.
“You okay?” she asked.
“My face hurts.”
She almost smiled.
Then she saw the suit.
Her smile vanished.
She walked over and touched the torn fabric.
“You made this?”
“Yeah.”
“For me?”
“For the wedding.”
She swallowed.
“I didn’t know Mom destroyed it.”
“You knew I wasn’t invited.”
She nodded.
“That was me.”
“Yes.”
“I wanted Raymond to feel like my father.”
I looked at her.
“And the easiest way to do that was to stop me from being one.”
She cried.
I didn’t soften the sentence.
Some truths need edges.
Ethan took her hand.
Then said, “We’re not getting married today.”
I nodded.
“I figured.”
“But maybe someday.”
“That’s between you two.”
Sabrina stared at the suit.
“I wish I could take all of it back.”
“You can’t.”
“I know.”
“You can only decide what you do next.”
She nodded.
Then my phone rang.
Martin.
“Frank, we need to talk.”
“What now?”
He sounded almost amused.
“For once, something good.”
I stepped outside.
“What?”
“The bank traced another account.”
I sighed.
“How bad?”
“It isn’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“They froze $116,000 before Raymond could move it offshore.”
I stopped.
“One hundred sixteen?”
“Your money. Denise’s transfers. Part of the business loan. Venue funds.”
I looked back through the workshop window at my family.
Broken.
Alive.
Still here.
Martin continued.
“And Frank?”
“Yeah?”
“The trust protected everything else.”
The house.
The shop.
The venue.
All safe.
They thought they could take my life apart.
Instead, they had only revealed the parts that were already broken.
May you like
But there was one decision left.
And it was mine alone.
