Chapter 5 - The Friday Deadline
Friday morning arrived,
but there were no property transfer papers on the table.
Instead,
Suncrest Estate was crawling with investigators.
Big Tom was in handcuffs,
being led out of the house in his silk pajamas.
He was shouting about his lawyers,
about his connections,
but no one was listening.
Evelyn was sitting on the porch,
her face pale and old,
watching as the FBI agents carried boxes of files from the basement.
They had found the secret ledger.
They had found the vials of arsenic hidden in the false bottom of her jewelry box.
Brianna was crying in the driveway,
her phone having been seized as evidence.
She was realizing that her "useful" pet post was going to be used to prove animal cruelty and harassment.
I sat on the steps of the porch,
holding a cup of coffee that I had made myself.
Mr. Henderson stood beside me,
a folder under his arm.
"The trust is being reinstated in your name today,"
he said.
"The 'transfer' was never legal to begin with,
considering the coercion."
"And the murder charge?"
I asked.
"The DA is confident,"
he replied.
"Between the recording and the exhumation of your grandmother’s remains,"
"Travis and Big Tom are going away for life."
I looked out at the rolling hills of the ranch.
The sun was high and bright,
chasing away the shadows of the last six years.
I felt a weight lifting off my heart,
a lightness I hadn't felt since I was a child.
But there was still one thing I had to do.
I walked to the back of the house,
to the irrigation canal where I had first found Barnaby.
I took the three white feathers from my pocket and let them go.
They caught the breeze,
dancing over the water before disappearing into the reeds.
"Go find her,"
I whispered.
"Go find Grandma."
I stayed there for a long time,
watching the water flow.
The ranch was finally quiet.
The vipers were gone.
May you like
And for the first time in my life,
I was truly home.
