Chapter 6 - The Trap is Sprung
The following weeks were a whirlwind of legal battles.
Travis tried to claim he was under duress.
Big Tom tried to blame the accountants.
But the recordings were irrefutable.
Every time I felt my resolve waver,
I would think about that plate of meat.
I would think about the way they laughed at my pain.
It kept my heart cold and my mind sharp.
The animal rescue organization filed a civil suit for the death of Barnaby.
The publicity was a nightmare for the family’s remaining business interests.
Their bank accounts were seized,
their assets frozen.
The "Suncrest Estate" was no longer a piggy bank for their corruption.
I spent my days working with the auditors,
helping them untangle the web of lies.
I was a "second-rate accountant" no more.
I was the one who found the missing millions.
I was the one who traced the bribes to the state senator.
The local papers called me the "Whistleblower of the West."
But I didn't care about the titles.
I only cared about the land.
I hired a team of farmers who actually cared about the soil.
We started the process of rehabilitating the hay fields.
We fixed the irrigation system that Big Tom had let rot.
I even bought a new flock of geese.
They weren't Barnaby,
but their honking filled the yard with life again.
One afternoon,
I visited the jail.
I wanted to see Travis one last time.
He looked terrible in his orange jumpsuit,
his arrogance replaced by a hollow desperation.
"Why did you do it,
Sam?"
he asked,
his voice cracking.
"We could have been happy."
"You don't know the meaning of the word,"
I said.
"You only know the meaning of 'mine'."
"You took my grandmother."
"You took my friend."
"And now,
I’ve taken everything you ever valued."
I walked away from the glass partition,
not looking back.
I was done with his shadows.
I was done with his lies.
May you like
I was Samantha Robbins,
and I was the master of my own fate.
