Chapter 15 - A New Beginning
Six months later, the air in Maine was crisp and salty. I sat on the porch of our new beachfront cottage, wrapping a thick woolen blanket around my legs, watching the ocean waves crash against the rocky shore.
The trial had been a media circus, but Arthur didn't last long enough to see a jury. Two weeks into his holding at a federal penitentiary, he was found dead in his cell. The official report said suicide; everyone else knew the cartel had tied up a loose end.
With Marcus’s brilliant legal maneuvering, Leo's trust fund had been entirely restored.
The boy who had once been locked in a filthy basement was now walking up the beach toward me, carrying a surfboard under his arm. He had gained healthy weight, his skin tanned from the sun, the shadows completely gone from his eyes.
"Water's freezing!" Leo laughed, dropping the board on the sand and jogging up the wooden stairs.
"I told you to wear the thicker wetsuit," I smiled, handing him a mug of hot cocoa.
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We had changed our last names. We had moved across the country.
But as I looked at my nephew, finally safe and truly alive, I knew Claire was looking down on us. The dark reality was dead and buried, and in the bright morning sun, we were finally free.
