Part 10: The Clearing
The local police unit arrived fifteen minutes later. Two officers escorted Daniel and Brooke out through the front door. They didn't wear handcuffs out of some lingering professional courtesy, but the shame of walking past the neighbors watching from their front lawns was punishment enough.
As they led Brooke past me in the hallway, she paused, her eyes flashing with venomous hatred.
“You’ll ruin everything,” she whispered bitterly. “Caleb has nowhere to go.”
“Caleb has grandparents who love him,” I replied calmly, looking her straight in the eye. “And he has a mother who should have taught him honesty instead of greed. Pack your bags by tomorrow morning. The house is under strict legal protection now.”
She turned her face away and walked out to the patrol car.
When the flashing red and blue lights finally faded down the street, the house felt enormous. The smell of roasted turkey and rosemary still hung in the air, mingling with the scent of pine from the mantelpiece.
Evelyn walked over to the kitchen counter, poured herself a cup of black coffee from the pot Brooke had brewed earlier, and leaned against the counter.
“Well,” Evelyn said with a faint, wry smile. “That certainly beats cooking for thirty people.”
I let out a long breath, a laugh bubbling up from deep inside my chest—light, genuine, and unburdened for the first time in four years.
“It certainly does, Evelyn,” I smiled, looking around the walls where Walter’s photographs hung in quiet dignity. “It certainly does.”
