Chapter 54
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Three Months Later
Kentucky
Flint stepped out of his rental and stood for a moment in the gravel driveway, listening to the sound of laughter coming from inside the Fisher house. Real laughter. The kind that comes from relief and joy mixed together.
The rebuilt Georgian colonial looked exactly as it had the first time he’d visited, but everything felt different now. The afternoon sun painted the red brick walls gold, and the rolling Kentucky hills stretched away in all directions under a sky so blue he squinted.
He walked up the front steps to the porch.
Through the tall windows, he could see the Fishers sitting around the dining room table.
Five adults who looked nothing alike and everything alike at the same time.
Jason’s sharp angles and dark hair. Bruce’s quieter presence and artist’s hands.
Dylan’s softer features and nervous energy.
Kevin’s height and easy smile. Maureen’s delicate bone structure and expressive hands.
The front door opened before he could knock.
“Michael.” Jason stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind him. He looked ten years younger than he had three months ago. “Thanks for coming.”
“How are they adjusting?”
Jason ran a hand through his hair which meant he was processing something complicated. “Dylan cried for two hours yesterday. Not sad crying. Happy crying. He kept saying he remembered the sound of my voice reading him stories.”
Through the window, Flint watched as one of the twins gestured animatedly while telling some story that had the other twin, Maureen, and Bruce doubled over with laughter.
“That’s Kevin doing all the talking. He’s been asking about everything. What Dad was like. What happened to our old toys. Whether I remember him trying to climb the oak tree behind the house.” Jason’s voice caught slightly. “I do remember. I remember all of it.”
Maureen got up from the table and disappeared into the kitchen. A moment later she returned with a fresh pot of coffee, pouring refills for her brothers. Bruce said something that made Dylan laugh so hard he nearly spilled his coffee.
“And Maureen?”
“She’s the caretaker. Always has been, apparently. Keeps trying to mother all of us.” Jason smiled. “Yesterday she made me eat lunch because she said I looked thin.”
Flint’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen.
A news alert about Devon Cole’s death in federal custody.
He’d died under suspicious circumstances three weeks after he was arrested.
An investigation into his death finished up today, but the official story remained unchanged. Suicide. No foul play suspected.
“You see the news?” Jason asked, noticing Flint’s expression.
“Yeah.” Flint pocketed the phone. “You surprised?”
“No. Men like Cole don’t live long enough to face trial. Too many secrets. Too many people who need those secrets buried.” Jason leaned against the porch railing. “I’ve been buying up his businesses. Every legitimate company he owned. By next month, I’ll own his entire empire.”
“What’s your plan? Keep the profitable, legitimate businesses and liquidate the others?” Flint asked.
“Probably. I’ll need to get an army of forensic accountants to analyze it all. Then I’ll decide what to do.” Jason paused. “Strange thing is, I don’t feel as satisfied as I thought I would.”
“Justice isn’t always satisfying,” Flint said with a shrug as he glanced inside again.
Dylan was showing Kevin something on his phone. Probably photos of his life in Portland. Kevin nodded enthusiastically, pointing at the screen and asking questions Flint couldn’t hear. Brothers catching up on more than twenty years of separation in a few hours of conversation.
“What about Lizzy?” Jason asked.
“Federal marshals delivered her yesterday. New identity, new life somewhere safe. She’ll testify when they need her, but mostly she just wants to disappear.”
“She saved our lives.”
“She did. More than once.”
“What about the woman who died in the bus accident?” Jason asked. “Were you able to identify her and notify her family?”
Flint shook his head. “Not yet. We exhumed the body and collected DNA. No match so far. We moved her to a private cemetery. When we find her family, they’ll be able to visit her grave, at least.”
For a few moments they stood in comfortable silence, watching the afternoon shadows lengthen across the hills. Inside, Maureen was cutting slices from what looked like a homemade apple pie, distributing them with the same careful attention she’d given the coffee.
“Your mother around?” Flint asked.
“Resting. This has been overwhelming for her. Good overwhelming, but still...” Jason shrugged. “She keeps touching their faces, like she can’t believe they’re real.”
Flint understood. After years of grief, joy could be just as difficult to process as sorrow.
“What about Drake? Is he okay?” Jason asked.
Flint grinned. “Drake’s as tough as woodpecker lips, as my friend Kim Otto would say.”
“And you?” Jason asked.
Flint arched his eyebrows. “What about me?”
“You could retire, you know. The fee I paid you could buy a small country. And I’d happily pay more, if you’ll take it,” Jason said.
Flint looked through the window one more time. Dylan was showing Kevin how to use an app on his phone. Maureen was laughing at something one of them had said. Bruce seemed to bask in the glow of it all. Jason was about to rejoin the family he’d thought was lost forever.
“This is what I do,” Flint said simply. “I wouldn’t know how to live without my work.”
Jason nodded, understanding. “Thank you, Michael. For all of it.”
“Take care of yourselves.”
“We will.”
Flint walked back to his car, listening to the sound of family voices growing fainter behind him.
By the time he reached the gravel driveway, he was already thinking about his next case.
Which he couldn’t begin until he took Maddy and Whiskers to Disney World again.
Scarlett had refused, and Maddy was a typically persistent seven-year-old.
The work never ended. But sometimes, like today, it ended well.