Simon's Arrest

The police raid on Simon Blackwood’s office was quiet. No sirens, no battering rams. Just a line of unmarked cars and men in suits moving with efficient, bureaucratic purpose.

I watched from a bench across the street, Maya leaning against my shoulder. We had checked out of the motel, ditched the rental car, and taken a bus into the city.

We were ghosts again.

I checked my phone. The news alerts were coming in fast.

*BREAKING: Vance Estate Fire Claimed Three Lives.*

*Police Seek Richard Vance for Questioning.*

And then, the one I was waiting for.

*Federal Agents Raid Law Offices of Blackwood & Associates.*

I watched as the agents carried out boxes of files. Computers. Hard drives.

Simon was thorough. He was meticulous. But he was also arrogant. He thought he was untouchable.

He never thought a housewife would burn his world down.

A man was led out of the building.

He wasn't Simon. Simon was dead, buried under the rubble of the library.

It was his partner. A man I recognized from Christmas parties, a man who had always smiled too much.

He was in cuffs.

He looked around, his eyes scanning the crowd. He saw me.

He stopped.

He didn't look angry. He looked relieved.

Like he had been waiting for this moment for twenty years.

I stood up.

"Come on," I told Maya. "We have a plane to catch."

We walked to the subway station. I didn't look back at the law office. I didn't look back at the life I was leaving behind.

But as we descended the stairs, my phone buzzed.

A text.

From an unknown number.

I opened it.

It was a picture.

A picture of a safety deposit box key.

*805.*

And a message.

*You missed one.*

I stared at the screen.

It wasn't Simon. It wasn't Richard.

It was James.

He was alive.

And he had the other key.

The duplicate.

The one Arthur had given to Thomas.

I looked at Maya. She was watching me, her eyes filled with trust.

"Mom?"

"It's nothing," I said, deleting the message. "Just spam."

We got on the train.

I had won the battle. I had burned the house. I had exposed the secrets.

But the war wasn't over.

James was out there. And he knew where we were going.

Switzerland.

He would be waiting.

I squeezed Maya's hand.

"Ready for an adventure?" I asked.

She smiled. A brave, tired smile.

"Ready."

The train pulled away from the platform, plunging into the dark tunnel.

We were moving forward. But the past was right behind us.

And it was hungry.