Chapter 6 - The Shadows of the Past
By noon, the Manhattan headquarters of Morrison Dynamics was a ghost town for anyone tied to Marcus Vance. Federal investigators had seized the executive servers, frozen forty offshore accounts, and hauled away three cartloads of encrypted hard drives.
Marcus Vance sat in an interrogation room on the fourteenth floor of the Federal Plaza downtown, staring blankly at a metal table, handcuffed to a bolted ring. His expensive suit was wrinkled; his gray hair was disheveled. He had finally realized that no amount of money could buy his way out of an investigation backed by state intelligence and federal RICO statutes.
Meanwhile, back at the Westchester mansion, the autumn sun was breaking through the heavy gray clouds, casting a golden warmth across the sprawling lawns.
Kevin Morrison stood in the master bedroom, the very room where he had found Annie and his sons sleeping less than twenty-four hours ago.
The room looked different today. The heavy velvet curtains were pulled wide open, letting the sunlight flood across the cream-colored bedding. The framed photographs of Lauren—photos he had turned face-down on the dressers months ago—had been turned back up.
Annie stood by the open window, folding a white cotton blanket. She had changed out of her gray housekeeping dress into a simple black turtleneck and jeans, her badge tucked securely into her waistband.
"The federal task force has secured the remaining Vanguard shell companies," Annie said without turning around. "Marcus won't be making bail. Ever."
Kevin walked over, stopping a few feet behind her. "You’re leaving, aren't you?"
Annie turned, her dark eyes softening slightly. "My undercover assignment here is officially finished, Mr. Morrison. My superiors want me back at the precinct by Monday."
Kevin looked down at the floorboards, feeling a heavy knot form in his chest—not the suffocating grief of the past year, but a strange, sharp pang of realization.
"You saved my boys' lives, Annie," Kevin said quietly. "Not just from Marcus's cleaner last night... but from me. From the ghosts I let take over this house."
"I didn't save them," Annie said gently, walking past him toward the bedroom door. "I just reminded them how to breathe. The rest is up to you."
"Wait," Kevin said, stepping forward. "At least stay for lunch. Jordan and Justin are asking when 'Auntie Annie' is going to teach them how to bake pancakes."
Annie paused at the threshold, a genuine, warm smile breaking across her face—the first real smile he had seen on her since she arrived.
"I have to check in with my captain, Mr. Morrison," she said softly. "But... I didn't say I wouldn't come back for dessert."
As Annie walked down the hallway toward the stairs, Kevin felt a strange sensation in his chest—a sensation he hadn't felt in fourteen months.
His heart was beating steadily.
He walked over to the twins' bedroom. The door was cracked open. Inside, Jordan and Justin were sitting on the rug, building a towering castle out of wooden blocks. There was no screaming. No crying. No frantic searching for a mother who wouldn't return.
Justin looked up, saw his father standing in the doorway, and instead of flinching or running away, he held up a small wooden block with a grin.
May you like
"Look, Dad," Justin said brightly. "We built it all the way to the ceiling. And it didn't fall down once."
Kevin walked into the room, knelt down on the carpet beside his sons, and for the first time in over a year, he picked up a block and helped them build.
