flash
The flash drive felt like a slab of cold dry ice in my pocket as I drove home through the torrential rain. My hands weren't shaking. My heart wasn't pounding. The suffocating grief of watching my only son brutalize the woman who had sacrificed her entire life for him had burned away, leaving behind a laser-focused, absolute clarity. / Chapter 13 / 20

Chapter 13 - THE INVITATIONBack in Cape Cod, the autumn wind rustled through the newly planted trees of the Ellen Whitaker Botanical Garden.

I was sitting in my private study, reviewing quarterly reports for the foundation, when Arthur Vance walked in, placing a thick cream-colored envelope on my mahogany desk.

"What is this, Arthur?" I asked, looking up from my tablet.

"An invitation," Arthur said, adjusting his glasses. "It came through the corporate compliance office. It’s from the federal penitentiary board. They are holding their annual rehabilitation advisory symposium next month, and they want you to keynote the panel on corporate ethics and accountability."

I stared at the envelope. My mind drifted back to the holding cell at Rikers Island, to the sound of Michael’s desperate screams echoing off the concrete.

"Will Michael be in the audience?" I asked quietly.

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"He's housed in a different security block upstate, but the symposium is broadcast across the federal network to all participating facilities," Arthur replied carefully. "He might see it."

I picked up the heavy cream envelope, tracing the embossed lettering with my thumb. "Accept it, Arthur. I have a few things to say about what happens when arrogance meets absolute power."

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