Chapter 10 - Seat 3B
Six months later.
The summer sun was shining brightly over the rolling green hills of coastal Maine. The air tasted of salt water, fresh pine, and freedom.
Standing on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean was a small, white clapboard house with a wraparound porch. A blue wooden sailboat was tied to the private dock below, rocking gently in the tide.
I sat on the porch steps, holding a cup of hot black coffee.
The legal fallout from Vanguard Global had dominated international news for months. With the evidence retrieved from the mountain facility and the testimony provided by Marissa and Elena, federal prosecutors had dismantled Marcus Vance's entire corporate empire. Marcus himself was currently serving three consecutive life sentences in a federal maximum-security prison, stripped of every dollar he had ever stolen.
The ghost had been laid to rest.
The screen door creaked open behind me.
Elena walked out, wearing a simple yellow summer dress that caught the ocean breeze. Her skin had recovered its healthy color, her cheeks full, her eyes bright and filled with a peace I hadn't seen in over half a decade.
She sat down beside me on the wooden step, resting her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her close.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked softly, leaning up to kiss my cheek.
"I was thinking about a flight to Chicago," I said, a faint smile touching my lips.
Elena laughed—a clear, musical sound that filled the quiet morning. "Seat 3B?"
"Seat 3B," I agreed. "The worst seat I ever had... and the best decision of my life."
"Daddy! Mommy! Look!"
We turned to look down at the grassy lawn.
Emma was running toward us, wearing a sunhat and a floral dress, chasing a yellow butterfly. Marissa was sitting on a lawn chair nearby, laughing as she snapped photos with her camera.
Emma sprinted up the porch steps, breathless and giggling, holding out a tiny blue wildflower she had picked from the yard.
"For you, Daddy," she said proudly, sticking the flower into the front pocket of my shirt.
"Thank you, sweetheart," I said, lifting her up into my lap. She snuggled between Elena and me, resting her hands over ours.
"Are we staying here forever?" Emma asked, looking back and forth between us with those wide, familiar brown eyes.
May you like
I looked at Elena. She smiled, her hand squeezing mine tightly—the silver pendant glowing softly in the sunlight around her neck.
"Yes, Emma," I said, kissing the top of my daughter's head as the ocean breeze carried our laughter out over the water. "We're finally home."
