Chapter 20
That didn’t absolve Raymond of the way he had conducted himself.
But it did mean he had choices left.
Apparently, he had finally begun making different ones.
He cooperated with the financial investigation.
He separated his companies from the gym.
And when investigators asked why he had failed to report the first suspicious transfers, he answered plainly:
“Pride.”
Cal Hollis eventually admitted what he had done.
The details were handled through attorneys, insurance representatives, and the financial institutions.
There was no dramatic confrontation.
No shouting in a parking lot.
No satisfying moment when the guilty man finally looked at everyone he had disappointed.
Just paperwork.
Statements.
Consequences.
A quiet unraveling of choices made over years.
Marcy found that strangely frustrating.
“I thought I’d feel more finished,” she told me one evening.
We were sitting on the porch.
“You thought solving the mystery would solve everything?”
“I guess.”
“It rarely does.”
“You say that like you’ve solved a lot of mysteries.”
“I raised you.”
She smiled.
Then her expression became serious.
“I accepted the Chicago job.”
I had known the sentence was coming.
Still, hearing it was different.
“When?”
“This morning.”
I nodded slowly.
She studied me.
“You’re doing that thing.”
“What thing?”
“The calm face.”
“I have a calm face.”
“You absolutely do not.”
I laughed.
“All right. I’m going to miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you too.”
“How long?”
“The position’s permanent.”
“That was not the answer I wanted.”
“I know.”
I looked across the street.
“When do you leave?”
“Five weeks.”
“And Dustin?”
Her fingers folded together.
There it was.
The second conversation.
“He’s staying.”
I turned toward her.
“Are you two—”
“We’re not breaking up.”
That surprised me.
“We’re going to try long distance.”
“You think that works?”
“I think sometimes it does.”
“And sometimes?”
“It doesn’t.”
She looked peaceful saying it.
Not careless.
Not naive.
Simply willing to let the future be uncertain.
“That scares you?” I asked.
“A little.”
“Good.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Good?”
“If you weren’t scared at all, you might not understand what you were choosing.”
May you like
She leaned back.
“Mom says you’ve become very philosophical since almost starting a fight in an MMA gym.”
