Chapter 36 - The Town Awakes
By 6:00 AM, the first pale light of dawn broke over the jagged ridge of the Rocky Mountains, painting the snowfields in shades of bruised lavender and gold.
We emerged from the tree line on the outskirts of Blackwood. But the town was not asleep.
The main street was filled with flashing red and blue lights. Four state police cruisers, two county sheriff trucks, and dozens of private pickups belonging to the local loggers and store owners were gathered outside the town hall.
Standing on the steps of the municipal building was Frank, a bandaged arm resting in a sling, with Sheriff Miller beside him. And sitting on the bench beneath the flagpole, wrapped in thermal foil blankets, were Jason and Evelyn.
When Jason saw us walking out of the pine grove, battered, soaking wet, and covered in mud, he stood up on trembling legs. The arrogance that had once defined the young man was completely obliterated. He walked toward us, his head bowed, and when he reached Cole, he broke down completely, falling into his cousin’s arms.
"I’m sorry, Cole," Jason sobbed, his voice cracking. "I didn't know what Mom was signing... I swear to God I didn't know they were killers. I thought we were just getting back what was Dad's."
Cole held the boy firmly by the shoulders, his expression somber. "It was never your dad's, Jason. It was never mine, and it was never Evelyn’s. It belonged to the people who shed blood for this mountain."
Evelyn slowly approached, holding a signed legal document stamped with the town notary’s fresh purple wax seal. She handed it to me with trembling, blistered hands.
"Every deed. Every fraudulent claim. A full legal surrender of Blackwood Ridge," Evelyn whispered, incapable of meeting my eyes. "And a full confession detailing Apex Global’s money laundering operations through my late husband’s accounts. I gave it all to the state attorney."
I took the papers. The ink was still slightly damp. The battle for the deed was officially, incontrovertibly over. The mountain lodge was mine—legally, morally, and permanently.
May you like
Yet, as Sheriff Miller stepped forward, tipping his brim, his face was gravestone serious. "Rebecca. Cole. You did good bringing down Evelyn’s syndicate. But we’ve got a massive problem up on the ridge."
***
