Chapter 12 - The Ash in the Alley
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The yellow flame caught the corner of the thick paper envelope. Smoke began to curl up into the rainy night air.
"Evan, don't!" I shrieked, taking an instinctive step forward. Those paper documents represented five years of Mark’s hard work, his sacrifice, and his legacy for our daughter.
Evan laughed—a sharp, maniacal sound that chilled me to the bone. "If I'm going to prison, your brat doesn't get a single cent of Mark's money! Watch it burn, Clara!"
Before the fire could consume the paper, a dark figure lunged out from behind the alley dumpster.
It was Peter.
He had slipped out of the back seat of David’s truck while the troopers were distracted. Peter tackled Evan around the waist, slamming both of them hard against the wet asphalt.
The lighter flew from Evan's hand, splashing into a puddle of rainwater and extinguishing instantly.
The two men tumbled in the mud. Peter punched Evan directly across the jaw, grabbing the smoldering leather envelope from his hands and smothering the tiny flame with his bare palm.
"Get off me, you idiot!" Evan screamed, kicking Peter in the ribs.
Trooper Miller and two other officers rushed in, pulling Peter away and pinning Evan face-down into the muddy alley floor. They pulled his arms behind his back, snapping the steel handcuffs onto his wrists with a loud, final CLICK.
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Peter lay in the mud, gasping for air, clutching the scorched leather envelope against his chest. He looked up at me through the pouring rain, his face bruised and covered in dirt.
"I got it, Clara," Peter sobbed, holding the envelope out toward me with trembling hands. "I got Mark's bonds back. I'm sorry... God, I'm so sorry."
