Later, at the hospital, while doctors checked Nathan’s wound and finally gave Lauren a clean, safe bed, Aiden waited in the hallway with Ranger. His mother—the Cole family’s cook—came rushing in, apron still dusted with flour.
“Aiden!” she cried. “When they called from the police station, I almost fainted!”
Aiden hugged her tightly.
“I helped, Mom,” he said. “That’s all. I helped. And it… it worked out.”
She didn’t understand everything that had happened, but when she saw the new light in her son’s eyes, she could only nod.
“You’ve got your daddy’s heart,” she whispered. “Helping people who need it most.”
Down the hall, Nathan looked out a window just as a police car carrying Victor rolled slowly by. The once-confident lawyer sat hunched, staring at the floor. Strangely, Nathan felt no rage—only a deep, heavy sadness.
“Greed and fear,” he murmured. “They finish whatever good a man’s got left. But goodness… goodness finds a way.”
Sometimes, that goodness walked around in dirty sneakers and a worn-out cap.