Sandy put on her hat and walked over to the edge of the parking
area, where she sat on a bench. From there, she had a closer look at
the park behind her. There were a few young women reading their books
under a tree. There was a mother taking a group of children for a
walk. There was a couple walking their canine friends.
Everyone
was out to enjoy the fine weather.
That
park was where it had all started, where Sandy had heard her fortune.
Well, the fortune teller's tent had been deeper in the park but she
was in the general area. Her fortune card was no longer with her -
she had left it behind on that rainy night when she had run from the
police safe house. Hopefully she would get it back after it was all
over. The card deserved to be framed for accompanying her through
most of her journey, one that would end soon, with lots of money!
Then
Sandy noticed a brown sedan enter the parking lot. It stopped a short
distance from her. Out of the passenger side of the vehicle stepped
Detective Brunel with his familiar fauxhawk hairstyle.
The
detective stepped up to the teenager. "Hi, Ms Gould," he
greeted.
Sandy
smiled at him. "Hi, Detective."
Detective
Brunel glanced around. "She's gone?"
"Yeah,
Selina's gone."
"I've
got a million questions for that girl." The detective sighed. He
gestured an invitation towards the car. "Let's go."
Detective
Brunel sat in the front passenger seat while Meir, his bald partner
was the driver. Sandy took off her hat and entered the back.
"We'll
drive you home," Detective Brunel looked back to tell Sandy, "I
hope you'll come by the station tomorrow to answer some questions."
In the
back seat of the car, Sandy asked, "Did you get whoever wants me
dead?"
"We're
getting there," Detective Meir at the wheel replied evasively,
"We've an idea who it is."
Sandy
sighed. "I'm just glad that Selina was there to keep me safe. I
wonder who hired her."
Detective
Brunel answered her, "We believe that she's part of a team hired
to safeguard the heiress. The whole affair's a mess. Someone wants
the money and is willing to kill for it. Someone else doesn't want
this someone to get the money. Someone thinks that the heiress should
get all the money." He sighed. "Don't worry about it."
"But
I'm the heiress, right?" Sandy asked.
"What
do you mean?" Detective Brunel asked back.
"I'm
the one who'll inherit all the money, right?" Sandy asked again.
Both
detectives glanced at each other. "She didn't tell you?"
Detective Brunel asked.
"Who
didn't tell me?" Sandy asked, confused.
"She's
a crafty one," Detective Meir muttered.
Detective
Brunel looked back at the teenager. "Look, Ms Gould... Sandy,
you're not the heiress. There's no money for you."
Sandy
sat up. "What!? Why?" Anxiety grew within her.
"You
were never in the will, you're not one of the beneficiaries."
Sandy
stared at the detective. "This can't be."
"The
meeting to read the will and distribute the estate of Oscar
Killington had been concluded this morning," Detective Brunel
informed her.
"Shouldn't
I have been there!?" Sandy was in a panic.
Detective
Brunel shook his head slowly. "Sandy, you were never one of the
beneficiaries," he repeated, "The real heiress was there
and she inherited all the wealth that was stipulated to her in the
will."
Sandy
remained silent for the rest of the trip. There had never been any
money for her? Had her fortune been a lie? Then why had Selina
protected her the past few days, the past few months? What had
Selina's role been in all that?
The car
pulled up in front of the Sunshine Girls Home.
The
teenage girl quietly got out of the car. Belatedly, she remembered to
take her hat with her. She saw that Momma Lois and Celeste had
stepped out of the house and were waiting for her.
When
Sandy had been locked in that basement, in that filthy room so many
months ago, she had not cried. When her best friend had tried to kill
her, she had not cried. When she had been alone in the woods with an
assassin, when her life had been in danger, she had not either. She
had survived kidnappings and murder attempts and each time, she had
not cried.
It was
because she had believed in her fortune. She had looked forward to
the time when she would inherit her great wealth. All her trials and
tribulations had paled in comparison to the reward that she would
receive.
But then
she had discovered that her promised wealth had been an illusion. The
goal that she had reached for had never existed.
Sandy
ran into Momma Lois's arms and cried.
***
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