Chapter 5 — The Family Debt

I turned slowly to my father, the datapad still heavy in my hand.

He was shaking, his mind trying to process the collapse of his reality. “Thomas… I don’t… what did you just do?” he stammered, voice cracking. “Vance was my investor.

He was going to save the company. You just ruined me.”

“There was no investment, Robert,” I said, dropping the word father for good. “Vance was going to use your trucks to move contraband, let the feds raid your warehouses, and leave you holding the bag for twenty years in federal prison.

I didn’t ruin you. I saved you from dying behind bars.”

Aunt Linda pushed to the front of the crowd, her face a mask of frantic fawning. “Thomas! A General!” she shrieked, reaching for my arm. “Oh, we always knew you were destined for greatness.