“Back in the nineties, there was a big scandal,” Jack said. “A developer named Albert Stern fled the country to avoid a racketeering charge. He left behind a son in foster care to cover his tracks. That son was Robert Sterling.”
The pieces finally fit.
“Sterling was a foster kid,” Eleanor whispered. “He always said he was self-made. And Clara Sterling… she wasn’t his biological mother. she was the woman who took him in and raised him. He abandoned her to go join his real father and his offshore millions.”
“Exactly,” Jack said. “And now he’s in Switzerland, waiting for the cash to clear. But we have the name of the clinic and the account. I’m calling my old friend at the FBI’s financial crimes unit. They’ll have a warrant out by morning.”
They pulled into Eleanor’s driveway. The house was warm. Inside, Silas was reading to Paulie. The boy looked up and ran to them.
“Miss Eleanor! Mr. Jack! We’re almost at the part with the pirates!”
Jack put a hand on Paulie’s head. Eleanor looked at them and realized that what started as a nightmare had given her a family. She wasn’t alone anymore.
The next few days were a whirlwind. The FBI moved fast. Robert Sterling was arrested in a luxury suite in Geneva, still in his silk pajamas. Victor Reed and his goons were picked up in Oak Creek.
Eleanor stood on the train platform a week later. Steve, the laborer, was there. He had a new coat and a ticket home to his family.
“I’ll never forget you, Dr. Vance,” Steve said, shaking her hand. “You saved my life.”
“Go home, Steve. Give your wife a hug,” Eleanor said.
She then went to the hospital. She walked into Dr. Miller’s office. He looked like he’d aged ten years. He tried to offer her her job back, with a bonus and an apology.
“I’m not coming back, Arthur,” Eleanor said. “A doctor’s job is to care for people, not donors. I’m opening a private clinic with Silas and Jack. We’re going to help the people who actually need it.”
As she walked out of the hospital, the sun was shining on the fresh snow. 2004 was ending, and for the first time in a long time, Eleanor Vance was looking forward to the new year. She had a son to raise, a partner she could trust, and a life that finally meant something.
