The Paper Trail novel · Chapter 22 of 24
Chapter 22: The Cost
Judson's fingers opened.
He pulled his hand back and held it against his chest, flexing it, and looked at Lars with real surprise.
Lars did not look at him.
He was looking at my wrist, where a red mark was coming up.
"Are you hurt?" he said.
"No," I said. "Are you going to let go of me now?"
"Not yet."
His arm stayed around my shoulders.
I let it.
Mavis's cane tapped on the parquet.
She walked up to her son with her purse in both hands and her chin level with his tie.
"Judson," she said. "Pay her."
"Mother, I don't have..."
"You do. I do. Yesterday morning I went to the bank."
She opened her purse and took out a long cream envelope with a bank's name embossed on the corner.
"It's a cashier's check," she said. "It is drawn on my account, in the sum of three hundred and sixty-five thousand, eight hundred dollars."
"That is Ella's three hundred and ten thousand and three years of interest at the rate on her note. I had the arithmetic checked twice."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Paper Trail are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 21 · All chapters · Chapter 23 →
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