THE TOWERS FAMILY SAGA
        EPISODE 45
Minnie stood in the
hallway of the condo,
holding a small key.
It wasn't a key to the
estate or the office.
It was the key to a
safe deposit box.
"The master's key," she
whispered to Bella.
The cat watched from
the top of a box.
Minnie took a bus to
the downtown bank.
She felt like a ghost
walking through the
lobby she used to own.
The manager didn't
recognize her in the
simple linen dress.
She was led to the
vault in the basement.
The air was cool and
smelled of old copper.
She turned the key
and pulled the drawer.
Inside was a folder
and a velvet box.
The folder contained the
unfiltered logs of
the ninety-five burial.
It was the final piece
of the Mogollon puzzle.
Robert had kept it
as a kind of insurance.
Minnie looked at
the names on the list.
The mayor. Two senators.
The head of the board.
They were all there.
She closed the folder
and felt a deep chill.
The fallout was going
to be a hurricane.
She opened the box and
found a gold band.
Inside was an engraving:
For the truth, always.
Robert had bought it
the day he started
the radical honesty.
He knew he would
eventually lose the
other jewels.
He wanted her to
have the one thing
that couldn't be sold.
Minnie put the ring
on her finger.
She walked out of the
bank with the power
to end a dozen careers.
She wasn't a billionaire.
She was the witness.

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