Police SUVs, sirens, authority.
Captain Alvarez stepped out. Years ago, I’d dragged him from a burning vehicle overseas. He saluted me.
“My orders, sir?”
They were arrested. Security footage sealed their fate.
Two weeks later, Emily sat in my garden, wrapped in a blanket, her hair now short but neat. The fever was gone. The fear was fading.
“I was scared for you,” she said softly.
“Wealth isn’t power,” I replied. “Control is.”
She leaned against me.
The world saw an old gardener.
Let them.
It keeps me ready.
