Investigators arrived within hours. They reviewed security footage from the club and found a recording of Morton’s van in the alley. More evidence surfaced from financial logs. Morton had stood to gain millions from Preston’s collapse. With Jace’s testimony detectives confronted Morton and soon made the arrest. They charged him with attempted homicide and multiple counts of fraud.
Preston watched the news report in silence. Jace sat on the sofa beside him.
“You helped save her life twice,” Preston said softly. “First in the alley. Then at the funeral.”
“I only did what anyone should,” Jace said.
“Not everyone would have risked everything to tell the truth.”
When Talia finally opened her eyes she found Preston at her side. He brushed her hand with trembling relief. She turned her head and saw the boy standing by the wall as though afraid he did not belong.
“Father,” she whispered. “Who is he.”
Preston smiled with a warmth he had not felt since she was a child.
“This is the one who kept you alive. You would not be here without him.”
Talia reached out a weak hand toward Jace. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for not leaving me.”
Jace blinked quickly and his voice cracked. “I never could.”
Preston placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You are not going back to the streets. From this moment you stay with us. You have a home now.”
Jace stared at him as if unable to trust his ears. “Are you sure.”
“I am very sure.”
The boy nodded slowly. His eyes shone in a way that remembered hunger and cold nights yet believed in the promise of safety for the first time. And Talia smiled at him with quiet understanding. Her life had been saved by a stranger who refused to remain silent. Now he was no longer a stranger. He was family.
