CHAPTER 15: The Last Light by the Gate

The parking lot emptied slowly.
When the tow truck arrived, its amber lights washed over the sedan and made the black paint look almost soft. Noah stood with one hand on the roof until the driver finished the chains.
For a second, he was seventeen again, waiting for Everett to toss him the keys and tell him not to grind the gears.
The memory hurt, but it no longer accused him.
Marlene handed him the photograph from the glove box. She had placed it in a clear sleeve without being asked.
"The board meets at eight," she said. "You should sleep."
Noah looked at the tower, the cameras, the gate booth, the fading blue above the parking lamps.
"I will go to the West Yard first."
Marlene smiled for the first time that night.
"Of course you will."
The sedan rolled away, carrying evidence, grief, and the last private message Everett had left behind.
Noah kept the brass key in his palm until the tow truck turned through the gate.
Then he walked after it, not toward a throne, not toward revenge, but toward the work his father had trusted him to remember.