Chapter 23 - THE LETTER FROM CORMAC
Two weeks later, Belle received a package.
No return address.
Inside was a letter.
Old.
Yellowed.
Written by Cormac Kavanaugh.
Eleanor had found it among sealed government evidence and legally obtained permission to send a copy.
Belle almost threw it away.
Instead, she read.
Isabella,
If you are old enough to read this, then I failed at the one thing I wanted most—to leave you outside my sins.
Belle stopped.
She continued.
The letter contained no excuses.
That surprised her.
Cormac admitted he had loved power.
Used fear.
Made enemies.
Failed children.
He wrote about David Ashford.
The man who raised Belle.
He called David “the better father.”
Belle cried at that.
At the end:
Blood may explain where you came from.
It does not decide who you become.
Belle folded the letter.
Micah found her at the kitchen table.
“Are you sad?”
“A little.”
“Bad sad?”
“No.”
“Good sad?”
She smiled.
“Something like that.”
Micah climbed into the chair beside her.
“Is that from your dad?”
“Yes.”
“The crime one?”
Belle laughed.
“Yes.”
“Not Grandpa David?”
“No.”
Micah thought.
“You have too many dads.”
“Tell me about it.”
He leaned against her.
“Do I have to be like them?”
Belle looked at him.
“Who?”
“Dad. Mr. Renick. Cormac.”
“No.”
“Can I be like you?”
Her throat tightened.
“You should be better.”
Micah frowned.
“I like you.”
May you like
Belle hugged him.
“That’s enough.”
