“Now,” I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling out my cell phone, already dialed to 911. “I’m going to hit send. You have about three minutes before the sirens get here. I suggest you use them to run.”
Panic, raw and absolute, finally broke across his face.
“Claire… Claire, wait. We’re family. We can split it!”
“We aren’t family,” I said, pressing the call button. “And you’re trespassing.”
He didn’t wait. He scrambled backward, throwing the window open and practically falling out onto the fire escape, tearing his expensive suit jacket on the iron railing. I walked over, locked the window tight, and pulled the blinds down.
The Aftermath
Two hours later, the police had collected the bag of powder and the security footage. My father, mother, and Madison had been arrested in the parking lot before they could even get their car in gear.
I sat in the sterile, brightly lit office of the state lottery commission, Sophie asleep in my lap, her stuffed rabbit tucked under her arm.
The lottery director slid a massive piece of paperwork across the desk.
“Your sister’s claim was entirely fraudulent, Ms. Hayes,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief after hearing from the precinct. “Since you had already signed the back of the ticket in ink, her claim wouldn’t have held up anyway. But given the extortion charges pending against your family, the legal department has expedited your payout.”
He handed me a pen.
“Would you like the lump sum, or the annuity?”
I looked down at Sophie, brushing a stray curl from her forehead. For years, I had laid awake worrying about her braces, her college fund, her future. I had endured every cruel joke and every slight at family dinners just to borrow enough money to keep our heat on in the winter.
“Lump sum,” I said, signing my name with a steady hand.
I walked out of that office a newly minted centimillionaire. As we stepped into the bright afternoon sun, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a collect call from the county jail.
I didn’t decline it. I just blocked the number, hailed a black car, and took my daughter home to pack our things. We had a whole new world to see, and no one was ever going to look down on us again.
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