THE TOWERS FAMILY SAGA
        EPISODE 44
The cell door didn't bang;
it was a hydraulic hiss
that marked the end of the
long, hot desert day.
Robert sat on his bunk,
reading about water.
He found it ironic that
he had spent a life
fighting for profit while
ignoring the poison in
the very same ground.
A new guard, a young man
with a Marine haircut,
stopped at the bars.
"Towers, you have a
legal visitor tomorrow."
Robert didn't look up.
"I don't have a lawyer
anymore, Officer."
"It's not a lawyer. It's
the EPA Oversight Board."
Robert felt a small spark
of the old fire in him.
They weren't done.
They wanted the names of
the other directors.
The radical honesty pact
was about to go global.
"Tell them I'll be there,"
Robert said, closing his
book on the water laws.
He knew what they wanted.
He knew they needed the
files James hadn't found.
He was ready to give
them everything they
needed to finish it.
He wasn't protecting the
boardrooms anymore.
He was protecting the
people in the park.
The young guard stayed
for a second longer.
"My grandfather lived
near the Rim," he said.
"He got sick in ninety-six."
Robert looked at him then,
the weight hitting him.
"I am sorry," Robert said.
And he meant it more
than any deal he'd made.
The guard nodded once
and moved down the tier.
The truth was personal.

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