Chapter 9 - The Assignment
Olivia removed the cassette.
The room went silent.
Derek stood near the doorway.
Mason looked ready to hit him.
Grace looked stunned.
Rebecca simply stared.
Olivia held the tape in her hand.
“Say something.”
Derek did not.
“Tell me he’s wrong.”
“I can’t.”
Mason stepped forward.
“You were working for Adrian?”
“No.”
“Then explain.”
Derek looked at Olivia.
“Six years ago, Adrian contacted me.”
“You said you tried to destroy him.”
“I did.”
“After or before?”
“After.”
Olivia laughed.
“So first you worked with him.”
“I didn’t know why he wanted you.”
“You still did it.”
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt worse than another lie.
Olivia crossed her arms.
“What was the assignment?”
Derek took a breath.
“Find you.”
“And?”
“Learn what you knew about your mother.”
“And?”
“Find out whether she left you anything.”
Mason shook his head.
“That sounds familiar.”
Derek ignored him.
Olivia continued.
“How long were you watching me before we met?”
Derek looked down.
“Four months.”
Grace whispered, “Derek.”
He glanced at her.
She looked disgusted.
Olivia asked, “The coffee shop?”
“Planned.”
“The charity event?”
“Planned.”
“The apartment across from mine?”
“Planned.”
Every memory changed shape.
The first time Derek brought her flowers.
The restaurant reservation.
The coincidence of shared interests.
The feeling that he understood her unusually well.
Of course he did.
He had studied her.
Olivia felt strangely calm.
“Did you ever love me?”
Derek’s expression changed.
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“That might be the worst answer.”
He looked confused.
“Why?”
“Because it means you knew exactly what you were doing and kept doing it anyway.”
Derek stepped closer.
Mason blocked him.
Derek stopped.
“I abandoned the assignment.”
“When?”
“Three months after we met.”
Olivia laughed.
“You stayed for two years.”
“Because Adrian threatened you.”
“You stayed because you wanted control.”
“That too.”
The admission surprised everyone.
Derek looked at her.
“I won’t pretend I was good to you.”
Olivia did not know how to respond.
“I told myself protecting you justified everything.”
“It didn’t.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
His voice was quieter.
“And I know saying that doesn’t repair anything.”
Mason looked almost disappointed he had nothing to argue with.
Rebecca interrupted.
“Thomas left another message.”
Olivia turned.
“What?”
Rebecca walked toward the closet.
She removed the cardboard backing from an old framed painting.
A folded map was hidden behind it.
The blue house.
A red X marked a point thirty yards from the property.
Grace spread it across the bed.
“Not the basement.”
Olivia frowned.
“The boathouse.”
She remembered it.
A small wooden structure beside the lake.
Her mother stored paddles there.
Derek examined the map.
“This could be misdirection.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Of course you’d say that.”
“I’m trying to keep her alive.”
Rebecca stepped closer.
“Your family already took enough.”
Olivia raised a hand.
“Enough.”
Everyone quieted.
She pointed at the map.
“We go there.”
Mason nodded.
Grace asked, “What about the bank?”
“Later.”
Derek frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Adrian expects the bank.”
“He may expect the house too.”
“Yes.”
Olivia looked at him.
“But my father intentionally left both options.”
Grace understood.
“One real.”
“One decoy.”
Olivia nodded.
“We need to determine which.”
Mason held up the bank key.
“The key looks real.”
“So does the map.”
Rebecca said, “Thomas told me something else.”
Olivia looked at her.
“He said the archive isn’t valuable because of what it proves.”
Derek frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Rebecca continued.
“He said it’s valuable because of who still believes it exists.”
Grace leaned against the dresser.
“Leverage.”
Mason nodded.
“If Adrian isn’t sure what the archive contains, he has to assume the worst.”
Olivia looked at Derek.
“What could be worse than the drive?”
Derek thought.
“My father’s personal records.”
“About what?”
“Clients.”
“Nora?”
“Possibly.”
“Politicians?”
“Yes.”
“Judges?”
“Yes.”
“Adrian?”
Derek’s eyes hardened.
“Definitely.”
A sound came from outside.
A car door.
Mason moved toward the window.
Headlights turned into the driveway.
Grace looked through the curtain.
“Two vehicles.”
Derek cursed.
“They found us.”
Rebecca looked terrified.
Olivia grabbed her hand.
“Is there another way out?”
Rebecca nodded.
“Back stairs.”
They moved.
Grace packed the laptop.
Mason helped Caleb.
Derek stayed behind for one second.
Olivia noticed.
“What are you doing?”
“Buying time.”
“With what?”
He pointed toward the home security panel.
“I installed the original system.”
Olivia stared.
“You installed my father’s security?”
“Six years ago.”
Of course.
Another secret.
Derek entered a code.
The exterior floodlights switched off.
The garage door opened automatically.
An alarm began blaring at the front of the house.
“They’ll think we’re going through the garage.”
Mason nodded.
“Good.”
They exited through the rear.
Rebecca led them across the neighboring yard.
A dog barked.
Someone shouted near the front driveway.
They reached a narrow alley.
Grace had arranged a rideshare two streets away using a temporary account.
They moved quickly.
Then Olivia heard a voice behind them.
“Olivia.”
She stopped.
Derek grabbed her arm.
“Don’t.”
She turned anyway.
A woman stood beneath a streetlamp.
Dark hair.
Long black coat.
Nora Bell.
She held no visible weapon.
Grace whispered, “Nora.”
Nora looked directly at Olivia.
“Your father is alive.”
Olivia stared.
“Where?”
“I can take you to him.”
Derek laughed.
“No.”
Nora ignored him.
“Adrian doesn’t have the whole story.”
Olivia asked, “And you do?”
“More than Derek.”
Derek stepped between them.
“Nora, leave.”
She smiled.
“You’re still protecting the wrong Vaughn.”
Olivia remembered the note.
Your mother trusted the wrong Vaughn.
Nora reached into her coat.
Mason raised the fireplace poker.
She slowly pulled out a photograph.
Then placed it on the ground.
“I’m not your enemy.”
She backed away.
A black sedan pulled up.
Nora entered.
The car disappeared.
Olivia approached the photograph.
Derek tried to stop her.
She ignored him.
The picture showed her mother.
Adrian.
And one more man.
Derek’s father.
On the back was a handwritten sentence.
Olivia read it.
THERE WERE THREE BROTHERS.
May you like
She looked at Derek.
His face went completely white.
