Chapter 4 - The File Felix Never Wanted Me to See
Olivia couldn't stop staring at the photograph.
Ryan was alive.
That was all that mattered.
For three weeks she had believed her brother had abandoned her.
Now she knew he hadn't.
He had been taken.
Or hiding.
Or working with someone she didn't understand.
Her mother was beside him.
Her mother, who had told Olivia for years that Felix had nothing to do with their family.
Adrian took the phone from Leo.
“Where was this taken?”
“Unknown.”
“Send it to analysis.”
Leo nodded.
Olivia grabbed Adrian's arm.
“I need to see my brother.”
“You will.”
“When?”
“When we know where he is.”
“I don't want another secret.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You're right.”
He handed her the phone.
“I'll stop keeping things from you.”
She studied his face.
“Promise?”
“I don't make promises I can't keep.”
That wasn't the answer she wanted.
But somehow, she believed him.
They returned to Adrian's residence.
A large room had been converted into an investigation office.
Documents covered the walls.
Maps.
Photographs.
Financial records.
Olivia saw her father's name everywhere.
She sat at the table.
Adrian placed a file in front of her.
“This is everything Ryan gave me.”
She opened it.
Inside was a detailed timeline.
Her father's business.
Felix's company.
Property purchases.
Payments.
Then a final page.
A list of names.
Most were crossed out.
One remained.
Olivia Marshall.
She stared.
“Why am I on this list?”
“Because your father left something in your name.”
“What?”
Adrian sat across from her.
“A trust.”
Olivia laughed nervously.
“My father didn't leave me anything.”
“He did.”
“Why didn't my mother tell me?”
“Because the trust wasn't supposed to become active until you turned thirty.”
Olivia looked at him.
“I turned thirty two months ago.”
Adrian nodded.
“Exactly.”
Her phone rang.
Her mother.
Olivia answered.
“Mom?”
Silence.
Then her mother's voice.
“Where are you?”
“Why?”
“Because Felix knows.”
Olivia's heart tightened.
“Knows what?”
Her mother started crying.
“I should have told you.”
Olivia stood.
“Told me what?”
“The trust was never about money.”
Adrian watched her.
“What was it about?”
Her mother whispered:
“Your father recorded everything.”
Olivia felt dizzy.
“Recorded what?”
“The night he died.”
The line went silent.
“Mom?”
Then the call ended.
Olivia looked at Adrian.
“My father recorded the night he died.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“Do you know where the recording is?”
“No.”
He opened another file.
“There was one location your father visited the week before his death.”
She looked at the address.
It was the old diner.
The same diner where she had worked.
Olivia whispered:
“That can't be.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Why?”
“My father used to take me there.”
“When?”
“When I was little.”
A memory returned.
Her father sitting in a corner booth.
A red metal box beside him.
He had told her never to touch it.
Olivia stood.
“There was something under the booth.”
Adrian immediately grabbed his coat.
They drove back.
The diner was closed.
Olivia unlocked the rear door with the manager's spare key.
The old booth remained.
She knelt.
Her fingers searched beneath the wooden seat.
Nothing.
Then she felt a metal latch.
She pulled.
A small compartment opened.
Inside was a black box.
Adrian took it.
There was a label.
FOR OLIVIA.
Her hands shook.
Inside was a USB drive.
And a handwritten note.
“If they come for her, give this to the man who answers the wrong call.”
Olivia stared at Adrian.
“You.”
He said nothing.
The USB contained one video.
Her father's face appeared on the screen.
Older.
Tired.
Terrified.
“If you're watching this, Olivia, then I failed to protect you.”
She began crying.
Her father continued.
“Felix is not the man you should fear.”
Olivia looked at Adrian.
The video went on.
“The man you should fear is the person who knows exactly where this recording is.”
The screen went black.
A second video appeared automatically.
It showed Olivia's mother.
Standing beside Felix.
Six years earlier.
Olivia stepped backward.
“No.”
Adrian watched silently.
On the screen, Felix handed her mother a folder.
Then another person entered the room.
Olivia recognized him.
Her father's former business partner.
But he had died eight years earlier.
Olivia whispered:
“That man is dead.”
Adrian looked at the timestamp.
Six years earlier.
Impossible.
Then the video camera turned.
Someone had noticed they were being recorded.
The screen went black.
A second later, Adrian's phone rang.
He answered.
A distorted voice said:
“You should have left the box where you found it.”
Adrian stood.
“Who are you?”
The voice laughed.
Then came the words:
“Ask Olivia why her mother lied about the night her father died.”
The call ended.
Olivia looked at Adrian.
Before either could speak, the diner lights came on.
Every light.
May you like
All at once.
And someone locked the front door from the outside.
