Chapter 7 - The Man Behind the Voice
Darkness swallowed the room.
Olivia heard her mother breathing beside her.
Adrian remained silent.
Then Leo whispered:
“Window.”
They moved toward it.
The lock had been broken.
Adrian opened it.
A narrow ledge ran along the side of the house.
Olivia climbed through.
Behind her, her mother followed.
Leo stayed last.
A sound came from the hallway.
The study door rattled.
“Olivia.”
Thomas's voice.
“Come out.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Go.”
She shook her head.
“You're coming.”
“I will.”
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“I've lost enough people.”
Adrian looked at her.
For a moment, the controlled man disappeared.
He looked human.
“I won't be one of them.”
They climbed down.
Outside, rain had begun again.
Leo led them toward the waiting vehicle.
Olivia looked back at the house.
A silhouette appeared in the study window.
Thomas.
He watched them leave.
The next morning, Adrian showed Olivia the truth.
Thomas Reed had never died.
He had disappeared six years earlier after her father's death.
He had created shell companies.
Changed identities.
And manipulated Felix.
But there was one thing Adrian still didn't understand.
Why had Thomas wanted Olivia alive?
The answer came from Ryan.
His location had finally been traced.
A warehouse.
Near the river.
They arrived before dawn.
Adrian and Leo entered first.
Olivia stayed inside the SUV.
Then she heard a voice.
“Liv?”
Ryan.
She ran.
He was sitting inside an empty office.
Bruised but alive.
She hugged him.
“You're okay.”
“I am now.”
She pulled away.
“Who took you?”
Ryan looked at Adrian.
“Thomas.”
“Why?”
“Because I found the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
Ryan reached into his coat.
A small black notebook.
“This.”
Adrian opened it.
Names.
Payments.
Dates.
Every transaction connecting Thomas, Felix, and several officials inside the company.
Olivia stared.
“Where's Thomas?”
Ryan looked at her.
“He let me go.”
“What?”
“He said he wanted me to bring this to you.”
Adrian's expression tightened.
“That's not mercy.”
Ryan shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed to the final page.
Olivia read it.
MEET ME WHERE IT STARTED.
Below it was the address of the diner.
Adrian closed the notebook.
“No.”
Olivia looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because Thomas wants us there.”
“Then we go.”
“It could be a trap.”
“So is everything else.”
Adrian looked at her.
She was no longer the frightened woman behind the dumpster.
She was different.
She had spent too long running.
Now she wanted answers.
They returned to the diner.
The lights were off.
The same booth waited near the window.
Olivia entered alone.
Thomas sat inside.
Older than the photograph.
Calm.
Smiling.
“You look like your father.”
Olivia stopped.
“Where is Felix?”
“Alive.”
“Where?”
“Gone.”
She frowned.
Thomas laughed.
“He realized I used him.”
“Why did you kill my father?”
Thomas's smile disappeared.
“Your father discovered everything.”
“Then why did you keep me alive?”
“Because your father hid the evidence inside something only you could access.”
Olivia looked at him.
“What?”
Thomas leaned forward.
“Your memory.”
She didn't understand.
Then Ryan entered behind her.
Thomas continued.
“When you were twelve, your father took you to this diner.”
Olivia remembered.
The red metal box.
The booth.
Her father's hand on her shoulder.
Thomas said:
“He taught you a phrase.”
Olivia whispered it.
“Bluebird.”
Thomas smiled.
“Exactly.”
Adrian entered.
Thomas looked at him.
“And you.”
Adrian's face was cold.
Thomas laughed.
“You were the man who investigated me.”
“Yes.”
“But you never realized your client left you a second job.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“Protect his daughter.”
Thomas stood.
“That's why Ryan called you.”
Olivia looked at Adrian.
Thomas continued:
“Your father knew he was going to die.”
“He hired Adrian to protect me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Adrian never tell me?”
“Because he didn't know whether you were ready.”
Olivia turned toward Adrian.
“Is that true?”
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.”
Thomas smiled.
“And now you finally know.”
Then he placed a small envelope on the table.
“Your father left this for you.”
Olivia reached for it.
Thomas stepped backward.
“Open it.”
She did.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed her father.
Her mother.
Ryan.
And a fourth person.
Olivia stared.
She knew the face.
Everyone did.
It was the police officer who had signed her father's death report.
But the photograph was dated three days after the official date of death.
Olivia looked up.
Thomas was gone.
The diner door slammed shut.
May you like
And on the table, Adrian found one final note.
THE OFFICER IS STILL ALIVE.
