Chapter 3 - The Name Felix Feared
Nobody moved.
Ryan's recorded face remained on the television.
Olivia looked at Adrian.
Then Marcus.
"Which one?"
The recording continued.
"I can't tell you everything here. If this recording activated, somebody opened the drive compartment in your bag."
Olivia looked down.
Ryan had hidden it there.
"But listen carefully," Ryan said. "The drive contains evidence I copied seven years ago. I hid it because I didn't know who I could trust."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
Ryan continued.
"Felix knows about it."
Olivia whispered, "How?"
"I made a mistake," Ryan said on-screen, almost as if answering her. "Two months ago, I contacted someone I thought could help. Felix intercepted the message."
Adrian stepped closer to the television.
"Who did you contact?"
Ryan's recording continued.
"Adrian, if you're there, the answer you've been looking for is on that drive."
Adrian froze.
Olivia noticed.
"What answer?"
He didn't respond.
Ryan said, "But don't connect it to a network. Someone has been waiting years for that."
The screen went black.
Olivia stared at Adrian.
"What answer?"
Adrian looked at Marcus.
"Get us somewhere secure."
"No," Olivia said. "Answer me."
Adrian's eyes returned to her.
"Seven years ago, my younger sister died."
The room became silent.
"Her name was Elena."
Olivia swallowed.
"I'm sorry."
"Her death was ruled an accident."
"But you don't believe that."
"No."
"And Ryan found something?"
"I didn't know he had."
Marcus checked the hallway.
"We need to move."
Olivia slipped the drive into her pocket.
Adrian noticed but said nothing.
They relocated to an unused office above a restaurant Adrian owned.
No luxury.
No staff.
No obvious security.
Marcus produced an old laptop with wireless hardware physically removed.
Olivia kept the drive.
"You plug it in," Adrian said.
She did.
Encrypted folders appeared.
Ryan had left instructions.
The password was a childhood phrase Olivia recognized immediately.
BLUEBIRD27.
The files opened.
Financial records.
Security logs.
Photographs.
Audio files.
One folder was labeled E.V.
Elena Vale.
Adrian stood behind Olivia.
She opened it.
A photograph appeared.
Elena beside a young Ryan.
And beside them—
Felix.
Olivia stopped breathing.
"He knew her."
Adrian's face went pale.
"Yes."
"You knew that?"
"No."
Olivia turned.
"You didn't know Felix?"
"I knew the name tonight when Marcus ran him."
"But not seven years ago?"
"No."
She studied his face.
For once, Adrian Vale looked shaken.
They opened another file.
A security roster.
Felix Mercer.
Temporary contractor.
Access level three.
Assigned to Vale Tower.
The date was two days before Elena died.
Marcus muttered, "Son of a—"
Adrian remained silent.
Olivia opened an audio recording.
Elena's voice filled the room.
"If anything happens to me, don't believe the official story."
Adrian closed his eyes.
Olivia looked at him.
Elena continued.
"Someone inside Adrian's company is moving money through shell vendors. I found the accounts. Ryan helped me trace the access logs."
A man's voice interrupted in the recording.
Ryan.
"We need to tell Adrian."
"No," Elena said. "Not yet. Someone close to him is involved."
Adrian opened his eyes.
The recording ended.
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
Olivia understood why.
Someone close.
She looked at Marcus.
He noticed.
"You think it's me?"
"I don't know you."
"Fair."
Adrian said, "Marcus wasn't working for me then."
That eliminated one suspicion.
Not all.
They searched deeper.
A list of payments appeared.
One recipient repeated.
F. MERCER.
Felix.
But the amounts were small.
Too small for the person in charge.
"He was being paid," Olivia said.
"By whom?" Adrian asked.
They followed the account trail.
It terminated at a shell company.
HARROW CONSULTING.
Marcus stiffened.
Adrian saw it.
"What?"
Marcus looked at him.
"Harrow."
"Say it."
"Your father's middle name."
Adrian's face hardened.
His father, Victor Vale, had died four years earlier.
Olivia watched him absorb it.
"You think your father was involved?"
"I think someone wanted it to look that way."
"Why?"
"Because my father couldn't defend himself now."
Olivia leaned back.
This was bigger than Felix.
Bigger than her.
And Ryan was missing because of it.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph arrived.
Ryan.
Alive.
Sitting inside what appeared to be an empty warehouse.
Text beneath it:
BRING THE DRIVE. COME ALONE.
Olivia stood.
"No."
Adrian had read it over her shoulder.
"That's my brother."
"And walking into a trap won't help him."
"I wasn't asking permission."
Adrian stepped back.
"Good."
The response disarmed her.
He continued.
"We go together."
"It says alone."
"Then they see you arrive alone."
Marcus understood immediately.
"We follow."
Olivia shook her head.
"They could hurt him."
"They could hurt him whether you cooperate or not," Adrian said. "The only advantage you have is that they don't know what you've already seen."
Olivia looked at the flash drive.
"Then we copy it."
Marcus nodded.
They made two encrypted copies.
One stayed with Adrian.
One went to Marcus.
Olivia carried the original.
The location arrived twenty minutes later.
An abandoned printing warehouse near the river.
Olivia drove there in a borrowed car.
Alone.
Adrian and Marcus followed several blocks behind.
She entered.
"Ryan?"
Lights switched on.
Felix stood on a metal platform.
Olivia's blood chilled.
"You got out."
Felix smiled.
"Misunderstanding."
"Where's Ryan?"
"Close."
"Show me."
"Drive first."
Olivia held it up.
Felix descended.
"You always were stubborn."
"And you always mistook control for love."
His smile disappeared.
"Give it to me."
"Ryan."
A door opened.
Ryan emerged.
His hands were free.
Olivia stared.
"Ryan?"
He walked toward her.
He looked exhausted.
But unharmed.
She almost ran to him.
Then she noticed Felix wasn't stopping him.
Why?
Ryan reached her.
"I'm sorry, Liv."
Her stomach dropped.
"For what?"
Ryan looked past her.
Toward the darkness.
"Adrian shouldn't have come."
Olivia turned.
Adrian stepped from behind a steel column.
Felix smiled.
"Finally."
Olivia stared at her brother.
"You knew."
Ryan whispered, "I was trying to protect you."
"From whom?"
Before he answered, another voice came from the upper level.
"From me."
Adrian looked up.
Marcus entered from the opposite side and immediately stopped.
A woman stood above them.
Silver hair.
Elegant black coat.
Adrian's face lost all expression.
Olivia looked between them.
"Who is she?"
May you like
Adrian whispered a name.
"Mother."
