Chapter 13 - The Lie Thomas Could Not Bury
Thomas arrived at the church twenty minutes later.
By then, the roads were open.
The gray vehicles had disappeared.
No traffic cameras had recorded them.
Olivia stood beside the altar holding the final page.
She did not allow Thomas to approach.
“Did you know Mara became Kendra Vale?”
Thomas looked at the photograph still frozen on the screen.
“No.”
“Did you know she survived?”
“I suspected.”
“That is not the same answer.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“Yes. I knew she might have survived.”
“Why didn’t you find her?”
“I tried.”
“How hard?”
“For years.”
“Did you let Sebastian Vale take her?”
“No.”
Olivia held up the final page.
“Mother wrote that you made an agreement.”
Thomas’s face changed.
Russell looked toward him.
“What agreement?” Victor asked.
Thomas remained silent.
Olivia read aloud.
Thomas believes he saved you by allowing Sebastian to remove Mara from the country. He does not understand that a bargain made with evil does not become mercy simply because a child survives.
Russell stared at Thomas.
“You never told me this.”
“You joined me years later.”
Olivia’s voice rose.
“What did Sebastian threaten?”
Thomas looked at her.
“You.”
The anger in Olivia faltered.
“He had medical records, surveillance, recordings. He claimed the program had identified you as the only child who could stabilize Mara after the conditioning trials.”
“What does that mean?”
“Mara became violent when separated from you.”
Kendra’s calm cruelty flashed through Olivia’s mind.
Thomas continued.
“Sebastian threatened to take both of you. He said if I involved the authorities, he would release evidence making it appear that I funded the illegal trials knowingly.”
“So you let him take her.”
“I demanded proof she would be placed with a family.”
“And you believed him?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because Eleanor was injured.”
Olivia stopped.
“My mother?”
“She tried to remove both children from the center. Sebastian’s men caused her car accident.”
Olivia remembered her mother walking with a cane during the final years of her life. She had always been told the injury came from a winter collision.
Thomas’s voice became hoarse.
“He told me the next accident would kill you.”
Olivia looked at the letter.
Her mother had known.
She had stayed with Thomas for years after the bargain.
Then she left when she discovered more.
“What else did you hide from her?”
Thomas did not answer.
Olivia laughed bitterly.
“There’s always another thing.”
Victor stood near the broken window.
“Voss did not leave that page accidentally.”
Russell nodded.
“He wants Olivia against Thomas.”
“He doesn’t have to work very hard,” Olivia said.
Thomas absorbed the words.
Victor turned toward her.
“He also wants us focused on the past.”
“What should we be focused on?”
“Kendra.”
Olivia looked at the dark screen.
“She’s his prisoner.”
“Maybe.”
“You think she’s working with him?”
“I think Kendra has always prepared multiple exits.”
Thomas looked at Victor.
“You know her habits.”
Victor’s face became guarded.
“Yes.”
“Where would she go?”
“She owns apartments through shell companies.”
Russell shook his head.
“Those are monitored.”
Victor looked at the final page.
“She would go somewhere connected to her first identity.”
Olivia frowned.
“The rehabilitation center?”
“It was demolished.”
Thomas spoke.
“Not all of it.”
Everyone turned.
“The original underground research wing still exists.”
Russell looked surprised.
“Where?”
“Beneath a municipal records facility.”
“You knew this?”
“I acquired the property through a subsidiary to prevent anyone from reopening it.”
Victor laughed without humor.
“And you never entered it?”
Thomas did not answer.
Olivia understood.
“You were afraid.”
“Yes.”
The honesty did not excuse him, but it made the silence heavier.
Russell checked his watch.
“We can have a team there in thirty minutes.”
Victor moved toward the door.
“I’m going.”
Russell blocked him.
“You are still under investigation.”
“Then arrest me after we find her.”
Thomas studied Victor.
“Why do you care?”
Victor looked at Olivia.
“Because Kendra has the Voss file.”
“That’s not what he asked,” Olivia said.
Victor looked away.
“Kendra and I grew up together.”
“You slept together.”
“Yes.”
“You planned this marriage together.”
“Yes.”
“And now you want to save her.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
“I want to stop Voss.”
Olivia stepped closer.
“Do you love her?”
Victor looked at her.
His answer came without hesitation.
“No.”
“Did you love me?”
The church became silent again.
Victor’s voice was low.
“Yes.”
Olivia felt the word strike somewhere beneath her anger.
Then Victor added, “And I still used you.”
That truth hurt more than denial.
Olivia folded the final page.
“We go together.”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
She turned on him.
“You have made enough decisions for me.”
“Voss wants you there.”
“Then staying away gives him control too.”
Russell looked between them.
“We enter with a tactical team. Olivia remains behind the first security line.”
“No,” Olivia said.
Russell’s jaw tightened.
“That is not negotiable.”
Victor looked toward the broken window.
“Actually, none of this is.”
He pointed outside.
A black sedan was parked across the road.
No one had seen it arrive.
May you like
The driver’s door stood open.
On the hood lay a champagne satin glove.
