Chapter 7 - The Loyal Friend
Rebecca had worked beside Olivia for eleven years.
She trained Olivia during her first rotation in corporate finance. She defended her when senior managers dismissed her as the founder’s inexperienced daughter. She sat with Olivia through Jonathan’s final night in the hospital.
Of everyone inside Northstar Meridian, Rebecca was the person Olivia trusted most.
That made Caroline’s warning almost impossible to accept.
The escape vehicle waited exactly where promised.
A driver with no identification took Olivia, Elena, and David to a secure apartment in Stamford. Two injured security officers were transported separately. One had been shot in the shoulder. The other suffered a concussion.
The attackers vanished before police reached the cemetery.
At 3:40 in the morning, Rebecca arrived at the apartment.
She rushed inside wearing jeans beneath a long coat.
“Are you hurt?”
Olivia studied her face.
“No.”
“What happened?”
“Someone attacked the cemetery.”
Rebecca looked at Elena.
“You said the location was secure.”
“I said it was hidden.”
David closed the door.
“Rebecca, where were you during the attack?”
She turned.
“At headquarters with Victor and the fire marshal.”
“Can anyone verify that?”
Her expression changed.
“What is this?”
Olivia placed the black Hearthstone device on the table.
“Custodian Two was declared compromised seconds before the archive fire.”
Rebecca stared at it.
“You opened the letter.”
“Yes.”
“What did Jonathan tell you?”
“That one board member serves Roland and another serves Caroline.”
Rebecca slowly removed her coat.
“And you think I’m one of them.”
“My mother told me to ask you.”
All color left Rebecca’s face.
Elena stepped forward.
“You have been in contact with Caroline.”
It was not a question.
Rebecca sat down.
“For nine years.”
Olivia felt betrayed even before hearing the explanation.
“You knew she was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You stood beside me at her grave.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me cry.”
Rebecca’s eyes filled with tears.
“I was under oath.”
“To whom?”
“To your father.”
“My father was dead.”
“The oath wasn’t.”
Olivia turned away.
Rebecca explained that Jonathan approached her shortly before his death. He revealed that Caroline survived and asked Rebecca to serve as Olivia’s unseen protector inside Northstar.
“Why didn’t he tell me himself?”
“He believed knowledge would place you in greater danger.”
“So everyone decided what I could survive.”
“Yes,” Rebecca whispered. “And we were wrong.”
David asked, “Does Victor serve Roland?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who attacked the cemetery?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Caroline?” Olivia demanded.
Rebecca shook her head.
“I communicate through relays. I have never seen her in person.”
Elena appeared skeptical.
“What information did you send?”
“Board decisions, security concerns, unusual transactions, and anything involving the Hales.”
“Did you warn Caroline about Brandon?”
“Three years ago.”
Olivia turned back.
“She told me she learned before my third anniversary.”
Rebecca looked confused.
“I reported the first suspicious transfer shortly after your second anniversary.”
“Then she knew earlier.”
“I suppose.”
The timeline did not align.
David noticed it too.
“Either Caroline lied on the phone, or someone intercepted Rebecca’s messages.”
Elena took the device.
“Show us the communication method.”
Rebecca removed a small silver disk from the lining of her handbag.
She placed it against the black device.
A list of coded transmissions appeared.
Most were one-way reports.
The replies were brief.
CONTINUE OBSERVATION.
DO NOT INTERVENE.
PROTECT OLIVIA’S IGNORANCE.
The final message had arrived six weeks earlier.
BRANDON WILL FORCE ENTRY WHEN FINANCIAL ACCESS ENDS. ENSURE WITNESSES.
Olivia read it twice.
The board meeting had been Rebecca’s suggestion.
“You knew he would break into the house.”
“I knew someone predicted it.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I arranged security.”
“You used me as bait.”
Rebecca stood.
“I kept you alive.”
“You don’t know that.”
“If Brandon believed you understood Hearthstone, he might have killed you instead of searching the house.”
Olivia recoiled.
Rebecca’s voice softened.
“I’m sorry.”
David examined the transmission records.
“This relay signature doesn’t match Caroline’s original protocol.”
Elena took the disk.
“How can you tell?”
“The encryption sequence is inverted.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means Rebecca may not have been communicating with Caroline.”
The room became silent.
Rebecca looked sick.
“Then who received my reports?”
Elena checked the earliest message.
The recipient identifier read C1.
Custodian One.
Jonathan.
But Jonathan had been dead for eight years.
The black device suddenly displayed an incoming call.
No number appeared.
Olivia activated the speaker.
Brandon’s voice filled the room.
“Hello, Liv.”
Rebecca reached for a trace program.
Brandon laughed.
“Don’t bother. Roland taught me better than that.”
“Where are you?” Olivia asked.
“Somewhere your mother once felt safe.”
“What do you want?”
“The key.”
“You broke into my house looking for it.”
“I didn’t know where Jonathan hid it.”
“You still don’t.”
“I know you opened the grave.”
Everyone looked toward the windows.
Brandon continued.
“You were never supposed to meet Elena.”
“Then why did my father tell her to come?”
“He didn’t.”
Elena stiffened.
Brandon laughed again.
“Ask her who wrote the letter.”
Olivia looked at Elena.
The old woman’s face had become unreadable.
“Jonathan’s handwriting was verified,” David said.
“Handwriting can be copied. Memories can be manipulated. Dead men are convenient authors.”
“What are you saying?” Olivia asked.
“I’m saying your father didn’t create Hearthstone to destroy Roland.”
Brandon’s voice lowered.
“He created it to hide what your mother did.”
A photograph arrived on Rebecca’s phone.
It showed Caroline Vale standing in front of a concrete wall beside Roland Sayer.
The date stamp was six months after her reported death.
They were holding the same black archival box Olivia opened at headquarters.
May you like
Brandon spoke one final time.
“Your mother wasn’t running from Roland. She was working with him.”
