A Tragic Wreck (31 page)

Alexander’s heart stopped. It couldn’t be. His mind raced with the possibility that Olivia’s father was still alive.

“I’m going to keep running facial recognition to see if it could be a mistake.”

“Okay. Thanks. I’ll be in touch, Martin. And from now on, Miss Adler goes nowhere unaccompanied. Double up her agents, if you must. Triple them. Do whatever the fuck it takes. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir. And I’m sorry.”

Alexander hung up and immediately dialed his sister’s number.

“Hey, Alex. What’s up?”

“Carol, we have a bit of a problem.”

“What’s that? Is something wrong?”

Alexander proceeded to tell his sister what had happened the day before. How Olivia lost her protection detail. How she walked from her appointment in the Prudential Center to her house. How she kept walking and was followed. How she tried to lose the tail, but it didn’t work. And how she ended up running, scared.

“Martin was able to pull up some of the street camera feeds. He found a guy matching the description that Olivia had given us. The timing was right.” He stood up and walked over to the large windows in his study, leaning his head on the chilly glass pane. “Oh, sis,” he moaned.

“Let me guess. It was Kiddish.”

“Yeah, it was.”

“Listen, Alex. I don’t want to alarm you, but if Kiddish is doing his own dirty work now, shit must be bad.”

“I know. I just…” He paced around his office, staring at all his old family photos. Photos of Olivia as a little girl. Photos of them in the sand. Then he stopped on a photo at the house in Newport when he and his parents went to visit one Christmas. That was their last Christmas together. Olivia wanted to play house, but before she would allow Alexander to play house with her, he had to marry her. So they had a play wedding ceremony. Her mother had snapped a photo of him wearing a top hat, Olivia wearing a long veil and a white dress. His heart dropped when he saw that. He knew his answer.

“What is it Alex? Are you okay?”

All of a sudden, everything became clear. “I just can’t lose her. That’s the girl I’m going to marry.”

“Alex, I know you don’t want to hear this from me again, but I think it’s time you tell her. And it’s time you finally opened that letter. There may be some answers there because, right now, I’m coming up empty. I can’t find anything on this guy. But I do know that his father never did any of his own dirty work. He would hire other people to do the real work. That’s how he and everyone who’s hired him have gotten away with it. This could be bad.”

“I know,” he sighed, resigning himself to do the one thing he was scared of most. “Just… Give me a few more days. I’m taking her to the charity auction tomorrow night. I’ll tell her after that. I promise.”

“Okay. You’d better or, at some point,
I
will tell her. You can’t keep this from her forever. She’s bound to figure it all out eventually.”

“I know,” he said quietly.

“Okay. See you tomorrow.”

“Carol?” Alexander said, grabbing his sister’s attention, debating whether to tell her that facial recognition returned a hit on Jack DeLuca, even though he had supposedly been dead for over twenty years.

“Yeah?”

“Nothing,” he exhaled. “Love you, sis.”

“Love you, too.”

Alexander hung up, thinking about how he could possibly tell Olivia the words she should never have to hear. Retreating back to the living room, his entire body warmed as he admired her curled up next to Runner, fast asleep. She looked so peaceful. He wanted to keep her there with him forever.

He gingerly picked her up, trying not to wake her. As he carried her upstairs, his heart sank. He prayed that this wouldn’t be one of the last nights he would ever hold her. He hoped she would forgive him for not telling her the truth when he was simply trying to protect her. That’s what he swore that he would do all those years ago.

A
LITTLE
GIRL
LAY
in a hospital bed. Tubes were attached to her and a machine measuring her heartbeat maintained a steady rhythm. That’s all Olivia heard for days, the constant beep…beep…beep… Voices sounded around her. She recognized some of them and desperately willed her eyes to open, but she couldn’t muster the strength. She felt something against her arm. Mr. Bear. Pulling the bear closer, she cried, wondering if anyone could even see the tears that fell from her eyes.

Hours passed. Maybe days. Olivia had no idea. She felt a small hand, not much bigger than her own, take hers. It had to belong to a child. “Olibia. You need to wake up now. Please,” the voice begged. Olivia tried and tried to open her eyes, but she couldn’t.

Then nothing. Again. She pulled Mr. Bear into her arms once more, knowing that she needed to keep him close for some reason. More time passed before she heard two voices speaking low. They didn’t belong to a child, though. They belonged to two older men.

“Thomas, I understand what you’re saying, but this is my decision,” one of the voices said forcefully.

“Is this really necessary?” another voice asked.

“Of course it is! It’s the only way. They knew, Thomas. They knew.” A small cry erupted from the voice. “I need to protect everyone. She’s dead, Thomas. She’s fucking dead and this is the only way I know. They’ve threatened to hurt everyone close to me. They’ve already killed my wife! Who’s next? My daughter? Me?” he said, the fear in his voice evident. “You need to do this. Pay off whoever you have to, but make sure it happens.”

“If you’re sure,” the voice called Thomas said.

“I am.” There was a brief pause. “Just one request, though. I know there will be new identities, but…please, still call her Olivia. If not her first name, at least her middle name. When Marilyn found out she was pregnant, she was so excited. She just knew she was having a little girl. She called her Olivia since day one. Please, whatever you do, just keep that name. For Mary.”

“You’re sure about this? You won’t be able to see her. She will grow up without a father.”

“She’s already lost her mother.”

“But Jack… There’s got to be another way.”

“There’s no other way! They want me dead! They want everyone dead! They need to think that we perished in that crash. If they don’t believe that, they’ll keep coming after everyone I hold dear, including you and your family. I cannot have that on my conscience.”

“You’re not thinking clearly. You were just in a nasty accident.”

“I’ve never had as clear of a head as I do now, Thomas.”

There was a loud sigh. “Okay. Fine. I’ll get it done. We’ll assign a protection detail for you once you are relocated. I won’t be able to tell you where Olivia will go.”

A small cry sounded in the room. “I know, but it needs to be done. Her mother will be looking down on her, making sure she’s safe. It’s all I can hope for.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Olivia. Wake up, please.” Her body shook violently, sweating and crying as Alexander tried to bring her back from whatever she was dreaming about. It scared him to his core to see her like that. He had witnessed Olivia’s recurring nightmares many times in the past, but never had he seen something so frightening.

Her eyes flung open as she inhaled deeply, taking in her surroundings and trying to remember where she was. She was lying in an oversized bed with a cherry wood frame. The fireplace across from the bed flickered a soft glow, and a dog kicked in his sleep up on a bed next to the hearth, apparently chasing squirrels in his dreams.
Runner
. Runner was there. She looked at the person next to her on the bed.
Alexander
. It was only a dream. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Alexander leaned over to his nightstand and flicked on the light. He looked at Olivia as she sat up, covering her naked body with the light sheet. Her entire face was void of any emotion as she watched his every move.

Olivia gazed into those same green eyes she dreamt of nearly every night. She was starting to lose her mind. What was happening to her? This dream was something new. Did someone fake her death to protect her? It sounded so absurd.

“Olivia, please. Talk to me. I need to know that you’re okay.”

It wasn’t real. It couldn’t have been. It was only a dream, but her father’s voice was so clear. It was as if no time had passed since the last time she heard him.

“Yes. I’m fine,” she said quietly, her hands still shaking. “I just had that dream again. I’m sorry for scaring you.” She turned away from him, pulling the duvet over her, and tried to go back to sleep. Alexander eventually turned off the light, certain that she was keeping something from him. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and trying to comfort her.

“Do you think my father might still be alive?” she asked quietly just as Alexander was about to fall asleep.

He stilled, turning Olivia to face him, desperately searching her face, hoping she would tell him why she asked him that question. After his conversation with Martin earlier, and now Olivia’s question, he wondered if maybe her father
was
still alive. “What makes you ask that?” He planted a kiss on her forehead.

“I’ve been seeing him and hearing his voice in my dreams lately. A few months ago, I dreamt that he made it out of the car and shot the man who hurt the little boy. And then tonight, I dreamt that I was in a hospital bed. All I could hear were voices, but I heard my father’s voice, as well as my uncle’s voice. But they were calling him Thomas and not Charles. They were talking about some sort of relocation. When my uncle told my father that he would never see me again, he just agreed. They said something about needing certain people to believe that we were all dead, or else they would never stop.” A tear fell down Olivia’s cheek.

“Shhhh. It’s okay, darling. Like you said, it was just a dream.” He pulled her into his arms, soothing her quiet cries. What if her father really
was
still alive? His father told him that they never made it out of the hospital, dying from complications of the crash. He clearly lied about Olivia. Did he do the same about her father?

“The boy was there, too,” she said softly.

“When?” Alexander asked nervously.

“In my dream. Before I overheard the two men. I heard the little boy speak, begging me to wake up. I tried so hard to open my eyes, but I just couldn’t.”

A tear escaped Alexander’s eye. He knew the exact moment she was referring to. The last time that he saw her. The day after the accident. He remembered his father allowing him to go see Olivia in her hospital room, and he begged and begged her to wake up. But she didn’t. And that was the last time he ever saw her. A few hours later, his father told him that she didn’t make it. That was the day his life changed, too.

“L
OVE
, I’
M
SENDING
FOUR
agents to the spa with you today,” Alexander said the following morning as they sat eating breakfast. “Marshall is the only female. She is
not
to leave your side, do you understand?”

Alexander looked serious. It wasn’t worth arguing with him that day, not after her restless night. She had trouble falling back to sleep after her dream. She couldn’t shake the feeling that had started to form in the pit of her stomach.

At ten o’clock, Marshall appeared in the foyer. Olivia watched as Alexander greeted her, her tall, fit frame slightly intimidating, even standing next to someone like Alexander. She was clearly in shape and Olivia had no desire to mess with her. “Pleasure to see you again, Miss Adler.”

“Agent Marshall, I’ve told you to call me Olivia or Libby.” She had grown tired of all of Alexander’s employees using her last name. Her name was Olivia. She didn’t want to only be known as Miss Adler. That wasn’t who she was.

Marshall looked at Alexander with a questioning look.

This man is ridiculous
, Olivia thought. “Fine. Call me Miss Adler.” Was she starting to lose her entire identity to the man standing next to her?

“Just give us a moment, please, Marshall.”

“Yes, sir.” She stepped into the foyer, giving Alexander and Olivia some privacy.

“Olivia, love,” he said, brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry about the extra security but, after the other day…well, it’s just necessary until I can get some answers.”

“Fine,” Olivia exhaled, reluctantly agreeing to his demands. He was all business that morning. She wanted the playful Alexander back from the night before.

He pulled her into a tight embrace, stroking her back as he planted gentle kisses on her forehead, her nose, her cheek, her other cheek. He gently brushed his lips against hers. Sparks flew through Olivia’s body at the innocent contact of his lips on hers. She immediately forgot that she was irritated with him and his absurd protection details.

Alexander pulled back, his eyes aflame, before leaning in for a more passionate kiss. Their tongues intertwined as Olivia ran her hands through his hair, pulling his head closer to hers, not wanting to break the contact. She needed him desperately after the previous night. Alexander had become the one thing in life that she needed in order to get past the nightmares. He had become her own personal nepenthe. She smiled at the thought.

“Have a good day, gorgeous,” Alexander murmured softly into her ear, trailing kisses across her face and down her neck.

Olivia moaned in response.

She felt him smile against her body. “Keep making those sounds and I’ll make you late for your first spa treatment.”