False Finder (26 page)

Chapter 27

Cora jogged as far as her leg would allow and then walked briskly the rest of the way to Rogan’s mansion. The adrenaline helped her cope with most of the pain so at least she could walk normally. She had managed to not only build up a sweat but also her anger. She was determined to get answers to every question whether Rogan liked it or not.

Unlike Cora, Miles wasn’t charged with emotion. He was feeling tired and just wanted to go back to sleep rather than take a midnight run. Because of that fact, he hadn’t been able to match her pace like he would normally have and was quickly dropping further and further behind her.

As Cora walked up to the barriers surrounding the building, she noticed all the lights were off except the outdoor security ones. She hadn’t considered everyone would be asleep but by that point she didn’t care—she just wanted answers.

Slowing her pace even further, Cora allowed herself a minute so her breathing could return to normal as she drew level with the intercom built into the wall. Since it was dark Rogan’s security routine changed. The guard in the box by the gate was replaced by a man tucked away in the house with a few monitors and a microphone. Men patrolled the perimeter of the house and security lights alerted them to any intruders who interrupted the sensors.

Leaning forward Cora pressed the buzzer and waited for the man to respond with a gruff and irritated hello. Obviously, he didn’t get many visitors during his shift.

“Who’s there and what do you want?” the voice barked from the speaker and Cora decided to have a little fun at Rogan’s expense.

“Tell Rogan his daughter wants to see him.” She smiled at the thought of Rogan being woken up to the news that Cora knew about her parentage.

Above her she could hear the faint whir and buzzing of a camera as the person in the office tried to get a better look at her. However, the darkness kept her secret and Cora made sure to face in the opposite direction so as not to reveal herself.

“Nice try but Rogan doesn’t have a daughter. Now piss off, I’m busy.”

Cora laughed, at least there was one person who hadn’t known Rogan’s secret before her. Leaning forward she pressed the intercom again, just as Miles caught up with her.

“You sure you don’t want to check? I don’t think he’ll appreciate you leaving his daughter out in the cold.” Her voice was mocking but the man didn’t take kindly to it.

“Look, I think I would know if the boss had another child, don’t you? If you’re after a job come back when it’s light. Nobody enters the premises tonight.”

Cora sighed heavily before pressing the button again.

“I don’t know who you are but I swear that if you don’t let me in this second, you won’t see the daylight.”

The speaker crackled and Cora heard the man muttering under his breath before he spoke, realising Cora wasn’t going to leave any time soon.

“What’s your name, I’ll go and check.”

“Rogan will know me. Just tell him his daughter is here to see him.”

“I need a name.”

Cora’s teeth ground together as she thought of the name she was going to have to give. It may have not been hers legally but it was hers to claim by birth, and as much as she wished it not to be true she couldn’t deny it any longer.

“Cora Carvelli,” she forced out into the speaker but she got no response. She was at least expecting a cry of realisation or shock but she got nothing.

Cora took the silence as a signal the man had gone to wake Rogan—not a task she’d want to be given if she was honest. However, never one to be known for her patience, she turned to glare at Miles.

“Can you open this?” she demanded.

He didn’t reply. Instead, slowly pushing her out of the way, so as not to look like he was being aggressive, he stood in front of the keypad. His fingers ran over the buttons quickly, each letting out a small beep that was magnified in the silent night before a buzzer sounded and the gates started to open.

“So you are of some use then,” Cora exclaimed as she walked past him and strode towards the front door. On her way up the drive she passed more men than she had ever seen. Concealed in shadows they blended perfectly with the night as they patrolled the grounds. Cora knew all of the added security was because of the rebel threat and the amount of men Rogan had surrounded himself with gave her a slight peace that he was well protected.

Marching up the steps, Cora paused in front of the door, turning once more to Miles and expecting him to open it. With a sigh he pulled a card out of his jacket pocket and placing it into the reader he waited for the light to change from red to green before inputting a code. Cora heard the lock slide back and placing a hand on the door she pushed it open.

As she headed straight for Rogan’s office, fewer guards lined the hallways than in the day. The normally light corridor and adjoining rooms were dark and there was an unsettling silence as Cora moved through the house that she wasn’t used to. Nobody stopped her to question what she was doing, nor did she meet anyone that gave her a look like she didn’t belong there. In fact people looked slightly wary.

Taking a deep breath, Cora pushed open the door to Rogan’s office leaving Miles behind. She found the light switch easily and leaving the door open she moved to stand by the window, looking out on to the driveway.

It was strange how so many emotions could be contained inside one small person at the same time. As Cora stood there she felt angry, betrayed, confused but the strangest of all was a sense of acceptance and belonging. Never before had she felt like she fitted in anywhere, especially Rogan’s empire, but finally when she was about to confront him, she did. And she couldn’t understand why.

Heavy footsteps coming through the door caught her attention but rather than turn and release the usual stream of angry words she remained facing in the opposite direction.

She heard the door close behind.

There was only silence.

Then Rogan spoke. “How long have you known?” he said in a sleep deprived voice. For the first time ever he sounded vulnerable, like he didn’t have control over the situation. He also sounded nervous—like Cora could ruin him with one word.

“A few days,” she replied, still gazing out the window. Her voice was flat and emotionless. She wasn’t expecting anything and she wasn’t letting herself feel anything either.

“Who told you?”

“Doesn’t matter. I know a lot of people who didn’t tell me, even though they should have.” Her words had a slight bite to them and although Cora couldn’t see, they caused Rogan to lower his head slightly. He didn’t often show emotion so this was a new experience for him.

“I’m sorry, Cora. I should have, I wanted to,”

Cora spun around, his apology ringing false to her ears. The distortion of his words as they reached her proved to her that he didn’t want to. The fact that he was still lying to her after nineteen years enraged her. She could feel her anger welling up, and she didn’t have the energy to restrain it.

“Don’t bullshit me, Rogan. If you had wanted me to know I would have. Only you could keep a secret like this for so long deliberately!” Cora shouted, fury descending on her and taking control of her body so that she could no longer see him properly.

“I don’t want any more lies. I don’t want any more secrets, just give me the truth!”

He looked tired. Rogan had pulled on his usual black jeans and shirt but he had forgotten his shoes. His hair was dishevelled and as he ran his hand through it, it only made it worse. For once he looked old and as he collapsed into one of the chairs in front of his desk with a heavy sigh, he looked defeated.

“Okay,” was all he whispered as he faced Cora, but she wasn’t ready to calm down yet.

“Okay? I come here looking for answers and all I get is an okay?”

“What do you want me to say, Cora?” He held up his hands in surrender at the question, his shoulders rising slightly as he did so.

“The truth. Why’d you do it? Why didn’t you care? Why did you pretend I was nothing to you?” Cora didn’t mean for the questions to come out with so much emotion as she choked over the words. However, as much as she pretended not to care she couldn’t deny what Rogan had done hurt. She’d never thought about it before but with everything out in the open, feelings were surfacing within her.

“All of this…It wasn’t my idea. Your mother and I decided it together...” he started, trailing off to think about his next sentence.

“Try again, this time with the truth,” Cora demanded irritated by his lack of memory and honesty as the words twisted.

He looked up at her warily, the lines creasing his forehead becoming more pronounced, the crow’s feet around his eyes more prominent. Cora remained unmoved by the look. She stayed by the window, her arms folded across her chest.

Taking a deep breath, Rogan held it in for a few seconds before exhaling. Only then did he meet her eyes as he prepared to admit everything he had buried deep inside his mind to numb the pain.

“I did care, Cora. That was why I had to do it. When your mother first told me she was pregnant I was scared but I was also ecstatic. When I found out you were a girl, too, I was even more thrilled. I always wanted a girl, I wanted to spoil her. And that’s what I did when you were born.”

Cora leaned back against the wall, sensing that his story was going to go on for a while as he got lost in his memories.

“When your mum first brought you to work, people couldn’t get you out of my arms. The first time I saw you I spent hours just staring at your perfect, innocent face with your bright green eyes. If you had asked anything of me in that moment, I would have done it without question. I never wanted to let you go.”

“Then why did you?” Cora interrupted, wanting facts rather than feelings. Whether or not he had been there at the start for her was irrelevant, she couldn’t remember that man and he no longer existed in the person in front of her. She didn’t want to feel anything towards him. Cora could analyse facts but she couldn’t deal with emotions.

“People became suspicious and rumours started to spread. It got back to my wife and she believed them. Of course she was right to. She had suspected something between me and your mum for a while. She was jealous.”

“Rogan...” Cora warned, her voice exuding impatience.

“All right, all right. You got my patience and your mother’s temper,” he said trying to joke, a small smile forming but it didn’t meet his eyes. When she didn’t return it and he saw Cora’s face, the smile quickly faded from his lips.

“Don’t compare me to you or her,” she hissed, her eyes piercing him. She didn’t want to see any resemblance.

“Sorry…”

“Well that was genuine.”

Rogan glanced at her realising that too, before continuing. “Anyway, my wife threatened to have you both killed, she even attempted to do it herself. When I uncovered the men she had persuaded, I had them executed but she succeeded with your mother by doing it herself. That’s why I had to let you go. I couldn’t watch her do the same to you so I thought it best to send you away.”

Even though Cora could hear the truth in Rogan’s words, she still questioned them. It was the only way her body could process the shock. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her mind spinning with every lie she had been told growing up.

“Your wife killed my mother? I thought she died of heart failure,” Cora said, her pace slow with uncertainty as she tried to comprehend what Rogan was saying.

“Technically, it was heart failure. It was just that no one informed you that it was not a natural death and Steph caused it.”

“No, I would have known you were lying. I would have been able to detect it.” Cora refused to accept his words. If what he spoke was true—which in her heart she understood—then that meant she had spent her whole life being angry at her mother for leaving her when it wasn’t her fault. Guilt edged its way up her body, lodging in her throat as her body was overwhelmed with regret.

Of course there were other reasons she hated her mother, like telling Rogan of her ability and introducing her to him but what was she meant to do? He was her father and her mother had been an optimist. It was something Cora had never admitted to herself before—the real reason she was so angry—it was because she left her all alone at the age of twelve, in a country that was changing rapidly, to fend for herself.

“I knew about your ability, Cora. I knew how it worked and I knew how to get around it from dealing with your mother. What I told you wasn’t a lie. All I did was omit certain details.”

Cora prickled at the statement. Someone had been able to lie to her. They had played her.

“So you left a kid of twelve on her own? Couldn’t even be bothered to find someone to look after me? You stuck me in a boarding school—which by the way was hell—and that was it. I had to find my own way through everything else,” she accused, fighting back the tears she could feel wanting to break free. She refused to admit the truth to herself so she went on the defensive, attacking Rogan for what he had done to quell the rising guilt, wishing that she could take back every bad thought about her mother.