“Was she?”

She nodded slowly. “Yes. From what I could gather about everything, she was. And when I spoke with Carol yesterday, she had inferred that there was evidence that she was…”

Mo let out a small cry and bowed his head, unable to process what Olivia had just confirmed for him. “No one would be straight with me here because she’s unconscious…” He took several deep breaths. “I’m going to kill that motherfucker.”

“Mo, please. I ran into a friend while I was trying to escape, and it sounded like he did a number on the guy. I’m pretty sure the police have him in custody.”

“No, Livvy,” he said urgently. “They don’t. They never found anyone in the house.”

Olivia’s mind started to race. “What are you talking about?” she asked.

“Who is this friend?” He eyed her suspiciously.

She looked down at her lap, unsure of whether to tell him about her run-in with Simon.

“Livvy, damn it! Who was it?!” he shouted, standing up and hovering over her as he glared down at her.

Glimpsing to where Carter stood, she hoped that he couldn’t overhear their conversation. “Simon,” she replied quietly, avoiding his gaze.

Mo’s eyes went wide. “Are you fucking crazy, Olivia? After all the shit he did to you?!” He began to pace back and forth, unable to comprehend how a woman as intelligent as Olivia could even think about speaking to Simon again.

“Calm down, Mo,” she pleaded, trying to get him to lower his voice. “He’s one of the good guys. He had me stand outside while he went back into the house to see if the guy who attacked Kiera was still there. I heard the fight. Then I heard someone fall down the basement stairs. I guess he must not have been as unconscious as Simon originally thought. There is that back door in the basement. He could have escaped that way.”

“Livvy, don’t you think it’s a little strange that you just so happened to run into the same guy who attacked you?”

“No, Mo. I don’t,” Olivia replied loudly, becoming irritated with his questions. Did he not realize that if Simon wasn't there, Kiera may not be alive at all? “He let me use his phone to call the police and he went into that house, when he didn’t have to, in order to make sure it was safe. To make sure I wasn’t attacked again. To help Kiera. He’s one of the good guys. I promise. I’ve spoken to him a few times since he got out of prison and he’s really changed, Mo. He’s turned his life around. I’m not about to jump back into bed with him or anything, but he’s proven to be someone I can count on, especially yesterday. If it wasn’t for him, Kiera may be dead right now.”

Mo’s eyes searched Olivia’s for a clue as to how he should react to what she just told him. He exhaled loudly. “I trust you, Livvy, and if you trust him, then I guess that’s going to have to be good enough for me.”

“I do trust him, Mo. He has yet to lie to me. That’s more than I can say for Alexander.”

“Speaking of which, I saw you leave with him yesterday…” He raised his eyebrows at her. “Are you guys back together?”

Olivia sighed. “I guess so. He wants to talk about everything, but I’m torn. I’m scared to find out how much he’s been keeping from me, but we eventually need to address the elephant in the room, ya’ know?”

He nodded, sitting back down next to her, and wrapped his arms around her.

“But right now, I’m enjoying the hell out of getting laid again.”

Mo laughed, bringing a smile to Olivia’s face.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

GUILT

“WHAT IS THIS PLACE, Alex?” Carol asked after being led to an enormous room in Alexander’s office building that she had never seen before.

“It’s a safe room Dad had built years ago for security reasons, I guess.”

“But what is all this stuff?” She gazed around at the piles and piles of boxes stacked on metal racks placed against the walls. It reminded her of the evidence storage locker at work.

“Files, photos, stuff like that.” Alexander shrugged.

“About what?” Carol asked, interested in what her father hid from them during his lifetime.

“Olivia,” he replied, gauging his sister's reaction.

Carol surveyed the room, astonished. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah. I found out about it after I read Dad’s letter. Then I found this today.” He handed her the legal sheet with numbers and letters scratched on it, almost as if written in his own unique code.

She read it, trying to figure out what it could mean. “I don’t understand, Alex.”

“Neither do I. I was hoping that you might be able to shed some light on it.”

“I wish I could help. I really do, but this doesn’t mean anything to me.” She handed the notepad back. “Maybe the answer is somewhere in here.” She motioned to the hundreds upon hundreds of boxes filled with potential clues.

His eyes grew wide at the prospect of having to dig through each box, looking for a needle in the haystack.

Carol noticed his apprehension at the enormity of the project. “Well, I guess we better start digging then.” She grabbed a box off one of the shelves and brought it over to a desk.

He looked at her, disbelief written on his face. “You’re going to help?”

“Of course I am. I’m probably the only person you can actually trust with this shit.”

Alexander shook his head. “You’re right about that.”

“Well, get your ass to work then.” Carol began to sort through the box, wondering if Olivia had mentioned anything about the letter the techs had found at the crime scene.

~~~~~~~~~~

OLIVIA WALKED THROUGH THE bustling hospital corridors before stopping outside of Kiera’s room, taking a deep breath and entering. As she sat by her friend’s side throughout the afternoon, she thought about Alexander and how silly she felt for staying angry at him for so long when he was only trying to protect her. There were people out there who wanted to harm her. Yes, it was painful to know that he kept her identity from her for so long, even when he watched her struggle with her past, but Carol was right. He only ever had her best interests at heart.

She clutched Kiera’s cold hand and stared at her lifeless body, trying to find the words to tell her that everything would be okay, even though she couldn’t hear her. Her eyes welled with tears every time she looked at her swollen head, bandaged from where they had to extract the bullet. “I’m so sorry, Care Bear,” she cried softly. “I never meant for this to happen to you.”