Chapter 7 - Three Years of Lies
The first man reached the porch.
Roman did not move toward the door.
That surprised Sadie.
Three years ago, he would have taken control instantly.
Instead he looked at her.
“You said we stop running.”
“Yes.”
“Stopping doesn’t mean we stand in front of windows.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
Tommy locked the doors.
Evelyn pulled curtains closed.
Roman called someone.
Sadie listened.
“Federal office. Special Agent Mara Sloan.”
Sadie stared.
“You know a federal agent?”
Roman ended the call.
“She knows me.”
“That sounds different.”
“It is.”
“Why call her?”
“Because if Victor’s men are outside and Evelyn’s evidence is real, we’re past handling this privately.”
Evelyn watched Roman.
“Anthony wanted to contact federal investigators.”
“I know.”
“You’re willing to?”
Roman nodded.
Evelyn looked almost shaken.
Before she could respond, someone knocked.
Three slow knocks.
No violence.
No shouted threats.
Roman moved near the wall beside the entrance.
Tommy checked a small security camera.
“Not Victor’s people.”
“Who?”
Tommy frowned.
“State police.”
Sadie looked toward Evelyn.
“Did you call them?”
“No.”
Roman’s expression hardened.
“Victor did.”
Sadie understood.
“He reports something here.”
“Exactly.”
Seconds later a voice came through a loudspeaker.
“Occupants of 18 Lighthouse Road, come outside with your hands visible.”
Evelyn whispered, “What did he tell them?”
Roman answered, “Whatever gives him time.”
Tommy checked his phone.
“Local scanner says armed kidnapping.”
Sadie almost laughed.
“Who kidnapped whom?”
“You,” Roman said.
Of course.
Victor had turned the situation into the easiest story imaginable.
Feared crime boss Roman Vale had abducted his former girlfriend and an elderly woman.
Every fact visible from the outside fit.
Sadie looked at Roman.
“If you walk out, they arrest you.”
“Probably.”
“And Victor gets the evidence.”
“Possibly.”
“What if I go out?”
Roman shook his head, then caught himself.
“I don’t recommend it.”
Sadie looked at Evelyn.
“What’s the safest place for the suitcase?”
Evelyn pointed toward the old furnace vent.
“There’s a cavity.”
Tommy hid the evidence.
Sadie walked toward the door.
Roman stepped into her path but did not touch her.
“Nora.”
“They think you kidnapped me.”
“Yes.”
“So I tell them you didn’t.”
“That doesn’t guarantee they believe you.”
“It improves the odds.”
Roman stared.
“What?”
She gave him a tired smile.
“You’re learning.”
“Slowly.”
Sadie opened the door.
Cold wind hit her face.
Four state troopers stood behind vehicles.
Weapons lowered but ready.
Sadie raised her hands.
“My name is Nora Callahan.”
Roman’s eyes closed behind her.
She had not used the name publicly in three years.
The trooper nearest the porch called, “Are you being held against your will?”
“No.”
“Is Roman Vale inside?”
“Yes.”
“Are there weapons?”
Sadie glanced back.
Roman gave her an irritated expression.
“Yes.”
“Are you in danger?”
She looked at him.
For three years she would have answered yes without hesitation.
Tonight?
“Not from him.”
The officer ordered Roman to come outside.
Roman did.
Hands visible.
Tommy followed.
Evelyn remained inside.
The lead trooper stared at Roman.
“Mr. Vale, turn around.”
Roman complied.
Sadie watched handcuffs close around his wrists.
Something inside her twisted.
Roman looked at her.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Feel guilty.”
She stared.
“I’m responsible for my choices.”
The sentence felt aimed at far more than tonight.
Roman and Tommy were placed beside a cruiser while police entered the house.
Sadie immediately told them about Evelyn.
About Victor.
About evidence.
The officers looked skeptical.
Then two dark SUVs arrived.
A woman stepped out.
Forties.
Black coat.
Federal badge.
“Mara Sloan, FBI.”
The state troopers exchanged uncertain looks.
Sloan walked directly toward Roman.
“You enjoy making my nights difficult.”
Roman gave her a faint smile.
“Good to see you too.”
Sadie stared.
Sloan turned toward her.
“Nora Callahan?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve been waiting almost three years to meet you.”
Sadie frowned.
Roman looked uncomfortable.
“Why?”
Sloan studied her.
“Because Mr. Vale contacted my office twenty-eight months ago.”
Sadie looked at Roman.
“What?”
“He reported concerns regarding Victor Hale.”
Her heartbeat quickened.
Sloan continued.
“He also told us his former partner had disappeared and might possess information related to an unsolved corruption investigation.”
Roman looked away.
Sadie stared at him.
“You contacted the FBI?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I couldn’t find you.”
“You said you found me eleven months ago.”
“Yes.”
“Then why not tell me then?”
Roman’s answer came quietly.
“Because you were safe.”
Sadie’s throat tightened.
“You didn’t know that.”
“I watched long enough to know no one else had found you.”
“You watched me?”
“For two weeks.”
Her anger returned.
Roman nodded.
“I know.”
“And then?”
“I left.”
Sadie searched his face.
Sloan interrupted.
“We should move this conversation somewhere safer.”
Inside the house, Evelyn brought out the suitcase herself.
Sloan opened it.
Her expression changed after reading only two pages.
“Jesus.”
Evelyn said, “That’s the short version.”
Sloan looked toward Roman.
“You understand what this does?”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t only implicate Hale.”
“I know.”
“Several companies attached to you appear repeatedly.”
“I know.”
“You could be exposing yourself to prosecution.”
Roman glanced at Sadie.
“I know.”
Sloan studied him.
Then she removed her phone.
“We need a secure transport team.”
Roman said, “Victor knows you’re here.”
“He’ll know soon.”
“He already arranged the false kidnapping report.”
Sloan paused.
“That was Hale?”
“Almost certainly.”
Sloan looked toward the evidence.
“He wants this suitcase.”
“Yes.”
The agent began issuing instructions.
Sadie moved toward Roman.
His handcuffs had been removed.
“You really contacted them twenty-eight months ago?”
“Yes.”
“Eight months after I left.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Roman looked toward the ocean.
“Because that was when I stopped trying to prove you were wrong about me.”
Sadie said nothing.
“I started trying to find out whether you were right.”
That hurt.
Because she had spent three years needing him to be exactly the monster she believed he was.
Hatred was simpler.
Hatred did not keep old memories alive.
Sadie said, “You still did terrible things.”
“Yes.”
“You still hurt people.”
“Yes.”
“You can’t erase that because Victor was worse.”
“I know.”
Roman turned toward her.
“I’m not asking you to erase anything.”
“What are you asking?”
“Nothing.”
She stared.
“For once.”
A sudden explosion of glass came from the house.
Everyone ducked.
Sloan shouted.
A smoke canister rolled across the living room floor.
Chaos erupted.
Not bullets.
Smoke.
Visibility vanished.
Tommy grabbed Evelyn.
Sadie coughed.
Roman found her arm but hesitated.
“Can I?”
She understood.
He was asking permission.
Even now.
Sadie grabbed his hand herself.
“Move.”
They ran toward the rear of the house.
Outside, another vehicle roared down the access road.
Federal agents pursued.
Sloan shouted into her radio.
The smoke began clearing.
Then Tommy yelled.
“Where’s Evelyn?”
Sadie spun around.
Tommy stood alone.
His face had gone pale.
“I had her.”
Roman searched the yard.
The rear gate hung open.
Tire tracks cut through snow.
Sloan ran toward them.
“Who’s missing?”
Sadie’s stomach dropped.
“My aunt.”
The suitcase still sat inside the house.
Victor had not come for the ledger.
He had come for the witness.
Sadie stared toward the road.
Her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A photograph arrived.
Evelyn sat in the back seat of a car.
Terrified but alive.
Below it were six words.
BRING THE LEDGER BACK TO NEW YORK.
Then another message appeared.
COME ALONE, NORA.
Roman read over her shoulder.
His face became cold.
Sadie looked at him.
“He wants me.”
“No.”
The old command escaped automatically.
Sadie raised an eyebrow.
Roman shut his eyes.
“Sorry.”
Despite everything, she almost laughed.
Then Roman looked toward the dark road where Evelyn had disappeared.
His expression hardened.
“What do you want to do?”
Sadie looked at Victor’s message again.
For three years she had been a ghost.
A waitress.
A woman hiding behind a borrowed name.
Not anymore.
“Victor wants Nora Callahan.”
She slipped the phone into her pocket.
May you like
“Then Nora Callahan is going to New York.”
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