Chapter 13 - Sycamore Street
Thea did something stupid.
She knew it was stupid while she was doing it.
That did not stop her.
She told Lachlan she needed the restroom at a gas station.
Then left through the employee exit.
A rideshare waited behind the building.
By the time Lachlan realized she was gone, Thea was already fifteen minutes away.
Her phone rang.
She declined it.
Again.
Declined.
Then a message.
Do not do this alone.
Another.
Thea.
Another.
Please.
She turned the phone off.
Her mother's apartment on Sycamore Street looked exactly as it had before the wedding.
Old brick.
Window air conditioner.
Rusting fire escape.
Thea had spent nineteen years entering that building.
Today it frightened her.
She climbed the stairs.
Apartment 3B.
Door slightly open.
“Mom?”
No answer.
Thea entered.
Living room empty.
Oxygen concentrator gone now.
Hospital blanket folded over the sofa.
Then a voice behind her.
“You came.”
Julian.
Thea turned.
He stood near the kitchen doorway.
No gun visible.
That meant nothing.
“Where is my mother?”
“Bedroom.”
“If you hurt her—”
“I haven't.”
“Let me see.”
Julian stepped aside.
Marianne lay asleep.
Thea rushed in.
“Mom.”
Her pulse.
Strong.
Breathing.
“She was given a sedative,” Julian said.
“You drugged her.”
“A mild one.”
Thea turned.
“You're insane.”
“Possibly.”
“Why?”
“Because Lachlan is about to give federal investigators evidence he doesn't understand.”
“That evidence proves you helped Conrad.”
Julian flinched.
“I did.”
The confession surprised her.
“You sent the message.”
“Yes.”
“You told him to take Sophie.”
“I told him to get leverage.”
“She is six.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Julian looked away.
“That was a mistake.”
“A mistake is forgetting an appointment.”
“I panicked.”
“You took millions.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His expression changed.
“Because Conrad knew something.”
“About you?”
“About my mother.”
Thea frowned.
“Who is your mother?”
“Victoria Voss.”
“Conrad's wife.”
“Former wife.”
“What did he know?”
Julian sat.
For the first time he didn't look polished.
He looked exhausted.
“My mother helped Elena.”
Thea stopped.
“What?”
“She gave Elena the first account records.”
“Then why would Conrad use that against you?”
“Because my mother stole them.”
“From him?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she now?”
“Dead.”
Another one.
“How?”
“Cancer. Two years before Elena.”
Thea stood against the door.
Julian continued.
“Before she died, she made me promise I'd finish what she started.”
“So you were helping Elena?”
“At first.”
“What changed?”
“Conrad discovered it.”
“And blackmailed you.”
“He threatened my younger sister.”
Thea frowned.
“You have a sister?”
“Half-sister. She lives under another name.”
Thea thought of Caroline.
Emil.
Everybody had someone vulnerable.
The conspiracy survived by finding the person each witness loved.
“Why take money?”
“To make Conrad believe I had switched sides.”
“You could have gone to Lachlan.”
“I didn't trust him.”
“Everyone in this family says that.”
“Because Lachlan was August's chosen heir.”
“So?”
“August covered up Harrison's murder.”
Thea understood.
“If Lachlan knew nothing, you risked exposing yourself. If he knew, you'd be handing yourself to the same side.”
“Yes.”
“What happened after Elena died?”
“I knew Conrad had done it.”
“Proof?”
“No.”
“Then why not tell Lachlan?”
“Because Conrad said Sophie would be next.”
Thea closed her eyes.
Again.
Fear dressed up as protection.
Again.
“What about the text at the factory?”
“I was trying to keep Conrad from shooting Vale.”
“You wrote, 'Take the child if necessary.'”
Julian looked ashamed.
“I knew Conrad wouldn't kill Sophie.”
“You were wrong.”
“Yes.”
“What do you want from me?”
Julian stood.
“I need the original ledger.”
“Why?”
“Because one page is missing.”
Thea's heartbeat changed.
“What page?”
“The page that identifies Sparrow.”
“We know Sparrow was the depository.”
“No.”
Julian shook his head.
“Sparrow House was named after the organization.”
“What organization?”
“A network created by August.”
“For bribery?”
“For control.”
“What does that mean?”
“Politicians. Judges. Executives. People who owed favors.”
Thea stared.
“Vale's fraud was only part of it.”
“Yes.”
“And the missing page?”
“Contains the names of people still active.”
“Where is it?”
“That is what I need to know.”
Thea laughed bitterly.
“You kidnapped my mother because you think I know?”
“I brought your mother here because I knew you'd come.”
“That is kidnapping.”
“Yes.”
“Again, terrible judgment.”
Julian almost smiled.
“You remind me of Elena.”
“People keep saying that. She sounds exhausting.”
“She was.”
His expression softened.
Then he reached inside his jacket.
Thea tensed.
He removed a folded photograph.
Elena at the lake house.
On the back, coordinates.
“Daniel had this.”
“How did you get it?”
“From his apartment after he died.”
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“Vale arranged the overdose.”
Thea believed him.
Maybe she shouldn't.
But the pieces fit.
“What are the coordinates?”
“Old Voss property in the mountains.”
“What's there?”
“My grandfather's private archive.”
Thea looked at him.
“The missing page.”
“Maybe.”
“So why involve me?”
“Because Lachlan won't believe anything I say.”
“Probably because you helped kidnap his niece.”
“Fair.”
“And you expect me to convince him.”
“Yes.”
Thea laughed.
“You really don't know your cousin's wife.”
A sound came from outside.
Julian stiffened.
Cars.
Multiple.
Thea smiled.
“You brought them.”
“No.”
“You underestimated your cousin.”
Julian moved toward the window.
“Damn it.”
Lachlan entered the apartment thirty seconds later with Marcus and federal agents behind him.
His eyes found Thea.
The fury and relief in them were almost frightening.
“You.”
Thea raised one hand.
“I know.”
“You turned off your phone.”
“Yes.”
“You left through a kitchen.”
“Employee exit.”
“That's worse.”
Julian raised both hands.
“Before the marital argument becomes fatal—”
Lachlan crossed the room and punched him.
Hard.
Julian fell against the table.
Thea winced.
“Okay.”
Lachlan grabbed him.
“You touched her mother.”
“I didn't hurt her.”
“You drugged her.”
“Mildly.”
Lachlan drew back again.
Thea caught his arm.
“No.”
His breathing was hard.
“Don't become Conrad.”
That stopped him.
Slowly, he released Julian.
Federal agents cuffed his cousin.
Julian looked at Thea.
“Tell him.”
“Tell me what?” Lachlan demanded.
Thea handed him the photograph.
“Your grandfather had an archive.”
Lachlan stared at the coordinates.
“I know this place.”
“What is it?”
“A hunting lodge.”
“When were you last there?”
“Before Grandfather died.”
Julian said, “The archive is beneath it.”
An agent asked, “Can you prove that?”
“No.”
Lachlan looked at Julian.
“Why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn't.”
Julian's cheek was already bruising.
“But Elena did.”
He nodded toward the photograph.
“Look at the date.”
Lachlan did.
Three days before Elena's death.
Thea's stomach dropped.
Elena had been headed toward the archive before someone stopped her.
The agents prepared to search the lodge.
Marianne woke shortly afterward.
She was groggy.
Angry.
And, to Thea's surprise, more furious at her daughter than Julian.
“You went alone?”
“Mom—”
“You married a billionaire with a private security team and still went alone?”
Lachlan coughed.
Thea glared.
“Don't encourage her.”
Marianne pointed at him.
“And you. Why did you let her?”
“I didn't.”
“Good.”
Thea stared at both of them.
“This feels unfair.”
Marianne took her hand.
“You don't have to prove you can save everyone by yourself.”
Thea stopped.
The sentence went deeper than intended.
For months, she had worked every shift.
Fought every insurer.
Signed a marriage contract.
Walked into danger.
Because if she stopped, she feared the people she loved would disappear.
Maybe she and Lachlan were more alike than she wanted to admit.
That evening, federal agents entered the mountain lodge.
They found the hidden archive.
Hundreds of boxes.
Decades of records.
Photographs.
Bank transfers.
Audio recordings.
And behind a locked steel door, a small fireproof safe.
Inside was the missing Sparrow ledger page.
At the top was a list of names.
Thea recognized several.
One made her heart stop.
MARIANNE LINDQUIST.
Her mother's name.
Beside it:
WITNESS — HARRISON VOSS, 2011.
Thea slowly turned toward Marianne.
Her mother stared at the page.
All color vanished from her face.
Lachlan whispered, “You knew my father?”
Marianne closed her eyes.
Then she said the sentence Thea never expected.
May you like
“I was there the night he died.”
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