29. Halfway Built, Halfway Broken
HALFWAY BUILT, HALFWAY brOKEN
OWEN
I f it were morning and I was singing my to-do list right now, it’d be singing to the tune of I’m Walking on Sunshine , because that’s what’s been running through my head since this afternoon.
In the auditorium part of the theater, the electrical, insulation, and new Sheetrock have all been installed, so we got to work on putting up new trim today.
It’s one of those steps where the potential of the space starts becoming clear to everyone.
All my guys were walking on sunshine today, too.
And not only that, but after I take a quick shower, I get to see Charlie. She’s working a bit late, so she’ll be meeting me at Keyhaven Park on her way home, where we’re going to walk along the nature trail before heading to her favorite ice cream shop.
When I arrive at the park, the sun is getting lower in the sky, but I’m still walking on sunshine.
Well, more like floating on sunshine once she pulls into the lot and smiles at me.
I go over to her car, and when she gets out, she drapes her arms over my shoulders and gives me a kiss as I put my hands on her waist, holding her close.
She pulls back enough to meet my eyes and says, “You are looking mighty happy today.”
I give her one more quick peck before I switch to holding her hand and starting to walk in the direction of the trail.
“How could I not be? The auditorium part of The Shadowridge is past the parts where demolition makes it look worse, and is to the point where it’s looking more incredible every day.
And I get to spend the evening walking hand-in-hand with you. ”
Charlie smiles at me, but there’s concern showing just under the surface. Whatever kept her late at work must still be weighing on her. I ask, “How was your day?” to see if she wants to talk about it.
“It was…hard.”
I pause my walking right as we get to the trail. “Should we not do this tonight?”
“No, no. We should.”
The trail starts out in the park, but it winds around into beautiful wooded areas where it feels like the rest of the world ceases to exist. For a good distance, the trail runs between old train rails, with crushed stone forming the path.
It’s just the two of us, the wind through the trees, and the first of the crickets that are starting to chirp.
Even with the breeze, the weather is nice—it’s not even bordering on too cold.
We cross over a long wooden bridge-like area where the wooded hills on both sides rise, the wooden path barely fitting between them.
We aren’t too far past it when we come to a bench, and Charlie pulls me toward it.
Once we both sit, she turns to me and takes my hands in hers, which is sweet.
I’d be loving this moment if it weren’t for the ultra-serious expression on her face combined with the stress-filled vibes I’ve been getting from her. Now I’m just nervous.
She looks at me like she’s trying to figure out how to start.
Which, honestly, is giving me heart palpitations.
She shifts on the bench, and then she says in a soft voice, “I didn’t want to keep anything from you, but I had to wait until I had facts.
And now I do. I also can’t tell you everything about how I know this—not yet.
But I promise the information I’m about to tell you is legitimate. ”
So this talk isn’t about our relationship.
That’s comforting. My stomach still tightens, though, because this sounds serious.
For a moment, I worry that it’s about Tessa.
Then, suddenly, I know. “This is about The Shadowridge, isn’t it?
” She nods, and I have an immediate pang in my gut.
I don’t know what has been making me feel like it was pulling away, but I knew it was .
“I looked into Giovanni because something just didn’t feel right,” she says. “What I found was pretty serious, and I think you should know.”
I swallow hard and brace myself.
“But this is privileged information. So you’ll have to use a lot of discretion so you won’t tip him off.”
“Okay,” I say, my voice coming out wary.
“The man we saw break in that night of our picnic? He had a small package with him when he went backstage, and when he came out, he didn’t have it with him anymore.
When we went to check everything out, I remembered you said you showed Giovanni a hidden alcove behind the set storage area.
I looked there, and I found the package. ”
“You did?” My mind scrambles to remember that night exactly. Had I seen the man holding a package?
“Yes. I got in touch with a contact at a government agency, and they retrieved the package. I didn’t bring it up because I hoped it was nothing, and I didn’t want you to have to stress even more about the break-in if it was.
But the package contained ancient coins from a known cache that went missing.
They were confirmed as illegally trafficked antiquities. ”
Now my mind is whirling, trying to process this information. “So the package was…What? Some kind of black market thing?”
“Yes,” she says, then takes a breath. “But it’s even more than that. Giovanni has been running an illicit artifact smuggling operation internationally, and he’s using the theater as a dead drop location.”
I lean back hard against the back of the bench, feeling like I was just punched in the gut.
“He targets historical buildings,” she continues, her voice gentle but steady.
“That’s why he chooses them as restoration projects.
It could be because he genuinely appreciates their beauty—he did seem to truly love The Shadowridge.
Or maybe because they’re full of forgotten spaces and clever hidey holes.
Either way, he disguises what he’s doing behind philanthropic restoration funding. ”
My throat feels dry as pieces click into place. “Those questions you asked Giovanni when you first met him. You already sensed something was off and were trying to get information out of him?”
Her eyes don’t leave mine. “Yes.”
I close my eyes for a moment, as if the enormity of this situation wouldn’t enter if I did, before I have too many questions to try to block it. “When you asked if he flew in just to see The Shadowridge, he mentioned that he had other business in the area to attend to. Was that related?”
Charlie nods. “He’s got a luxury import/export business in Alexandria. That’s how he connects with international buyers, moves things overseas, and keeps everything looking legit on the books. He’s good at it, too. It kept his less-than-legal activities hidden for a long time.”
I stare out at the trees that rise up just on the other side of the path, my thoughts tangling.
“So The Shadowridge… It’s not just a passion project to him. It’s a front.” Saying the words out loud makes it feel even more real. Even more devastating.
“I’m so sorry, Owen.” Her voice cracks just a little. “I know how much restoring it means to you.”
I nod, but the motion feels brittle. I turn to her. “How do you possibly know all this?
“It’s… complicated,” she says, carefully. “I can’t go into details yet. Not because I don’t want to. But the short answer is, at my work, we investigate people like Giovanni.
“Officers and agents have had eyes on The Shadowridge since that man snuck in that night we were there. They arrested the person who showed up to retrieve the package he left. So far, they haven’t seen anyone else come to drop an artifact or to pick one up.
But they might be lying low because I’m sure they know that the location’s been compromised. ”
I’m gripping the edge of the bench and trying my best to stay calm. “So what happens now?”
“It’s hard to say. Giovanni might get arrested right away. Or they might hold off for a bit so they can gather more evidence or find couriers in the chain. But if Giovanni’s people have gotten spooked, it might be a while before anything else happens. Or, it’s possible things could happen quickly.”
Silence hangs between us for a long moment.
Then Charlie really looks at me, and her voice drops a little.
“I didn’t want to tell you this. I was really hoping all my fears were unfounded and that the answer I’d get today would be that my gut was wrong and I just shouldn’t trust it.
But now that I know, I had to tell you so you won’t be caught off guard.
I don’t want you blindsided if things do start to move fast.”
I search her face. She’s clearly not saying everything, but I know that what she has told me is the truth. And somehow, I trust her more for not pretending this is simple.
I ask the question that I’m afraid to ask, yet at the same time, I can’t not ask it. “What does all of this mean for The Shadowridge?”
Charlie studies me. “There are several factors. How much of it do you want? I don’t want to overload you.”
“I think it’s safe to say I’m already overloaded. But give me all you’ve got. I need to know what I’m facing.”
“I totally understand that. There’s a lot that I don’t know, but I can give you my best guess.
I think the biggest thing The Shadowridge has going for it is that the building is owned by a historical trust—Giovanni was just funding the restoration.
If he owned the building, it’d likely be seized, and that would put things in limbo for years.
“Since he doesn’t, odds are better that you’ll be able to continue, possibly in a limited capacity, depending on funding. You’ll for sure have to find new donors. I don’t know how long what Giovanni’s already paid will last, but he’ll likely not be able to send more.”
He didn’t pay a lump sum up front—in the contract we signed, it was scheduled to come in a series of five payments, and we’ve only hit the benchmarks for the first two. “It’s not enough to finish.” I feel like I’ve got a brick in my stomach.
“I know you said that finding donors is the hardest part, and that it takes a while. I’m so sorry, Owen.”
I sit there for a moment, staring at the pathway like it might offer some answers.
Giovanni is a smuggler. He was using The Shadowridge. He was using me.
My stomach turns. I feel stupid for not seeing it and for placing so much trust in him. And I’m angry. At Giovanni, at myself, maybe even at the world, for letting something this good get tainted.
I look over at Charlie as she sits right beside me.
Her shoulders are tense, but her eyes are steady.
She didn’t have to tell me any of this. She could’ve let it unfold on its own, and I would’ve just found out when everything exploded.
But she didn’t. She came to me with the truth.
That matters more than everything else crashing down.
Yet, I still can’t help but think of all those things that are crashing down. I shake my head. “Nothing is ever guaranteed, is it?”
“It isn’t.” I’m looking down, but she gently puts her hands on my cheeks and turns my face to meet her eyes. “So, that means that a bad outcome—or the outcome you’re fearing the most—isn’t guaranteed, either.”
Giovanni’s assets will probably be seized and his accounts frozen.
The likelihood of my being able to finish the restoration of this building I love and honor my grandpa’s memory by doing it is slim.
Especially because a partially finished project is always more difficult to secure funding for, because then there’s a stigma attached to it.
New investors almost always assume that a project is doomed if a previous investor pulled out.
The implications of it all start to hit me.
How quickly the funds we’ve already received from Giovanni will run out.
That all my crew will be out of a job. That I won’t have a reason to stay in Cipher Springs and will need to move on to the next job.
That it might greatly affect my relationship with Charlie.
And if I do somehow miraculously find a way to secure new funding, there will still be a loss of momentum on the project. And the all the uncertainty will likely cause so much stress every step of the way.
I’m trying not to show how much I am freaking out. But it is so hard to hold in. My chest just feels so tight, and although I’m breathing fast, I’m not getting any air. I’m so dizzy. How did it get so hot? Suddenly, I’m standing, and I say, “I need to think. I’m sorry. I have to go.”
And then I head back along the pathway, speed-walking, leaving Charlie behind.