CHAPTER 20
OLIVER
I’m hunched over the desk, checking the twentieth freaking ledger, hoping we can match the amounts my father wrote to the payments the Cuervos cartel had in the past years.
We already matched two, but we need at least two more to prevent this from landing in a “this was just a coincidence” claim from my father’s lawyers.
“How about this one?” asks Matani, a Samoan man Silvio recruited to our side a few weeks ago, and I am so damn glad he did.
This man is not just enormous; he’s smart and knows exactly where to look.
“This ledger doesn’t match the Cuervos, but it matches the shipment that Senator Morris sent to Panama. ”
I check the numbers and match them. Yes, they are perfect.
“Great job, Matani.” I point at the boxes on top of the couch. “Mark it with red and put it in the first box to the left.”
Matani takes a red marker, slides it across the matching numbers, and—
SLAM!
The door flies open and crashes against the wall. Serena storms into the room.
“Everyone out,” she yells as I try to recover from the freaking heart attack she just gave me.
Silvio and Matani freeze and look at me, unsure of what to do. Hell, even I am unsure of what they should do. Still, I give them a nod, and they move.
Silvio pulls out a map from the main desk, uses it to cover the ledgers we were looking at, and they both leave the room.
For a moment, I think Serena is going to go all drama queen about something Rafael did, or how my father doesn’t want to approve her new party, or whatever her new hobby is. But instead, Serena closes the door and starts pacing.
She looks terrified… so much so, I’ve never seen her like this
“What is going—”
“Rafael knows Damián is a Harknett,” she says, and my heart stops.
Or more like my world stops because I have no idea what to do, how to react, or how much she knows.
What if this is a trap?… No… she would gain nothing by telling me.
But… What if Rafael sent her here for confirmation?
Fuck!
Okay, Ollie, look calm. Get a hold of yourself and look calm…
I lean against my desk and point at the chairs in front. “Harknett?”
“This isn’t the time for you to test how much I know. Just understand that Rafael knows about Damián and his team.”
And she is right… If Rafael knows Damián is a Harknett, then we are all in danger.
“Why are you telling me this instead of going to my father?”
“I am on your side, Ollie, not his.”
“You married the man.”
“…Please, Oliver, I promise.”
“And why am I supposed to trust you?”
“Because of Clara… I want out, Ollie. I want my daughter to be safe,” she pleads, tears filling her eyes, and my chest hurts.
Uggh…
Is it crazy that I’ve been so closed off from my own family that I failed to see this? Was I so busy helping others, finding ways to save as many as I could, that I couldn’t see my own people needed to run away from this hell too?
“Why do you think I sent her away to boarding school in the first place?” she cries, and I feel completely stupid.
Of course it makes sense. I mean, I did the exact same thing when I was fourteen. I just made the mistake of thinking she sent my sister away so she could party and maintain her carefree lifestyle, rather than trying to keep her safe.
Okay, Ollie… This is not the time to feel like shit.
We will fix that later.
“How do you know Rafael knows Damián is a Harknett? Did anyone tell you they heard something about Damián? Was it Malena?”
“No, I heard Rafael say it before sending a team to find him.”
A jolt of panic rushes through my chest, suffocating me. I grab my cell phone and dial Damián’s number, but it just rings.
No, no, no…
I try a second time, then a third…
Nothing.
“Fuck!” I slam the phone down, grab the secure landline Damián installed, and hit the speed-dial button.
“Yes?” Alexios answers immediately.
“Alexios, Rafael knows everything. Where is Damián?”
“Logan! Rafael knows! Locate Damián right now!” Alexios shouts away from the mic, his voice muffled in the background. Then, he’s back on the line. “How did he find out?”
I look up at Serena. “How did Rafael find out?”
“Like an hour ago, a young man came to the house. Fit, brown hair, and with these flashy blue glasses.”
Fuck… Kai.
“Alexios, Kai came to the house and told Rafael.”
Over the line, I hear Alexios ordering Bjorn to go get Finnian and everyone at the bakery who could be compromised thanks to Kai’s stupidity.
Oh, my God… what if Kai is with Damián? What if he got to him first?
Alexios returns to the call. “Oliver, do you have the emergency Burst?”
I pull my keys from my pocket and unlock the hidden box inside my desk drawer, pulling out the special radio Damián gave me. “I have it.”
“Use it for audio.”
“But if Rafael knows, he’ll be trying to trace our signals.”
“The Burst radio’s frequency is only active for zero-point-one seconds per transmission,” he explains. “They won’t be able to trace it.”
“Got it.” I look over at Serena, and I see the absolute terror she’s going through, so I make a split-second decision. “Alexios, I need your help with two extractions. We need to pull Serena out.”
“Are you sure?” he asks.
“Very sure.”
“Then send her to Holden, and tell her to ask at the front desk to help her with her Uppercuts. Bjorn will pick her up from there in an hour.”
“And… is there any way someone can get to Switzerland and secure my sister?” I ask, and Serena lets out a choked sob of relief, covering her mouth as the tears finally spill over her cheeks.
“Sure, Logan has contacts there. We will let you know once we have her.”
“Thank you… And Alexios, please let me know the second you make contact with Damián.”
“Will do,” he says, and the line goes dead.
“Serena, get your passports, jewels, or anything you need to get away, and make sure to leave your phone here.” I take out a notepad and start writing the directions. “Remember the fighter your friend has the hots for?”
“Sawyer?”
“Go to their gym, tell whoever is at the front desk to help you with your Uppercut, and they will tell you what to do.” I give her the note. While she reads it, I pull out my phone and search online for images of Bjorn.
I find one from a movie premiere and show it to her.
“This man is Bjorn Eriksson; he will pick you up at that location. Go with him wherever he takes you, and do whatever he says.”
“What about Clara?”
“They’ll get her somewhere safe today.”
Serena runs to me and throws her arms around my neck. “Thank you, Ollie.”
I hug her back, squeezing tightly so I don’t cry. “Sorry for not noticing.”
“Don’t be,” she whispers. “I made it so no one did.”
KNOCK! KNOCK!
I look up and see Silvio peeking in, and by the look on his face, I can tell he doesn’t have good news.
Freaking great… What else can go wrong today?
“Sir…”
“She knows,” I tell him, so he can speak freely in front of Serena.
“Matani was told to drive and follow a team to this address…” He passes me a paper, and when I read it, I officially want to puke.
“Silvio, take Serena wherever she tells you to,” I say, and then I am out of there.
I run to the garage and find my Escalade. My hands are shaking so hard I can barely press the engine start button. Once the car starts, I drive like a freaking maniac to the address Rafael sent his sociopaths to… Damián’s mom’s place.
Please don’t be there yet.
Please, God, just let me get to her before Rafael’s people do.
After driving like crazy, jumping two red lights and almost crashing against a bus, I find the house, and thank God it looks as untouched and peaceful as the rest of the neighborhood.
I get out of my SUV, sprint across the garden to the porch, and knock on the blue door.
“Come on, come on, open the door…” I beg under my breath, my eyes frantically looking around the dark, empty street.
Although… What the hell do I do? What can I tell her to make her come with me?
What’s up, fake mother-in-law? …Ahhh… No.
Hi! I’m not a killer, but a bunch of guys who are currently on their way… definitely not.
Argh… Why are you so fucking weird, Oliver?
Fortunately, or whatever you want to call it, the lock clicks, ending my internal freakout. The door opens, and a petite, sweet-looking woman with silver-streaked dark hair and Damián’s light brown eyes stands there.
Oh wow, Dami… your mom is beautiful.
“Hi, María?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“My name is Oliver,” I say, stepping closer and keeping my hands completely visible so she knows I’m not a threat…
or at least, I hope it looks that way. “I am a friend of Damián. And I know this is incredibly strange because you don’t know me, and Dami is currently undercover, so for all you know, I could be lying to you. ”
Oh no…
“Not that I am, of course…” I add quickly.
“I mean, he told me about how you used to sing Chayanne songs to him, how you get angry whenever he’s eating standing up, how his sister Fernanda gave him that scar on his right forearm, though I keep saying he’s the one who gave himself that scar, you know? Or how—”
“—Oliver?” María cuts off my embarrassing, incoherent speech.
Thank God.
“I believe you,” she says, stepping back to open the door wider. “I know my son, and he would never share those things with anyone unless he trusted them. What do I need to do?”
“We need to leave.”
SCREECH!
My head snaps toward the street. I see a blue sedan a house away, and at the far end of the intersection, a row of three black SUVs turning the corner.
They’re here.
Oh, God, they’re already here.
“And we need to leave right now, through the back door!” I yell, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her back into the house.
“My purse, my phone, I need to get—”
“Leave it! Phones can be tracked. We’ll call Alexios once we are safe.”
We are seconds away from reaching the back door when the front door flies open.
“Mom? Can you help me with the groceries?” a woman’s voice calls out.
María stops dead, holding my hand tight. “Fernanda.”
Shit!