Despite it all, he was proud to call her his wife. He should have done what she found in her heart to do. Instead, he was too concerned with keeping the lucrative contracts that had made his company as profitable as it was. He didn’t care about helping people. He didn’t care about doing what was right, about being a good person. All he cared about was what would make the company the most money. He was selfish, and because of that, he lost a dear friend. This was his penance, his retribution for his failure to act. But Melanie shouldn’t pay the price. This was his burden to bear, and his alone.
Struggling to keep his tired eyes open, he cracked the window, allowing the chill to fill the car. For days, he hadn’t slept for more than a few hours and it was starting to wear him down. He used all the little tricks he learned in the navy when forced to stay awake in some hole. One minute of sleep could mean the difference between life and death. He tried to keep his mind busy, thinking about everything from the beginning, about who could have been behind his daughter’s abduction.
He swallowed through the heavy lump in his throat when his thoughts roamed to Melanie and what she could be going through at this moment. His stomach churned when flashes of her face appeared before him, begging him to let her come home. These were people who placed little value on human life. They took what was arguably one of the most peaceful religions and distorted it, waging a war against everything they disagreed with in the name of their perverted views. They preyed on the vulnerable, promising them everything a young, poor boy from a remote village in Afghanistan could want. These young men had nothing to believe in…until now. He had seen it too many times.
Alexander ran his hand over his face, slapping at his cheeks to keep himself awake. Every time he blinked, memories from his past flashed before his eyes. Growing up in Connecticut. Moving to Boston. Going to Red Sox games with his dad. His father’s vacant seat at the dinner table. His mother’s excuses that he had an important job. Cutting class his first semester of Harvard and going to the navy recruitment office. Boot camp. Deployment. The last time he saw his father the night before he left for BUD/S training. Meeting Landon for the first time. The last time he saw Landon alive.
He wondered if his friend had gone to Olivia immediately after begging him for help. Would he really go behind his back and ask his wife for help, then keep it a secret from him? That didn’t sound like the Landon he knew. Then again, the Landon he knew would certainly bend, perhaps even break, the rules to get what he wanted.
Alexander tried not to jump to any conclusions before he had a chance to talk to Olivia about what she did or didn’t know. Despite not wanting to believe he had been so blind as to not see it, he feared his wife held the missing piece to this puzzle.
Chapter Thirty-Two
December 20
10:15 AM
“ALEX?” OLIVIA REPEATED INTO the phone, her pulse racing, but there was no response. She glanced at the screen and saw he had ended the call. She didn’t know what to think. All she knew was it had to be one hell of a coincidence that Maleek was an Afghan national.
Pulling her lip between her teeth, she straightened her spine, blinking back the tears fighting to escape. She knew the risk involved when she had agreed to help. In the final days before her murder, Mischa had warned Olivia she thought someone had figured it out. Olivia was simply a silent conspirator, for lack of a better word. She only provided the funds for Mischa to do what she needed to ensure these women landed safely in this country, then had enough financial support to begin their new lives here. She was largely ignorant of most of the details…until she went over to Mischa’s for coffee at the beginning of the month and she shoved folder after folder in front of her, telling her names, cities, phone numbers, how to go about getting in touch with each and every one of them if something were to happen to her.
Never did Olivia think something would. Now she was left to carry on her legacy, but at what cost?
The instant Olivia realized Melanie had been taken, she feared her association with Mischa may have had something to do with it, but she didn’t think it possible. No one could have known of her involvement. It was impossible to trace anything, even the money, back to her. They made sure of that. She had told herself it was just a series of unfortunate coincidences. Now she knew it was all connected. She had a feeling Alexander knew, too. She prayed her secrecy wouldn’t be their undoing.
Dropping her phone into the pocket of her jeans, she headed into the kitchen and straight toward the coffeemaker. For the first time since this all began, Colleen wasn’t in there. Instead, Olivia found her in the living area just off the kitchen, talking in hushed tones with Tyler, his wife and little boy playing on the floor.
Since getting back from Kiera’s, her mind had been preoccupied after hearing all those women’s stories. Now, she had to juggle that along with Alexander’s cryptic phone call. She felt pulled in a thousand different directions, as if the weight of the secret she’d been keeping for so long were about to crush her.
Frozen in place, she stared at a seemingly happy family playing in front of an elaborate Christmas tree. Envy trickled through her veins. That should have been her laughing with her little girl, watching Christmas movies and talking about Santa’s visit in just a few days. Instead, she was alone, unsure of whether they’d be a family again by Christmas…or ever.
“Mrs. Burnham,” Agent Long said, approaching Olivia, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Colleen and Tyler looked at Olivia, finally noticing her. Their eyes were full of compassion and unease, silently asking her if she knew anything. She didn’t know what to say. How could she possibly tell these people, this family who took her in and treated her like one of their own, it was her fault Melanie was taken? These were good people who didn’t deserve things like this to happen to them. But Olivia? She never knew what love was until Alexander all but forced his way into her heart. These people loved unconditionally and without hesitation. Now, she wasn’t sure she deserved it.
“Is everything okay?” Agent Long asked, placing a hand on Olivia’s shoulder. She met her eyes, searching.
Olivia felt exposed, as if Agent Long were able to cut through the lies and see the truth of what she had done. Agent Moretti most likely told her what they found at Maleek’s house. It was only a matter of time until it all unraveled.
“Alexander’s on his way home,” she replied, avoiding Agent Long’s question. Nothing was okay. Nothing had been okay since she had heard about Mischa’s death. She doubted whether anything would ever be okay again. “He called to tell me Maleek was found dead, but Melanie wasn’t there.”
Tyler stood from the couch and headed toward her, wrapping his arms around her. She allowed herself this one moment of sympathy. When Alexander returned and the truth revealed itself, she doubted she’d get any compassion from this group of people. They would never understand why she got involved, the importance of what Mischa was doing.