Chapter 12 - Sienna’s Confession
Sienna looked ten years older under hospital lights.
No designer dress.
No expensive makeup.
No sarcasm.
Just my little sister in a gray hospital gown with bruises around her wrists.
When I entered, she started crying.
I did not hug her.
I hated myself for that.
But I didn’t.
“Olivia.”
“Tell the truth.”
She swallowed.
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s not the truth. That’s the first thing people say before the truth.”
Her mouth trembled.
She looked toward Hsu.
He nodded.
Sienna began.
Northstar had contacted her eight months earlier through a man named Aaron Pike. He presented himself as a private investor who specialized in helping people rebuild bad credit.
He paid off one of her loans.
Then another.
Then he invited her to invest in what he called a short-term commodities fund.
She borrowed more money to participate.
The fund collapsed.
The debt remained.
“They owned me,” she whispered.
“No,” I said. “You owed them.”
She flinched.
“You’re right.”
I had expected denial.
Her agreement hurt more.
“They started asking about you,” she said.
“What questions?”
“Where you worked. Whether you traveled. Whether Mason stayed over. Whether you ever brought home a government laptop.”
My hands went cold.
“What did you tell them?”
“At first, nothing important.”
“At first.”
She started crying harder.
“I told them you were Army.”
Mason’s eyes sharpened.
“How did you know?”
“I found a picture in Mom’s attic. Olivia was in uniform.”
I remembered the photo.
Dad and me after my promotion to major.
I had asked Mom to keep it private.
She had promised.
Sienna wiped her face.
“Then Pike said he could erase my debt if I helped get the trust.”
“So you forged my signature.”
“Yes.”
“The death certificate?”
“Yes.”
“Kane?”
“He helped with the paperwork. Mom knew about the transfer attempt, but not the fake death certificate.”
I stared at her.
“You tried to legally kill me for money.”
She covered her face.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I know!” she shouted, then winced. “I know what I did.”
The room fell silent.
I lowered my voice.
“Who is running Northstar?”
Sienna looked at Mason.
Then at me.
“Aaron Pike reports to someone called Director Gray.”
Hsu asked, “Real name?”
“I didn’t know until yesterday.”
“How?”
“When they moved me, Pike was angry. He said Gray had ruined everything by getting too close to your father years ago. He used his real last name.”
Sienna reached for a cup of water with shaking hands.
“What name?” I asked.
She looked directly at me.
“Cole.”
The room stopped.
Mason did not move.
Sienna whispered, “His name is Thomas Cole.”
I turned toward Mason.
His face had gone white.
I had heard that name once.
May you like
Only once.
Thomas Cole was Mason’s father.
