Chapter 17 - Back in the House
Thomas wanted us looking at the depot.
He wanted the house empty.
But my mother’s house had already been released after the first search. He had walked into the one place everyone assumed was safe again.
Hsu built the entry plan.
I was ordered to stay out.
I ignored the first order.
Mason reinforced the second.
“You are personally involved.”
“So are you.”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you going?”
“I’m not.”
That surprised me.
He handed his sidearm to an agent.
“I’m too involved too.”
For once, rank did not matter.
We watched through body-camera feeds from a command vehicle parked six blocks away.
The house looked painfully normal.
Porch light on.
Curtains closed.
Dad’s old flag visible through the front window.
The team entered through the back.
Kitchen clear.
Dining room clear.
Living room—
Empty.
My mother’s chair sat in the center with rope on the floor.
The video feed moved toward Dad’s office.
Nobody.
Then an agent said, “Basement door.”
I leaned closer.
The basement had always been unfinished.
Concrete floor. Old shelves. Furnace.
The team descended.
At the bottom, a wall panel stood open.
I stared.
I had lived in that house for eighteen years.
I had never known there was a room behind it.
Inside were monitors.
Files.
Radio equipment.
Photographs of my family.
Me entering work.
Mason leaving our apartment.
Sienna at bars.
Mom at the grocery store.
Dad at the airport four years ago.
My skin crawled.
Then one of the monitors flickered on by itself.
Thomas appeared.
“Hello, Olivia,” he said.
He was watching us watching him.
“You’re not there,” I whispered.
His image smiled.
“No.”
Mason leaned toward the microphone connected to the team channel.
“Where is Diane?”
Thomas looked directly into the camera.
“With me.”
“Where?”
“You’ll know soon.”
The feed changed.
A live image of my mother appeared.
She was sitting inside a vehicle.
Through the windshield, I could see a wide dark runway.
Mason swore.
Hsu said, “Private airfield.”
Thomas came back on screen.
“Your father used to say the most dangerous mistake was assuming the first target was the real target.”
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Not the drives.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then what?”
“You.”
Mason said, “No.”
Thomas ignored him.
“Come alone, Olivia, and Diane walks away.”
“Where?”
A set of coordinates appeared.
Hsu checked them.
An abandoned auxiliary airfield ninety miles west.
Thomas smiled.
“And Olivia?”
“Yes?”
“Bring your father’s letter.”
The screen went black.
Behind us, Ramirez whispered, “That airfield was part of the crash investigation.”
I turned.
“What?”
May you like
He looked sick.
“The damaged avionics unit from your father’s aircraft was stored there for forty-eight hours before it disappeared.”
