Page 6 of Road to Redemption

But that’s where I lost the thread. And from the looks on everyone’s faces, so had they. “If The Oracle was behind you, how did it go this wrong?”

A wave of disappointment washed over Vivienne as she confessed to all of us. “My own restlessness got in the way.”

6

VIVIENNE

This is taking too fucking long.

I tapped my fingers against the marble counter, watching Madeline zipping around the backyard as she chased Kiera through the garden.

Maybe if I hadn’t been so distracted I would have hollered at them to get out of the flower beds.

My mind raced. I couldn’t keep sleeping in a bed next to him. Not when I knew what he was doing when Brennan and I weren’t looking.

I’d asked The Oracle if I could bring Brennan into the fold, tried to convince them that he could access files and evidence that Isaac had kept out of my reach.

But they refused to trust him. The powers that be weren’t certain that he would join our side. Afraid of rats.

Despite their distrust, I could tell Brennan was unaware of what was going on in the corporate shuffle of finances. It was also obvious that he disagreed with the direction Isaac wanted to take the company in.

Government contracts were of no interest to Brennan, not when they would be used to mass survey the American populace.

Madeline let out a belly laugh in the garden. Time wasn’t stopping, her love for her father just as strong as it always had been. And she had no idea the monster that was living under our roof.

Before long, it would be too late to pull her away from him.

All I could do was hope that all the values I’d tried to instill in her would stick. Protect the vulnerable. Punish the morally bankrupt. Don’t stay silent.

How can I expect her to follow those guiding principles if I’m just waiting here like a sitting duck?

Enough waiting.

I pushed off the countertop, peering down the hallways.

The house was empty, staff having the day off for summer Friday. Isaac would be in the office until 2pm.

If I was going to make a move, now was the time.

I ran down the hall, peeking into doorways and down corridors, making sure the place was clear with each step.

The Oracle needed real evidence. Not just financial records and random men claiming to be connected to Zeus. They needed victim statements and confessions. Something that Zeus and Isaac were careful to hide.

And if I knew my husband, he’d be hiding all of that right under my nose.

Never in our decade-long relationship had I questioned his loyalty, never snooped through his emails or tailed his car. If he was going to have an affair or hide from me, it would come to light. And when it did, I would’ve left his ass.

As I peeled open his office door, I felt my stomach drop. All those years of trust were broken because of what he had been doing.

It smelled like old cigars and warm wood in there. Like he’d been in here enjoying one last night, celebrating something in secret.

I didn’t have all day, I needed to be quick. Ripping open desk drawers, I hunted through stacks of paper, tore through manilla folders.

Nothing.

He was keeping his shit clean. At least he was smart enough to do that.

Reaching down to the bottom drawer, I felt the lock catch.