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“I know, Mom. I know,” I whispered.
“And no matter what happens, sweetheart, I’m here for you. Always,” she said.
Then, I cried on my mother’s shoulder, like the small little girl I felt like on the inside.
26
Brett
“To Olivia’s, please. And then to the tarmac,” I said.
“Right away, sir. Would you care to stop for coffee?” my driver asked.
“We’ll have it on the plane. But we need to get there. I’ve got less than an hour to get us in the air, so be quick about it.”
“Of course, sir.”
My driver pulled away from the house, and we started down the driveway. It was a little after midnight, and I had less than an hour to get us in the air. But I was still rattled to my bones. I pulled my phone out of my pocket as I cocked myself off to the side. The screen illuminated and I navigated my way to the email.
The stupid fucking email I’d gotten almost two hours ago.
Olivia is hiding something, and you deserve to know. You’ve always deserved better than her. She’ll go down with this secret, Brett. The least you can do is save yourself.
I read that message over and over again. I memorized the damn words before I closed it out again. The email address was blocked, and the IP address left me nowhere to go. Just a ghost email that had seemingly come out of nowhere. I was in the middle of packing when I got it. I usually didn’t open shit like that, so I deleted it without a second thought and never looked at it again. But Olivia’s name had been the subject of the email, and it prickled the hairs on the back of my neck.
“Faster, Caldwell. We need to get to Olivia,” I said.
He sped up as we zoomed through the darkened streets of Seattle. There was a light drizzle settling over the city, and I drew in deep breaths of the fresh scent of rain coming through the air-conditioning system of my car. There were only two people I know who could’ve sent that email. Two people that would have stooped that low. My sister, Brittany, and Daniel. My gut leaned toward Daniel. Even though Brittany had told me of some sort of secret or whatever, she didn’t seem hostile about anything. Angry, sure. Jealous, absolutely. But hostile? No.
Daniel, on the other hand, had nothing but hostility for me.
Luckily, neither of them could follow me to Amsterdam. Which meant that the bullshit could wait until we returned from our trip to Europe. However, that didn’t stop me from wanting to get Olivia in the car next to me as quickly as I could.
I still wanted to know she was safe.
We pulled up into the parking lot of Olivia’s complex. I slipped out of the car and raced into the lobby, making my way for the elevator. But when I pressed the button to summon the metal box, the doors opened and there she was, trying to balance four small pieces of luggage and still keep herself upright.
She looked exhausted.
“Here. Let me help,” I said.
Her head whipped up, as if she didn’t know anyone was standing there. “Brett.”
“Hello, Olivia.”
“Hey there. You didn’t have to come in and help me. I was just coming down to wait for you.”
“Well, we don’t have very long to get to the tarmac. Let’s get your stuff in the trunk and get on the road,” I said.
I picked up three of her bags and watched as she sighed with relief. The bags underneath her eyes were a little heavier than normal. Her cheeks were a little paler than I remembered them being. Had she gotten an email as well? She looked as if she had been spooked or possibly crying.
Maybe she wasn’t feeling well?
The two of us walked out silently to the car. My driver popped the trunk as we walked around, and I tossed everything in there. I didn’t want to fuss with formalities, with my driver helping us with things and opening our doors. I put my hand on the small of Olivia’s back and guided her around to her door. I opened it up for her and helped her in, my eyes darting up and down the road. I looked everywhere to make sure we weren’t being followed. To make sure someone didn’t have their eyes on us or anything like that.
Then, I slipped down into the car next to her.
“I can’t believe I’m finally getting to go to Amsterdam,” Olivia said.
Her smile lightened the load on my shoulders as I nodded to my driver.
“I’m shocked you even had a passport since you’ve never been on a plane before,” I said.
Olivia balked. “How did you know I’d never been on a plane?”
I chuckled. “Well, you told me back in college you hadn’t been on one. And I haven’t heard you talk about any trips you’ve taken recently, only trips Mike has taken. So, I safely assumed you still hadn’t been on a plane.”
