remembered finding Ashlynn at Florian’s computer. What was she looking for? What did she discover? Julia realized that Aquarius was right. There were some sins you couldn’t cover up. Sooner or later, they rose up to consume you.
It was as if he could see the workings of her mind. ‘You know I’m right, don’t you?’
Julia said nothing. She felt the van drift to a stop. The world around her was quiet. She listened, and she could hear the hiss of the wind, but she didn’t hear any other traffic. ‘Where are we?’ she asked.
He didn’t reply.
‘What are you going to do?’
‘You’re a Christian, Mrs. Steele, so you know the Book of Genesis.’
‘Of course, but what are you talking about?’
‘God looked around at the world He had created and saw that it was so corrupt, so evil, so wicked, that it was beyond salvation. He determined to destroy it so that humankind could start over.’
The man who called himself Aquarius reached over and removed Julia’s blindfold. She squinted at the light, squeezing her eyes shut. Even the gray day felt bright after a night of darkness. When she could see, she craned her neck to stare through the windows of the van.
She knew where they were. She didn’t understand.
And then she did.
‘Oh, dear Lord,’ she murmured.
Aquarius didn’t react. He reached for his phone and dialed. ‘Mr. Steele?’ he said when Florian answered. ‘You know who this is. It’s time we met.’
47
Chris watched Olivia from the doorway of Hannah’s bedroom. His daughter had a pencil in her teeth, and her brown eyes were serious and focused as she tapped on the keys of the computer. A long strand of her hair came loose on her cheek, and she brushed it back behind her ear. She wore a baggy pink T-shirt over her skinny frame and cotton boxers. Her feet were bare. Staring at her, he thought what any father would think. She was the prettiest girl in the whole world.
He didn’t say anything, but eventually she felt his presence, and the pencil dropped from her mouth. She gave him a smile. ‘Oh, hey, Dad,’ she said and went back to her work.
It was a nothing moment that felt like everything to Chris. If you didn’t pay attention to those moments, they were gone. He couldn’t believe he had missed out on three years of those smiles, and standing there, he swore to himself that he would never miss out on any of them again. He would never spend a day of his life where he didn’t tell his daughter how he felt.
He walked over and kissed her on top of her head. ‘I love you, kiddo.’
Olivia stopped typing. She looked up at him strangely. ‘You okay?’
‘Fine.’ Chris slid down next to the bed and took a picture of her in his mind, the kind of picture you deliberately tried to remember for years. ‘So what are you doing?’
‘Research.’
‘On what?’
‘Cancer.’
Chris frowned. ‘Oh.’
‘I don’t like doing nothing. I like to fight.’
‘Me, too.’
‘I’m trying to think of the best way to kick cancer’s butt. Like, do I become a doctor? Or a lab rat trying to find a cure? Or do I just get really rich so I can give away lots of money?’
He laughed. ‘I think whatever you do, you will kick butt.’
‘Unless I’m in jail, huh?’
‘That’s
Olivia got up from the chair and slid down next to him beside the bed. ‘Can I tell you something? I haven’t said anything to Mom, but I’ve been thinking about it.’
‘Sure.’
‘I’m scared,’ she said.
Chris put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. ‘I know. It’s okay. Remember, Mom’s a fighter, too.’
‘It’s bad, though, huh? She doesn’t talk about it, so I figure she’s trying to protect me. I wish she would just be straight with me. I know how horrible it can be. I saw it with Kimberly.’
‘Cancer’s never good, but your Mom is about the strongest person I’ve ever met. Except maybe for you.’
His daughter spoke softly, her head buried in the crook of his neck, her chestnut hair swishing over his shoulder. ‘You still love her, don’t you?’
‘Olivia,’ he murmured.
‘It’s not like you’re a great actor, Dad. I can see it in your face. So if you were in love with her, how could you let her go?’
It wasn’t an accusation. It wasn’t angry. She said it curiously, but there was another question in her voice. It was tucked behind the wall, unspoken.
He thought about a million different excuses. A million different ways to rationalize the mistakes they’d made. It all boiled down to one thing.
‘I always thought she’d come back,’ he said.
Olivia said nothing for a long time. ‘That’s funny,’ she said finally.
‘How so?’
‘I think Mom always thought you’d come after her.’
Chris laid his head back against the soft blankets of the bed and did his best not to let his emotions spill from his eyes.
‘Guess we’re all pretty stubborn,’ she said.
‘I guess so.’
‘I suppose when this is all over, you go back home, huh?’ Her voice was light. Her fear was real.
He nudged her head from his shoulder and stroked her face. ‘Whatever happens, Olivia, I promise you this. I’ll always be there for you.’
‘That sounds good to me.’ She stood up again, and she stretched her gangly arms over her head. Her face clouded over. ‘It must have sucked for Ashlynn.’
‘How so?’
‘Knowing what kind of man her dad is. Knowing what he did.’
‘We don’t know exactly what Florian did or didn’t do, Olivia, but I’m sure he loved his daughter.’
‘Yeah, but she found something, right? That’s what got her killed.’
‘Maybe. I think she discovered something about this man who calls himself Aquarius, but I can’t figure out how she did it. She was researching Vernon Clay, but now it looks like he’s been dead for years. She was researching Lucia Causey, and she’s dead, too. If Ashlynn found something, she’s smarter than all of us.’
Olivia sat down at the computer again and limbered up her fingers like a pianist. ‘Well, let’s see if I can retrace her steps.’
‘I did that,’ Chris said, ‘but without her laptop or her notes, I don’t know what she found. She posted about Lucia’s death, but she didn’t leave much of a trail.’
Olivia grinned. ‘No offense, Dad, but this is a job for a geeky daughter, not a legal beagle. What did you do, run Google searches?’
‘Uh, yeah.’
‘What else?’
‘Well, I guess that was it.’
