T. Leigh - Gorgeous Chaos

“The best way for Olivia to forget everything was to make sure we were separated. If she never saw me, any memory about what happened at the beach house would hopefully be gone. I made sure she was given a completely new identity, totally unassociated with me. Of course, I never knew where she had been taken. During the first few years, I had quite a few of your father’s security agents watching out for me, which made it difficult for me to go anywhere and search for the documents. I couldn’t have planned it any better if I tried. Keeping Olivia alive was brilliant. That way, if I couldn’t find the documents, I had a backup plan for finding them. Years passed and I couldn’t find that damn box so I re-shifted my focus to finding Livvy. My protection detail loosened quite a bit over the years and I was able to travel more in my attempt to track her down without having to worry about anything from my former life…until your father called one day, asking too many questions. He had been going through his old files, I guess…”

“You…”

“It was the perfect opportunity to try to get Livvy’s location and to dispose of another potential leak. I had to make it look like he was tortured to sell the story that he was on a protection detail. I couldn’t believe Livvy was in Boston with your father, so close to where this all began. I think it worked out pretty well.”

“Except for one thing…”

“What’s that?”

“You weren’t counting on your daughter fleeing town after you killed my dad.”

“Well, that was a bit of a hiccup, and with the amount of money Marilyn left her, it was difficult to search employment records or anything for her. Right when I thought I had found her, she would disappear again. That’s where Kiddish came into play. I always felt bad for having to kill his dad, but when he clocked you over the head with that gun, your dad couldn't know that I was working with him. Kiddish, junior, had been on my payroll pretty much since the accident to help me find where the box was buried. He took over the family business, after all.

“When Olivia kept disappearing, I needed the info but didn’t want to get my hands dirty. I’m supposed to be dead. Kiddish would be perfect. Unfortunately, all this took a little longer than I had expected, but it’s okay. I’ve waited twenty-two years to get my hands on this box. A little patience is expected.”

“So Kiddish was just a hired goon, then?”

Jack nodded. “Pretty much. I ended up finding the girl for him last year, but after that, I didn’t really know anything about what was going on. I had paid Kiddish good money to deal with everything and we maintained radio silence for months as he got the info needed. Of course, I came to Boston in February because things were moving excruciatingly slow. I didn’t know what was going on, or how far Kiddish or his goons would go so I needed to keep an eye on her, too, and make sure she stayed alive…at least until she led us to the evidence box. And you thought I was playing the caring father looking out for his long-lost daughter,” Jack sneered. “I do have to say that this performance may have just been my crowning achievement.”

“And Simon?” Alexander asked as he looked at Simon lying on the ground. His eyes grew wide when he saw him place a finger over his mouth, slowly inching his body toward where Grant’s gun lay. I’m on your side , he mouthed. Alexander nodded slightly, turning his eyes back to Jack.

“Kiddish thought it would be best to pay someone to date her. Maybe they’d talk about their childhoods and all that. His job was to find out the location of the box by getting close to her, but she had no memory of anything before the accident so that wasn’t working. It was by pure dumb luck that she ran into you. You presented us a golden opportunity. We were able to spook both of you enough to think that she needed a constant protection detail, allowing Kiddish to use Cheryl to get close to her and see if she could find out the info. Then he was able to use Adele to split you up by telling Olivia who she really was and how you had been keeping that from her for months. And you think I’m cold-hearted…”

Olivia made a sound.

“What’s that, Livvy? I can’t understand you.” He laughed before turning his attention back to Alexander. “After that, I knew that you’d come clean with her and that would help the memories come flooding back.”

“I don’t understand,” Alexander said, shaking his head in confusion. “You told me that you didn’t want her to know about you. Just a few months ago, you didn’t want her to remember.”

“Of course not. It was too early. I needed to approach her when she was vulnerable and needing a loving father figure. So when you screwed up your relationship with her, that was the perfect time for me to step in. I’ll admit that it was risky, not knowing whether seeing me again would trigger all those memories, but it had to happen. She was the only one who could lead me to all those documents. It all worked out quite nicely.”

“Except for one thing…”

“What’s that?”

“That evidence isn’t here.”

“WHAT?!” Jack roared, pressing the gun even harder into Olivia’s temple.

Alexander’s heart raced. He needed to proceed cautiously. Jack was a loose cannon. Simon was so close to the gun. Come on! Alexander screamed in his head.

“Where is it, Livvy?” Jack demanded.

Olivia looked him in the eyes, shaking her head from side to side. Jack lifted his leg and kicked her in the stomach.

“NO!” Alexander shouted, taking a step forward as he watched Olivia keel over, screaming out in pain through her gag, tears running down her face.

Jack pushed Olivia back to a sitting position and raised his gun to her temple. “I warned you, Alex! Step the fuck back!”

Olivia’s eyes met with Alexander’s again, pleading for him to just end it all. She couldn’t take any more pain. She was barely holding on to her consciousness as it was.

“It’s not here, Jack.” Alexander checked his watch. “And I’m pretty sure it’s already too late to do anything.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, his mind racing.

“Olivia left plenty of clues for me, leading me straight to the evidence. Before I got here, I made sure to send all the documents to various news networks. It’s over.”

“You’re joking,” he said nervously.

“Try me. Go ahead. Check the news. I’m pretty sure they’re already making arrests.”

Jack walked over to the remote and turned on the large screen television, making sure to keep his gun trained on Olivia. He quickly found a national news network, his jaw dropping when he listened to a blonde anchor talk about multiple arrests of various government officials involved in acts of terrorism. “Documents we received just a short while ago indicate that these officials were responsible for selling U.S. military arms and munitions, as well as government secrets, to various terrorist organizations. These people were responsible for the downing of several flights, in addition to the bombing of multiple government buildings here and abroad. The Secretary of State made a statement saying that this is the most pervasive corruption in the government that she has ever seen. The man behind it all had apparently faked his own death over twenty years ago to cover-up his role in this operation.” A photo flashed on the screen. “This is Jack DeLuca and he is wanted in connection with these acts of terrorism. He also goes by the alias Nathan Roberts.”

“NO!” Jack screamed, nervously walking back to face Alexander. He pointed his gun at him, then back at Olivia, and then back at him.

Alexander looked over and saw Simon holding Grant’s gun, lying flat on the ground, the gun following Jack as he paced the large room. Discreetly holding up his hand, Alexander signaled him to wait a little longer until he was certain that he’d be able to make the shot. He knew they only had one chance to take him down and he couldn’t risk Simon missing. Returning his eyes to Jack, he said, “It’s over.”