The original drive was sitting inside a safe beneath John's study.
Caruso knew it.
That meant Thomas had told him before being arrested.
The call came with instructions.
No police.
No federal agents.
No tricks.
Bring the drive to an abandoned warehouse near the river before midnight.
Or Daniel died.
I hated Daniel.
Part of me did.
I hated what he'd done.
I hated the years he'd stolen from Noah.
But he was still Noah's father.
And Noah had asked him not to die.
"We have to help him."
John looked at me.
"We will."
"How?"
"Not by giving Caruso evidence he can destroy."
"He'll kill Daniel."
"Possibly."
I recoiled.
John immediately softened.
"I'm not saying we sacrifice him."
"It sounded like it."
"I know."
He paced toward the window.
"We make Caruso believe he's getting the only copy."
"The federal government already has copies."
"Exactly."
"So the drive is worthless."
"Not to Caruso."
I understood.
"He doesn't know that."
John nodded.
A plan formed.
Federal agents monitored the perimeter from a distance.
John insisted on making the exchange himself.
I insisted on going.
His answer was immediate.
"No."
"Daniel may not trust you."
"I don't need him to."
"Caruso may."
"Absolutely not."
"John—"
"Olivia, I can negotiate with armed criminals. What I cannot do is negotiate while wondering whether someone has a gun pointed at you."
I stared at him.
"That almost sounded romantic."
"It wasn't."
"It was a little."
Despite everything, he nearly smiled.
Then Noah appeared in the doorway.
"Where are you going?"
Neither of us answered quickly enough.
Children notice hesitation.
"Is it my dad?"
I crouched.
"Your dad needs help."
"Is scary John helping him?"
John looked at me.
I sighed.
"We're still working on the nickname."
Noah approached him.
"Bring him back."
John crouched too.
"I'll do everything I can."
Noah held out Sir Chomps-a-Lot.
John stared.
"For luck."
Something moved across John's face.
He accepted the dinosaur.
"Thanks, kid."
At 11:42 p.m., John entered the warehouse.
I stayed in a surveillance van with federal agents because, after a twenty-minute argument, I accepted that being physically present would make things worse.
The audio feed crackled.
Caruso's voice.
"You've become sentimental, Walker."
John answered.
"So I've been told."
"You brought it?"
"Where's Bennett?"
A door opened.
Daniel appeared on camera.
Hands tied.
Face bruised.
Alive.
My breath escaped.
Caruso stood behind him.
Older than I'd imagined.
Elegant coat.
Silver hair.
A man who could have been someone's favorite uncle if you didn't know what he was capable of.
"The drive."
John held it up.
"Daniel walks first."
Caruso smiled.
"You don't set the rules."
"I just did."
The standoff lasted seconds.
It felt like years.
Finally, Caruso shoved Daniel forward.
John tossed the drive onto the floor between them.
Caruso's man retrieved it.
Daniel reached John.
Then Caruso smiled.
Too wide.
My stomach dropped.
"It's a trap."
The federal agent beside me was already speaking into his radio.
Inside, lights exploded.
Gunfire erupted.
I screamed John's name even though he couldn't hear me.
Agents moved.
The video shook.
Then went black.
Those were the longest ninety seconds of my life.
When the feed returned, men were on the ground.
Federal agents had entered.
Caruso was in handcuffs.
Daniel sat against a wall.
And John—
I couldn't see John.
"Where is he?"
Nobody answered.
"Where's John?"
I opened the van door.
An agent tried to stop me.
I ran.
Inside the warehouse, chaos surrounded me.
Then I saw him.
Sitting on the concrete.
A paramedic beside him.
Blood covered his upper arm.
"John."
His head snapped toward me.
"Olivia?"
I ran to him.
"You were supposed to stay in the van."
"You're bleeding."
"It's my arm."
"That's generally where people bleed when they've been shot in the arm."
He stared at me.
Then laughed.
I hit his uninjured shoulder.
"Don't laugh."
"Ow."
"That wasn't the injured one."
"I know."
I dropped to my knees and hugged him.
His good arm came around me.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Daniel's voice came from behind us.
"Well."
I pulled back.
Daniel was bruised but smiling faintly.
"That's new."
I looked at him.
"Are you okay?"
"I'll live."
John said, "Unfortunately."
Daniel laughed.
It was strange.
Two men who should have hated each other sharing a moment of exhausted relief.
Caruso was charged under a long list of federal statutes.
Thomas cooperated.
The records exposed corrupt officials, financial schemes, and people inside several companies.
John did something nobody expected.
He opened his legitimate businesses completely to federal review.
Then he began dismantling every remaining illegal connection his father had left him.
It cost him money.
Influence.
Relationships.
Maybe power.
I asked why.
He was sitting in the mansion library three weeks later, his arm in a sling while Noah drew dinosaurs on the floor.
John looked at me.
"Because I don't want him growing up around it."
He nodded toward Noah.
My chest tightened.
"And you?"
He held my gaze.
"I don't want you wondering what kind of man you're falling in love with."
Everything inside me stopped.
"That was subtle."
"I'm recovering from a gunshot wound."
"So your flirting is medically impaired?"
"Apparently."
I sat beside him.
"Say it again."
"What?"
"You know what."
John looked uncomfortable.
It was possibly the most adorable thing I'd ever seen.
"I said you're falling in love with me."
"That's not what you meant."
"No."
"John."
He exhaled.
"I love you."
No grand speech.
No performance.
Just truth.
My eyes filled.
"I love you too."
From the floor, Noah looked up.
"Are you getting married?"
We both stared at him.
"What?" I said.
"You said love."
"That doesn't automatically mean marriage."
Noah frowned.
"It does in movies."
John covered his mouth.
I pointed at him.
"Don't laugh."
Noah went back to drawing.
Then he casually added, "I think John should live with us."
John looked around his mansion.
"Kid, you live with me."
Noah considered this.
"Oh."
Then he smiled.
"Good."
My heart nearly broke from happiness.
But there was one thing still unresolved.
Daniel.
The next morning, he came to the mansion.
Not to disappear.
To say goodbye properly.
He had entered federal witness protection in exchange for his testimony.
He couldn't stay in Chicago.
Noah stood in the entrance hall.
Daniel crouched.
"I have to go away for a while."
Noah's eyes filled.
"Again?"
Daniel's face twisted.
"This time I'm telling you."
"Will you call?"
"When I'm allowed."
"Promise?"
Daniel swallowed.
"I won't promise something I can't control."
For the first time, he was giving his son honesty instead of comfort.
"But I promise I'll try."
Noah stepped forward.
He hugged him.
Daniel closed his eyes and held his child.
Then Noah whispered something.
Daniel looked toward John.
Slowly, he stood.
"He wants to talk to you."
John approached.
Daniel extended his hand.
"Take care of them."
John didn't take it immediately.
Then he did.
"I will."
Daniel nodded.
"I know."
He left.
Noah cried.
I held him.
John held both of us.
And as the mansion doors closed, I realized the night I'd arrived there soaked, late, terrified, and convinced I was about to lose my job had somehow led us here.
But John still had one secret left.
And I discovered it six months later when Noah dragged me into the same entrance hall where everything had begun.