Olivia hated the plan.
Mostly because it was hers.
For two days she resumed her normal routine.
She cleaned hallways.
Changed linens.
Carried laundry.
The difference was that Leo's men watched from hidden positions while Olivia pretended she didn't know they were there.
Vincent hated every second.
"You missed a spot."
Olivia stopped wiping the bookshelf in his study.
"Where?"
"There."
She leaned closer.
Nothing.
"There's no spot."
"I know."
She turned.
Vincent sat behind his desk for the first time since the bombing.
He was pale and thinner, and a cane rested against his chair.
"You called me in here because you're bored."
"I called you in here because walking around pretending to be bait is insane."
"It was your security team's plan."
"It was your plan first."
"And you approved it."
"I was on pain medication."
Olivia smiled.
"Coward."
Vincent looked offended.
Nobody called Vincent Costa a coward.
"Sit down."
"I'm working."
"Olivia."
She sat.
He pushed a folder toward her.
She opened it.
University documents.
Her transcript.
Financial-aid information.
An application for reinstatement.
Olivia stared.
"What is this?"
"Your life back."
Her eyes lifted.
"You contacted my university?"
"I had someone contact them."
"You can't do that."
"Apparently I can."
She almost became angry.
Then she saw a handwritten note from her former academic adviser.
Olivia, we'd be glad to discuss your return.
Her throat tightened.
Vincent looked away, suddenly interested in the ocean.
"You said you wanted to finish."
"I do."
"Then finish."
Olivia closed the folder carefully.
"Why?"
"Because you saved my life."
"I told you—"
"Not payment."
He met her eyes.
"A door. You decide whether you walk through it."
That distinction mattered.
More than Vincent probably understood.
"Thank you."
He nodded.
Then gunfire erupted downstairs.
Vincent was standing before Olivia understood what was happening.
Pain hit his face as his injured body protested.
He reached beneath his desk and pulled out a handgun.
"Behind me."
"No."
"Olivia."
"You're barely walking."
"Behind me."
The study doors burst open.
Leo entered.
"Security breach. East wing."
"Her?"
"Probably."
Vincent looked at Olivia.
"Safe room."
Leo escorted them through a concealed door.
Inside was a reinforced chamber with surveillance screens.
Camera feeds showed guards running through corridors.
One screen went black.
Then another.
"Someone knows the system," Leo said.
Vincent's expression changed.
"Internal."
The lights flickered.
Olivia watched a camera near the servants' stairwell.
A figure appeared.
Black clothing.
Face covered.
Moving toward her old room.
"They think I'm still there."
Vincent looked at Leo.
"Take him alive."
Guards converged.
The intruder changed direction.
He knew exactly where cameras were located.
Exactly which corridors connected.
Exactly how security would respond.
Olivia stared.
"He works here."
Vincent nodded.
"Or used to."
The intruder reached the garage.
A guard tackled him.
The feed became chaotic.
Then another man appeared.
Olivia leaned forward.
"Wait."
The second man shot the first.
Leo swore.
The shooter disappeared behind a concrete pillar.
Seconds later, a vehicle smashed through the garage gate.
Leo grabbed his radio.
"Close the outer gates!"
Too late.
The SUV disappeared.
The original intruder lay dead.
Vincent watched silently.
"They're still cleaning."
Leo's men identified the dead man.
Anthony Vale.
Former Costa security.
Fired six months earlier for stealing.
His phone contained encrypted messages and a photograph of Olivia.
The instructions were simple.
Remove the girl. Make it look random.
Payment had come through a shell company.
Leo traced it.
The company belonged indirectly to a construction business.
The construction business was controlled by Marco Costa.
Vincent's cousin.
Leo stared at the paperwork.
"We have him."
Vincent wasn't convinced.
"Too easy."
"His company paid the killer."
"Marco knows how money works. He wouldn't leave his own fingerprints on a murder."
"Maybe he's desperate."
"Or somebody wants us looking at him."
Olivia remembered the security footage.
Marco visiting Vincent's bedroom.
Twelve minutes.
"What does Marco gain if you die?"
"Control."
"Obvious motive."
"Exactly."
She understood.
Too obvious.
Vincent called Marco to the estate.
Marco arrived furious.
He slammed the financial documents onto Vincent's desk.
"You think I tried to kill you?"
"I think your company paid someone who tried to kill Olivia."
"My company has nine thousand employees."
"Your shell account doesn't."
Marco's face changed.
"What shell account?"
Vincent watched him carefully.
Leo placed the documents down.
Marco read.
Color drained from his face.
"I didn't authorize this."
"Who could?"
"My chief financial officer."
"Name."
Marco hesitated.
Vincent leaned forward.
"Name."
"Daniel Mercer."
Leo and Vincent looked at each other.
Olivia noticed.
"Who is Daniel Mercer?"
Leo answered.
"Vincent's mother's brother."
"Your uncle?"
Vincent's face had become stone.
"My mother's half brother."
"Why would he want you dead?"
Vincent didn't answer.
Marco did.
"Because he thinks Vincent stole the family from him."
The story came out slowly.
Twenty years earlier, Vincent's father had controlled the Costa organization.
Daniel Mercer had expected to inherit influence through Vincent's mother.
Instead, Vincent rose rapidly after his father's death.
Daniel was pushed into legitimate financial operations.
He had money.
But no power.
"And he's managed accounts for both of you?" Olivia asked.
Marco nodded.
"For years."
Olivia's stomach tightened.
"Then he could move money through Marco's companies."
Vincent reached for his phone.
Leo stopped him.
"Wait."
Vincent looked up.
"What?"
"If Daniel did this, he knows we're closing in."
The study doors opened.
A guard entered.
"Mr. Costa."
"What?"
"We can't find Mercer."
Vincent stood.
"Find him."
The guard didn't move.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"Miss Hayes's old room."
Olivia's heart jumped.
"What about it?"
"We found a device."
They went upstairs.
A bomb technician stood outside Olivia's former bedroom.
He showed Leo a small electronic unit hidden beneath the bedframe.
"Remote trigger."
Olivia stared.
"Explosive?"
"Enough to kill whoever was sleeping here."
Vincent's face went pale for a reason that had nothing to do with his injuries.
Daniel hadn't merely hired someone.
He had prepared a backup.
Olivia looked at Vincent.
"How long was that there?"
The technician answered.
"Hard to say."
Leo's phone rang.
He listened.
Then handed it to Vincent.
"It's Daniel."
Vincent put the call on speaker.
His uncle's voice filled the hallway.
"Hello, nephew."
Vincent's expression remained calm.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere you won't find me."
"Then why call?"
"Because I want you to understand something."
"What?"
"You were supposed to survive the bomb."
Olivia felt every hair on her arms rise.
Daniel continued.
"The city needed to see you wounded. Weak. The board needed to panic. Your people needed to question whether you could still lead."
Vincent's voice lowered.
"And Carter?"
"That wasn't my original plan."
"So Olivia was right."
"Your maid has been inconveniently right about several things."
Vincent glanced at her.
"Why finish me?"
Daniel laughed softly.
"Because after the bomb, you didn't break."
Silence.
"So I changed the plan."
Vincent's hand tightened around the phone.
"And Olivia?"
"Collateral damage."
"No."
Something in Vincent's voice changed.
Daniel became quiet.
Vincent spoke slowly.
"She is not collateral damage."
Olivia looked at him.
Daniel laughed.
"Careful, Vincent. That's almost affection."
The call disconnected.
Leo immediately ordered a trace.
Nothing.
Vincent handed back the phone.
Olivia studied him.
"What?"
He frowned.
"What what?"
"He was trying to get a reaction from you."
"He got one."
"Why?"
Vincent looked away.
"Because he threatened someone under my protection."
"That's all?"
His eyes returned to hers.
"No."
The answer hung between them.
Neither spoke.
Then Leo's phone buzzed again.
This time he read the message twice.
"We found Daniel's car."
"Where?"
"Airport parking garage."
Vincent reached for his cane.
Leo shook his head.
"He's gone."
"Flight?"
"No."
Leo looked at Olivia.
"The car was planted."
A photograph had been left on the driver's seat.
Olivia's mother.
Walking out of a grocery store in Worcester that morning.
On the back, Daniel had written one sentence.
Now let's see how much the maid is worth to you.