CHAPTER 9: Olivia's Final Trap
The cabin was finally quiet.
Only minutes earlier, bullets had torn through the walls.
Now all I could hear were radios crackling outside and the distant thump of helicopter blades fading over the mountains.
Victor Dawson sat handcuffed on the floor, blood soaking through the shoulder where the FBI agent had shot him.
For the first time since I'd met him...
He wasn't smiling.
The female agent stepped toward me and held out her hand.
"Special Agent Rebecca Collins."
I shook it automatically.
"You knew Olivia?"
Rebecca nodded.
"For almost four years."
My head snapped up.
"Four years?"
"She became one of our confidential civilian sources."
The room went silent.
Even Henry looked surprised.
"You didn't know?" Rebecca asked.
Henry slowly shook his head.
"I knew she was collecting evidence."
"I didn't know she was working with the Bureau."
Rebecca sighed.
"She insisted on keeping everyone compartmentalized."
"So if one person was compromised..."
"...the others would still be safe."
That sounded exactly like Olivia.
Always thinking three steps ahead.
One of the agents placed the second flash drive into a laptop.
Rebecca looked at me.
"You deserve to see this."
The first video opened.
Olivia appeared on the screen.
She looked tired.
But determined.
The timestamp was only twenty-four hours before her death.
She smiled gently into the camera.
"If you're watching this..."
"...then Victor has already made his move."
I couldn't look away.
"I've spent the last four years documenting everything."
The screen changed.
Bank records.
Shipping manifests.
Photographs.
License plates.
Hidden camera footage.
Dozens of names.
Judges.
Contractors.
Police officers.
County officials.
Every person Victor had bribed or threatened.
The list seemed endless.
Rebecca quietly whispered,
"This is enough to dismantle the entire organization."
Then another video began.
Olivia was sitting inside our mountain cottage.
The same living room where Emma and Ella had eaten sandwiches only yesterday.
She looked directly into the camera.
"Ethan..."
"I know you'll blame yourself."
"Please don't."
Tears filled my eyes.
"You couldn't have stopped this."
"You loved me exactly the way I needed."
Her voice cracked for the first time.
"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you."
"I wanted one place in my life..."
"...where evil didn't exist."
I covered my face with both hands.
For years I'd believed she'd kept secrets because she didn't trust me.
Now I understood.
She'd hidden them because she wanted me to have one ordinary life.
One safe life.
Even if she couldn't have one herself.
Emma quietly walked over and slipped her small hand into mine.
"She loved you."
I looked down.
"How do you know?"
Emma smiled softly.
"She talked about you every day."
Rebecca opened another encrypted folder.
Its title read:
IF VICTOR IS CAPTURED ALIVE
Inside was a single audio recording.
Victor laughed as the recording played.
"You won't like this one."
Rebecca ignored him.
She pressed Play.
Victor's own voice filled the cabin.
Clear.
Undeniable.
"Make it look like an accident."
Another man's voice asked,
"What about Olivia Brooks?"
Victor answered without hesitation.
"She's already chosen strangers over her husband."
"People like that always die heroes."
"Push the car."
Silence followed.
Then...
Metal scraping.
A woman screaming.
The recording ended.
Nobody in the room spoke.
Victor slowly closed his eyes.
For the first time...
He had nothing to say.
Outside, another SUV pulled into the clearing.
A middle-aged U.S. Attorney stepped out, followed by state investigators.
Rebecca smiled.
"It's over."
Victor looked up.
"No."
His voice was strangely calm.
"You still don't understand."
Rebecca frowned.
"What?"
Victor laughed softly.
"You think I built an organization that depended on me?"
He looked straight at me.
"Kill one snake..."
"...and another takes its place."
The confidence in his voice unsettled me.
Then one of the FBI agents shouted from outside.
"Agent Collins!"
She rushed onto the porch.
A minute later she returned.
Her expression had changed completely.
"What happened?" I asked.
She looked at Victor.
Then at me.
"There was a breach."
My stomach tightened.
"What kind of breach?"
"The evidence server."
The room froze.
Rebecca swallowed hard.
"Someone deleted nearly every federal file connected to Victor Dawson..."
"...less than fifteen minutes ago."
Victor slowly smiled.
"I told you."
"I'm never alone."
The cabin door suddenly swung open again.
A young FBI analyst ran inside, breathing hard.
"Agent Collins!"
"We traced the intrusion."
"Where?"
The analyst looked directly at me.
"It came from..."
He hesitated.
"...inside FBI headquarters."
Every face in the room turned toward Rebecca.
Someone inside the Bureau had been protecting Victor all along.
And if there was a mole inside the FBI...
May you like
Then no one in the cabin could be certain who they could trust anymore.
TO BE CONTINUED...
