That final please is what motivates me to go. I don’t think I’m going to be able to come back to my studies if I leave, but what choice do I have? She’s reaching out, and I still care about her enough to want to respond. I know this is foolish, but it’s all I must go on now. I’ve already decided my life isn’t worth much, and that I’m willing to sacrifice my entire future for my family. What is one more disappointment in the grand scheme of things?
I don’t want to take my bodyguards with me, but that’s the protocol I’ve lived with for most of my life. I decide to try using my newfound responsibilities by ordering the bodyguards to stand down.
They look at me as if I’m crazy, but they don’t try to follow me. One of them goes directly toward my father’s office, but I let him go. I don’t care if Dad knows where I’m going. He’s made it clear that he trusts me, and I’m about to test that trust.
I get into my car and drive down to the gatehouse. I wonder if they’re going to let me through or if they’re going to give me a hard time. My prayers are answered when the guard simply waves at me. I coast out onto the street with no questions asked, marveling at the autonomy my slowly growing power affords me.
It doesn’t take long to make the drive to Sofia’s place, although it’s not exactly ten minutes. Checking my watch, it looks more like twenty by the time I arrive. I knock on her door, my nerves a twisted bundle in my stomach. I want to see her, but I’m scared of it at the same time. Our last conversation wasn’t one I want to repeat. Hopefully, she has something else in mind, otherwise this will be a short trip.
“Frankie,” she says as she opens the door.
She looks stressed, and I can’t help but feel some pride in that regard. I’m the one who told her she’s going to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder. It seems like she’s taken that message to heart.
“Sofia,” I say, standing out in the hallway.
“Won’t you come in?” she asks, gesturing me inside.
I have an automatic reaction to her invitation that must be the product of my new lifestyle. I wonder if she’s got someone in there who’s going to jump me. This is her plan, to get me alone and have one of her work colleagues kick the crap out of me.
“I’ll stay out here,” I reply smugly.
“For goodness' sake,” she snaps. “I’m not a threat. Not to you.”
I sigh. There’s enough frustration in her voice to persuade me that she’s speaking the truth. I step into her apartment and watch as she closes the door behind me. A quick scan of the kitchen and living room lets me know that we are alone. I wonder again why she summoned me here, but I’ll let her get to that in her own time.
“How have you been?” I ask.
“Awful,” she moans. “What about you?”
“Pretty bad,” I agree.
She looks at me with the kind of adoring patience that I used to see all the time. It makes me wish that we could turn the clock back and forget all about our differences.
“I want to show you something,” she explains, sitting on the couch and pointing to her laptop.
I join her, curious. This feels like some kind of big reveal. I wonder what she’s found that requires my attention, and why her demeanor has suddenly changed. She gazes deep into my eyes, and I feel a confession coming on. She doesn’t disappoint.
“Nobody believes that my brother didn’t take his own life,” she sobs.
I want to reach out and pat her shoulder, but I stay frozen in place. I have to remind myself that this woman stole from my father. She’s a journalist who is on the hunt for dirt about my family. If she discovers anything that she can use against us, she’ll publish it and that could ruin my father. I must stay strong.
“So, I went to talk to Mr. Harlan. That’s my boss,” Sofia says. “But he was acting really strange, which got me thinking.”
“Okay,” I agree, not sure what her boss has to do with anything.
“He said that Danny was working on a story about geese,” Sofia exclaims.
“Geese?” I ask, confused.
“That’s right. But obviously that’s not right,” she contradicts herself. “He wouldn’t have been nearly so excited about geese as he was when he told me that he was going to tell me everything.”
“Wait,” I plead, putting my hands up to stop her. “I’m not following.”
“Here,” she says, opening the laptop. “Watch this.”
I shift my attention to the screen, abandoning all hope of unraveling her tale. There is a video file in the center of the monitor, and footage begins rolling the moment Sofia pressesplay. The camera remains steady, pointed up at an angle to capture the person sitting in front of it. A man, about Sofia’s age, with the same color hair and eyes, stares out at us. I’m startled by the resemblance at first, but then I realize that this must be her brother.
“That’s Danny,” Sofia says quietly.
