Chapter 18 - RYAN’S REAL REASONRyan met Olivia in a private restaurant near Malibu.
Police occupied two nearby tables.
A microphone was hidden beneath Ryan’s collar.
I listened from an unmarked vehicle with a detective and an assistant district attorney.
Olivia arrived twenty minutes late.
She looked exactly like the woman in the messages.
Pale blonde hair.
Blue eyes.
Controlled smile.
She sat across from Ryan without ordering.
“Where are the files?” she asked.
“Where is Claire?”
“Safe.”
“She ran because you told her to.”
“She ran because Daniel intends to take her child.”
“That isn’t true.”
Olivia leaned closer.
“You’re defending him now?”
“I’m defending myself.”
“You don’t have a self left to defend.”
Her voice remained pleasant.
That made it more threatening.
Ryan placed a small drive on the table.
It contained harmless duplicate files prepared by police.
“I want the original paternity result.”
Olivia smiled.
“Why?”
“Because Claire lied to me.”
“Claire told you what you needed to hear.”
“Is the baby mine?”
“The baby belongs to whoever has the power to keep her.”
Ryan’s hand tightened beneath the table.
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It is the only answer that matters.”
He pushed the drive toward her.
“Give me Claire.”
Olivia did not touch it.
“You were useful because you were vain,” she said. “A handsome man who wanted to defeat someone richer and more successful. Claire barely had to encourage you.”
Ryan’s face reddened.
I expected him to lose control.
He did not.
“What did Paula do with Daniel’s sample?”
Olivia’s smile disappeared.
“Why are you asking?”
“Claire says it was switched.”
“Claire says many things when she’s afraid.”
“With whose sample?”
Olivia stood.
The meeting was ending too soon.
Ryan made one final attempt.
“You promised me five million dollars.”
That stopped her.
She looked down at him.
“You already received what you wanted.”
“Claire?”
“The fantasy that you mattered.”
Then Olivia reached for the drive.
Police moved in.
She saw them before they reached the table.
Her hand disappeared into her handbag.
Officers shouted.
Ryan moved backward.
For one terrifying second, I thought she had a weapon.
She pulled out a phone.
Not a gun.
She threw it into a glass of water.
Police restrained her.
As they placed her in handcuffs, she looked directly toward the unmarked vehicle.
Toward me.
I did not know how she recognized it.
But she smiled.
May you like
Then she shouted across the restaurant.
“Daniel! Ask your wife what she put in the nursery!”
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