Chapter 5 - The Dinosaur Birthday
Olivia wanted to cancel Noah's birthday.
Noah considered this a violation of constitutional law.
“But I'm four!”
“You were already four.”
“My party makes me more four.”
John, listening from Olivia's kitchen, whispered, “Strong argument.”
She glared at him.
He raised both hands.
The party stayed.
Saturday afternoon, Olivia's small apartment filled with preschoolers, paper dinosaurs, cupcakes, balloons, and enough sugar to destabilize a government.
John arrived wearing a green dinosaur hat.
Olivia stared.
“You actually bought one.”
“A promise is a promise.”
Noah launched himself at John's legs.
“You came!”
Something shifted inside John.
He had attended investor meetings worth hundreds of millions of dollars without feeling nervous.
Yet having a four-year-old look delighted to see him nearly destroyed him.
He handed Noah a wrapped box.
Inside was a build-your-own wooden dinosaur kit.
Noah reacted as though John had given him the moon.
Olivia watched from across the room.
Later, while the children attacked a dinosaur-shaped cake, she joined John by the window.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For making today normal.”
John looked at Noah.
“Normal seems underrated.”
Olivia smiled.
Then the buzzer sounded.
She stiffened.
Margaret stood downstairs.
Alone.
Olivia hesitated before letting her in.
Margaret entered carrying no expensive gift.
Only a battered children's book.
Olivia recognized it.
Daniel's copy of The Little Prince.
“He loved this,” she whispered.
“I know.”
Margaret crouched before Noah.
“This belonged to your daddy.”
Noah became unusually quiet.
“My daddy in heaven?”
Margaret's eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Noah accepted the book.
Then, with the unpredictable mercy of children, he hugged her.
Margaret broke.
Olivia turned away, crying silently.
John put his hand against her back.
The moment lasted until John's phone rang.
His chief operating officer, Marcus.
“John, we have a problem.”
John stepped into the hallway.
“What happened?”
“Our acquisition financing disappeared.”
“What?”
“The lender pulled out twenty minutes ago.”
“Why?”
“Mercer Capital.”
John went still.
Mercer Capital had purchased the lender's parent company debt that morning and pressured them to withdraw.
Evan.
“This is because of Olivia?”
“I don't know who Olivia is,” Marcus said, “but somebody is trying to make Walker Systems hurt.”
John looked through the open doorway.
Olivia was helping Noah blow out candles.
His company employed 312 people.
This was no longer merely personal.
Evan was attacking everyone around him.
John returned inside.
Olivia read his face instantly.
“What happened?”
“Nothing you need to worry about today.”
“John.”
He told her.
Her happiness disappeared.
“This is exactly what I warned you about.”
“Olivia—”
“You need to leave.”
He stared at her.
“You think I'm going to let him decide who I have dinner with?”
“This isn't about dinner!”
The room quieted.
Parents looked over.
Olivia lowered her voice.
“People work for you. Families depend on that company.”
“And what do you suggest?”
“Walk away from me.”
John stared at her.
Noah approached holding two cupcakes.
He sensed something wrong.
“Are you mad?”
Olivia immediately softened.
“No, baby.”
He handed one cupcake to John.
“For you.”
John crouched.
“Thanks, buddy.”
Noah looked between them.
“You're still my friend?”
John's throat tightened.
“Absolutely.”
Olivia closed her eyes.
John stood.
“I'll go.”
She looked hurt even though she had asked him to.
At the door, he turned.
“This isn't finished.”
Then he left.
For three days, Olivia heard nothing.
On Wednesday morning, she walked Noah to preschool.
A black sedan waited across the street.
She grabbed Noah's hand.
The rear door opened.
Evan stepped out.
“Relax. I'm not here to hurt him.”
“You already tried.”
“That motorcycle wasn't mine.”
“Why would I believe you?”
“Because someone is playing both sides.”
He handed her a folder.
Inside were bank transfers.
Payments from a Mercer shell company.
But the authorization wasn't Evan's.
It belonged to Margaret.
Olivia stared at him.
“Your mother?”
“Someone using her credentials.”
Evan leaned closer.
“Daniel wasn't investigating me before he died.”
His expression was deadly serious.
“He was investigating our father.”
Olivia stopped breathing.
Evan glanced toward Noah.
“And if Daniel was right, Charles Mercer didn't just cover up financial crimes.”
May you like
A long silence.
“He killed my brother.”
