Page 4 of Last Call

“Sanders was right the first time. She wanted people to think she drowned in the lake,” Fallon said.

Angela’s eyes slipped shut with resignation.

“Jesus Christ. You would fly into Amsterdam as a distraction. And what? She would just disappear?”

Angela nodded. “I’m sorry, Fallon.”

“What changed?” Fallon wondered.

“I wish I knew. She was tired,” Angela offered. “I’d never seen her as tired. I think it was too much,” she said. “I don’t know whatchanged. Where could she run? How far? Someone was bound to catch up with her. The truth always catches up to you. I would have thought she’d know that after everything she learned about our father.”

Fallon’s face fell into her hands. “She could’ve come to me.”

Angela smiled. “No,” she said. “She would never have gone to you.”

“Why not? Why didn’t she tell me?”

“She loved you, Fallon. I don’t think she could face you. In the end, I’m not sure she could face herself. It’s easier for me—I didn’t know our father. I certainly never admired him. I resented her for years. When she came to see me after—when she found out about Davis—I’d never seen that look on anyone’s face before. Haunted. That’s the only way I can describe it. It’s like she lost everything—not just who she thought he was, but who she was, too.”

“I could’ve helped,” Fallon said.

“Maybe. I thought I was helping,” Angela said. “I’m sure that’s what Dean thought, too—at first. Or that’s what we told ourselves. I don’t know anymore. Maybe I wanted a part of him, our father. Why? I don’t know. She wanted to redeem him somehow, not for her. I don’t think that was possible. For me. For anyone. I don’t pretend to know Liv as well as you did.”

“I think we can safely say you knew her better than me.”

“No. I didn’t. I knew part of her.”

“A bigger part than she shared with me or her wife,” Fallon commented.

“I don’t think so. I think she was afraid for you to see it, both of you. With me? It couldn’t be a secret. I already knew about Davis.”

“It never had to be a secret,” Fallon said. “I can’t believe it. Any of it.”

Angela’s eyes dropped to the table.

“No,” Fallon corrected herself. “I believe you,” she said. “I don’t know what Liv was thinking. I don’t know if I’ll ever understand it. What about the kids? Jesus. What did she think? She wasn’t a spy. For Christ’s sake, Angela.”

“There’s nothing I can say that will make this better for any of you. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything except, I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t create this. It isn’t your fault.”

“I should have discouraged her. I didn’t want to. God help me, that’s the truth,” Angela confessed. “It was the one way…”

“She let you in,” Fallon surmised. “She wasn’t always so hard. She was stubborn.”

“I wish I knew her when we were kids. He took that from us, too. He took everything.”

Fallon’s heart ached for Angela far more than it did for Olivia. Davis Nolan was arrogant and selfish. He didn’t deserve beautiful daughters. From where Fallon sat, he deserved a cold jail cell without a bed. He should’ve been sleeping on a cement floor, hard and cold, with broken pieces that dug into his ribs when he tried to lie down. He deserved exactly what he left for everyone—wreckage. It was easy for Fallon to grasp Olivia’s endeavor to right her father’s wrongs. But at what cost? He ran from his past. She followed his example. In the end, that’s what Olivia chose—to run. Here, Angela accepted responsibility for the pain that Olivia’s decisions caused everyone.There wasn’t any escape.That’s what Angela said. Laughable. Olivia took the ultimate escape hatch. She wanted to be the noble captain of her fate. She wasn’t even willing to go down with the ship she built. It infuriated Fallon.

“I’m sorry, Angela,” Fallon said.

“You’re sorry? For what?”

“That Olivia dragged you into this nightmare of hers,” Fallon said.

“It was my choice. I wish I could do something to make things better for you, for Barb and the kids.”

“Maybe there is something.”

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