Crushed (59 page)

"How long have you been working with Marshall?"

"Since the last time I visited Sophie at your home." His voice dropped for a moment. "I went to Marshall out of desperation, and he helped me come up with a plan."

"You lied about burning down Max's home." Robert's statement didn't leave any room for argument. "You were responsible for that."

"I needed Max angry, so that he would act without thinking. He sent his men to kill me, evidence of which has all be collected by Marshall's team. I was also the one who burned down your home."

Silence filled the warehouse as the depth of Luke's betrayal sunk in.

"I know Robert keeps records of his work in his room. I also knew that Cleo would try to search the place to recover everything when you ran away. I needed that information to build a case against them, so I broke in and took everything you had."

"Then you set fire to our house?" Sophie asked, her horror only beginning to take over. "You're insane."

"Sophie, this was the only way Cleo wouldn't know what I was planning."

"There were always other ways, Luke." Robert reminded him angrily. "Did you not realize Marshall won't let you get away with this? We'll all be implicated by that evidence."

"I'm ready for the sacrifice. If taking them down means I have to go with them, then I'm willing."

"You didn't think of anyone but yourself!" Robert's voice rose dangerously over a whisper. "You've taken me and Sophie down with you. As well as the kids, who've done nothing wrong. When the authorities find them, they'll be split up and sent to foster homes while we serve upwards of a decade in prison. Did you not think of what you've destroyed?"

"Could you have come up with a better plan?" Luke countered. "The paintings weren't there, right? Diana and I knew they wouldn't be."

"Diana was in on this too?" Sophie was too exhausted to comprehend everything going on.

"Who do you think gave me your location? She wants this all to be finished, and she's already turned herself in to the authorities with all the information concerning her crimes as a hacker." He paused, waiting for them to understand. "Cleo and Max have a gigantic influence on the world around them. Marshall couldn't make a move because any case he made against them was too weak to secure charges. With our sacrifices, we have more than enough to take them down."

"You're beyond reckless." Robert hissed. "That evidence is enough to sentence both of us to twenty or more years in prison." Sophie's heart clenched when she saw that Robert's hands were shaking. "Diana could get even more than that for her crimes."

"Anything is worth seeing the two of them finally see justice." Luke answered calmly.

"Nothing is worth giving up that much of my life." Robert slammed his fist into the wall beside of him. His desperation was palpable. "What will the kids do, Luke? There are so many lives you're ruining by doing this. You don't even understand."

"You don't think I've thought of that?"

"No, you haven't." Robert interrupted. "You say you care about Sophie, but you've ruined her as well as yourself. All you thought about was your revenge. Our lives never factored in to your decision."

Robert's comments made Luke fall silent. Just like he'd intended, they'd hit Luke where it hurt.

When he spoke again, his voice was icy cold. "Marshall and his men are waiting outside. They have all the evidence linking you to your crimes, so there's no use in running. Marshall doesn't want to hurt you, so it'd be better if you didn't fight back."

Sophie knew the time for arguing was already gone. Luke had decided their fate, and now all they had was to deal with what laid ahead. Her helplessness was momentarily suppressed by her anger.

"Luke, I trusted you." She hissed. "I sincerely wanted to save you from all of this." Every memory she had of Luke was now distorted. Every hug, or show of warmth was lost to his decision to ruin them. "Never speak to me again. We're done."

She knew her words weren't as powerful as she'd wanted them to be, but she knew they would hurt Luke, just like he'd hurt them. It may have been cruel, but her rage and desperation had overcome her better judgement.

Instead of answering, Luke hung up the phone, leaving them alone again.

Silence hung in the air as they stared out in the darkened warehouse. It felt like everything had come directly to a stop.

"It's over." Sophie whispered, tears coming to her eyes. "We're done."

Both of them knew that they really were fnished. Out of all the options they'd thought about to take down Cleo and Max this had not been one of them. Luke had chosen the path with the most collateral damage. By handing all the evidence to the police he'd secured their fate in prison.

For the first time in a long while, Sophie wondered how they'd all gotten to this place. Half a year ago she was simply another student working her way towards a degree in college. Now, she was headed towards a prison sentence.

There was only one option left, and it was the only one Sophie could feel satisfied with. She knew Robert would never go for it, but he had to. Luke had destroyed any plan they had for the future, but that didn't mean one of them couldn't have a future at all.

"If I give you time, do you think you could escape?" She asked softly, turning towards him.

"What?" He asked, eyes widening in confusion.

"If I turn myself in, can you escape during the distraction?" Before he could argue she knew she had to convince him. "There's no way we're both leaving here without being caught, but if I took the fall, it may give you enough time to find another exit."

Robert gripped her hand tightly. "You're as insane as Luke if you think I'm going to let you sacrifice yourself for me."

"Not just for you...for the kids too." Sophie's voice grew desperate. "Rob, they have Diana and Luke. Together, there's more than enough evidence to bring Cleo and Max down. They don't need you to sacrifice yourself as well." She placed her free hand on his face. "If I get caught, my sentence isn't going to be nearly as long as yours. I've been working for the shortest amount of time, and haven't had the chance to steal half as much as you have. If you escape, the kids will have someone to support them. They won't be abandoned again, and everything will be fine."

"There is no way in hell that I'm letting you go." Robert hissed, his eyes flashing with anger. "Do you think I'd be happy having you give everything up for me? There's only one person in this room that deserves to escape, and that's you!"

"Rob, just listen to me." She pleaded. "If you get caught you'll be locked up for years. If we both want to escape, this is the only way. I'm not afraid of facing them. I can do this."

"Enough." Robert shook his head. "We don't have the time to argue over this." He paused for a long moment. "We have to do this together." He lifted their intertwined hands so that they she could see them. "We're a family, right? You spent all that time making me buy into this, so take responsibility."

"Rob, I'm just trying to do what's best for everyone." Sophie whispered, tears falling down her eyes.

Despite what she'd said, she was terrified of facing the police. She was out of her league here, and she couldn't keep lying forever.

"Trust me, Sophie." Robert whispered calmly. "I don't mean to brag, but I'm really the best thief that's ever worked in this business."

Unexpectedly, Sophie began to laugh. Even at the end, Robert knew how to make her fears vanish.

He reached out to brush away her tears, and leaned in close to kiss her gently. She reacted instantly, reaching up to run her hands through his hair. She kissed him back as passionately as she could, and he responded with as much force.

Until this moment, Sophie had never understood what a goodbye really meant.

When they broke apart Sophie had to fight back more tears. "Together, then?" She asked, offering out her hand to him.

He took it without hesitation, and her heart clenched in her chest.

He helped her to her feet, and they both glanced out of the window next to them. Police cars surrounded the warehouse, with officers prepared to fire at them should they decide to run.

Sophie had experienced a number of terrifying events in the last few months, but the sight ahead of them almost paralyzed her with fear.

"Hey, Rob?" She whispered, clenching his hand tightly. "Thanks for being my white knight." She knew he could feel her hands shaking.

Robert leaned in to kiss her on her forehead, and for a moment she was calm again. He took a moment to whisper something in her ear, which caused her to smile for the first time in what felt like forever.

They turned to face the exit of the warehouse, each holding on to the other as tightly as they could.

"Are you ready?" He asked, and she gave one silent nod.

They stepped out of the building together, hand in hand, to face the blinding lights ahead of them.

Then, a gut-shot split the silence of the night.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

My time as a thief ended as abruptly as they gun-shot that signaled its' end.

"If you don't hurry up, I'll leave you!" A tall, auburn haired boy called out, walking backwards down the street with a goofy grin on his face.

"Rylan, we both know you'll never leave me." His companion, a slender, green-eyed young woman answered.

They laughed together as Gwyn caught up to him, holding out a hand which he took automatically.

"If we're late to pick up Teddy, I'm blaming you." Rylan added, but Gwyn wasn't fazed by his teasing. She was happy to be walking beside of him on such a beautiful summer day. Ever since he'd gone off to college moments like this were rare. She had to soak in the time she had with him, knowing he was too busy to be by her side constantly.

She'd be headed off to her own college in the fall and their time together would be further shortened. Rylan glanced down at her, obviously seeing the concern written across her face.

"Do you have plans tonight?" He asked with his usual crooked smile.

"Of course not." Gwyn answered, half-surprised that he'd asked. He knew she worked during the day and saved her nights for spending time at home with Teddy.

"How about we go out? Just the two of us?" He watched her shyly, and laughed when she nodded once in agreement. "Then it's a plan!" He swooped down and kissed her lightly on the lips.

Gwyn's cheeks turned a bright pink, even though he'd kissed her like this many times before. While five years had gone by, their relationship was going just as strong as when it'd begun. Gwyn couldn't imagine being with someone else.

"Should we take a cab?" Gwyn asked to change the subject. "It would be faster."

"We'll be fine." He lifted her hand and winked down at her. "I like walking with you like this. Teddy will understand if we take our time."

Ever since Rylan's leg had recovered he'd made it a priority to walk every day. He'd spent countless hours in physical therapy so that he could regain the strength he'd lost. His improvement hadn't been immediate, but over time the changes were significant. The limp his doctors had feared would last a lifetime was no longer apparent, though he still had limits on how far he could walk.

Gwyn wondered if his leg was hurting him now, but he didn't show it, just like he rarely showed pain. After they'd left Doctor Smith's home, he'd taken charge of their family, becoming the rock they could lean on.

When Rylan caught her staring at him she glanced away shyly. She didn't like him knowing that she worried about him. The first week he'd left for college had almost killed her, and she hated how he'd forced himself to come home every weekend for her benefit.

"Speaking of Teddy..." Rylan said, staring forward.

Gwyn glanced ahead, surprised that they'd already made it to Teddy's school. Today was his last exam before summer break, and Rylan had offered to take them both out to lunch. However, the scene in front of her was not what she expected to see.

Teddy was standing near the front gate of his school, his arms around a petite blonde. Just as Gwyn turned to look at him he leaned down and kissed the girl on the cheek.

Before she could stop herself, Gwyn began to laugh. Rylan joined in, and by the time Teddy had seen them it was too late. His face turned a dark shade of red and he automatically jumped away from the girl he was standing with. He stuttered a goodbye before racing over to join his sister.

"I...I can explain." He stammered, brushing his long black curls out of his eyes.

"I think we can figure it out ourselves." Gwyn joked, raising her eyebrow at him. "So, what's her name?"

"Don't worry about it." Teddy answered, sticking up his chin stubbornly. He turned to Rylan, his eyes begging for help. "It's been awhile, Ry." His expression asked for a change of subject.

"You're not getting out of this that easily." Rylan joked, hitting him in the shoulder playfully. "Only thirteen and already getting the girls. I'm impressed."

"Gwyn's first kiss was when she was thirteen." Teddy replied, crossing his arms stubbornly. "Don't you remember that?"

"Okay, I get it!" Rylan grinned, waving his hand in defeat. "Truce."

It only took them a few minutes to return Teddy to his normally cheerful self. Rylan was even able to pry out more information about the mysterious blonde, which Teddy had apparently been crushing on for the whole year.

"Look at you, all grown up." Gwyn teased, sneaking her arm around her brothers. He glared down at her, but didn't pull away.

"So, what would you like for lunch?" Rylan asked, smiling brightly. He always lit up like this when they were all together.

None of them wanted to admit it, but they were all becoming too busy for one another. Making time to hang out was a struggle that they'd all begun to hate. Rylan was entering his final year of college, and his workload was hard to manage. Gwyn had spent the fall applying to colleges and maintaing her nearly perfect GPA, while also juggling being the president of her student body. Even Teddy, who was still in middle school was always busy training for his soccer team.

Every day it grew harder and harder to stay as close as they used to be. Their family was slowly growing apart, and there was little they could do to stop it. Each of them was finding their own path, and the more they discovered about themselves, the harder it was to come home.

Rylan tried to ignore the obvious signs, and Teddy was too young to really understand what was happening. Gwyn, however, had already been coming to terms with the change for months.

A part of her blamed Robert and Sophie, even though she knew that was unfair.

Rylan paused in the middle of the sidewalk and glanced up at the tall building to his right. Gwyn followed his gaze and she smiled as she recognized their apartment building. She'd been so lost in thought she hadn't even registered where they'd been walking.

"Home sweet home." Rylan said with a sigh. It'd been almost a month since he'd been back.

Gwyn nodded, feeling an immense wave of sadness rush over her. Even after all this time, she still didn't feel like that apartment was home. They'd moved in after Rylan had turned eighteen and received a generous trust fund from his father. Dr. Smith had helped them to create identities for their new lives, which were still working flawlessly.

"Five years." She whispered, remembering their old home as clearly as if she'd been there yesterday. She still missed it more than anyone knew. She missed her old bedroom, and playing in the yard with Teddy. She missed eating dinner together as a family, and movie nights.

More than anything, she missed Sophie and Robert.

They'd spent years pretending the hole wasn't there, but Gwyn had never been the kind of person who ignored things right in front of her.

"Where do you think she is right now?" Teddy asked from beside her. His face was serious, but sad at the same time.

"I don't know." Gwyn answered, her eyes turning to the blue sky.

Everything had ended so fast back then. One minute they'd all been together at their old home, and the next they'd all had to go into hiding. Within twenty-four hours their world had gone crashing down. The place they'd called home had gone up in flames, and suddenly Cleo and Max were on the news being arrested for numerous crimes.

Their lives went from stable to chaotic, and there was nothing they could do about it. The changes were so sudden none of them knew how to handle the news. Should they be happy that Cleo wouldn't decide their future? Should they be scared of her lashing out again?

They'd had so many questions back then, but none of them had been answered in the last five years.

Dr. Smith hadn't told them anything about the night Robert and Sophie vanished. The only information they'd been able to find came from a news story about three cops being injured in a shooting. The police had been patrolling an abandoned warehouse where known fugitives were hiding when they were fired upon. The gunmen were taken out immediately, but the fate of the two criminals was still a mystery.

At least, it was still a mystery to the police.

"If I had to guess, I'd say Sophie's probably in Paris. I hear it's lovely there this time of year."

Both Teddy and Gwyn turned to Rylan with shocked expressions. "She called you?" They asked in unison.

"I just got off the phone with her this morning." He said, grinning foolishly down at them.

"You could have told us!" Teddy crossed his arms in frustration.

"We've been waiting for her to call for two weeks! You know how worried we get when she changes locations." Gwyn pursed her lips, genuinely annoyed at Rylan.

Two months after the chaos ended, Sophie made a discrete phone call to Dr. Smith. She told them very little about what had happened, or where she was headed. All they knew was that she was on the run from the police, and that she couldn't stay in the country for much longer.

After the initial phone call Sophie checked in at irregular intervals throughout the years. She sent letters every two weeks, always from unknown locations. She spoke very little about what she was doing, but she was always eager to learn about what was happening in their lives.

It was obvious that she missed them, but for their own safety and her own she never visited. Someone had made it clear to her that Agent Marshall, the man in charge of Cleo and Max's case, was still eagerly searching for her.

Gwyn hated that she'd missed Sophie's latest phone call. They didn't have a way to contact her when they wanted to, so her calls were the only chance they got to catch up. Gwyn had been looking forward to hearing from Sophie, and talking to her about her recent concerns.

Despite being thousands of miles away, Sophie had managed to maintain the sisterly bond they'd created while living together.

"I was going to wait until later, but since you're both so angry with me..." Rylan reached in his jeans and pulled out three slips of paper.

Teddy was unfazed by them and continued to pout, but Gwyn's eyes widened in excitement.

"Tickets to Paris?" She squealed, her voice rising. "You know where she's living?"

"Not exactly, but she's agreed to meet us there. She says she feels safe with letting us stay there with her for the summer."

"What...how?" Gwyn was shocked by Rylan's surprise. "It's not safe for her to meet with us! What about Agent Marshall?"

"I was honestly so excited I didn't ask many questions. I'm sure we'll have the whole summer for her to explain." He smiled down at Gwyn, his eyes lighting up. "So, do you like my surprise?" He asked jokingly.

"It's brilliant!" Teddy replied, still as shocked as Gwyn.

"We're going to Paris!" Gwyn whispered, her heart filling with happiness.

Five years was a long time to be separated from loved ones. In those years many events had passed that had changed the three of them. They were older, somewhat wiser, and more independent than they'd been in the past.

However, it didn't feel like they were heading to meet a stranger. Years had passed since they'd last seen Sophie, but the bond they had with her hadn't been broken.

As Gwyn stood staring at the plane tickets in Rylan's hands, she realized this is what it meant to belong to a family. Even if they were separated from one another, it didn't mean that they were alone. Time and distance weren't enough to break them, which gave her immense hope for the future.

Maybe she didn't have to worry so much about their family after all.

*  *  *

The scene Sophie was staring at now felt like a dream. Sunlight filtered into her studio, brushing over the unfinished canvases her students had started that morning. The air from outside the building swept in, causing her long strands of hair to dance against her face.

She glanced up at the cotton-like clouds that dotted the skyline, and then down at the groups of teenagers hanging out in the courtyard below. There wasn't a soul around her that wasn't smiling on such a relaxing and beautiful day. From her perch next to the window, she felt like she could stay here forever.

Sophie brushed her paint-covered hands against her apron, noticing how they looked stained with the variety of blues she'd been working with. By now, she was used to always being covered in paint. Her students even had a running joke about it.