Conspiracy Girl (26 page)

Finn nods.

‘But now he’s what? Started rebuilding? Why? Why would he do that? And why didn’t he just tell someone what was going on at the time?’

‘I’m guessing they probably threatened him,’ Finn says. ‘He must have ignored the warnings. Maybe he thought they were bluffing.’

I can’t stop shaking my head. Why would Aiden ignore the warnings? Why would he start the business again knowing the risk?

‘I’m not sure why he’s starting the business again,’ Finn says as though he’s reading my mind. ‘I’m assuming from how well he’s hidden his tracks
he thought he was keeping it a secret. Or maybe he thought after all this time they’d given up.’

I grind my teeth, my jaw pulsing. How could Aiden do this?

Finn sighs, intuiting my silent question again. ‘When we find him we can ask him.’

For several minutes I stare into the middle distance, trying to wrap my head around what Finn just told me. It doesn’t make sense. And yet . . . it does.

I bury my face in my hands. Across the back of my eyelids I see a parade of faces. My mum. Taylor. Hugo. Goz. Agent Ziv. I see the look on Finn’s face when he pushed me off him.
Embarrassment is nothing to the grief, to the guilt. It’s a teaspoon of salt on a wound already doused in acid. All those people dead. For what? For diamonds? For money? For greed?

Suddenly I feel Finn’s hand on my thigh. I look down. He moves his hand quickly away.
Why is he still with me?
I wonder silently. The danger is too much. We’re basically
strangers and he’s putting his life on the line for me. I shouldn’t have let him. I’m being a coward again. I’m hiding behind him the same way I hid behind the door and
watched them take Taylor.

If I stay hidden, stay on the run with Finn, he’s going to end up dead. I know it. Just like every other person who makes the mistake of getting involved in my life.

I wait until we pass through the next town and then I turn to Finn. ‘You’ve done enough,’ I say in a rush. ‘Drop me here. I’ll catch a Greyhound and find some place
to hide until this is over. Now we know who’s behind it, Maggie can do something. They can make it stop. They’re the FBI.’ I glance at him. ‘You should walk away now.’
While you still can
, I want to add.

Finn takes his foot off the gas and looks over at me. ‘The FBI are involved somehow,’ he says through a clenched jaw. ‘And even if they weren’t, what could they do?
There’s no evidence. It’s just a theory. They can’t arrest anyone. Look at the trouble Vorster have gone to to set Miles and McCrory up.’

I swallow because if what he is saying is true, what hope do we have of getting out of this alive?

Finn is still looking over at me, his expression fiercer than I’ve ever seen it and his eyes blazing. ‘And don’t tell me to walk away,’ he says. ‘I’m not
leaving you. Not until this is over.’

I’m scared that he’s not watching where he’s driving, he won’t take his eyes off mine, so finally I just nod and it’s only then that he turns his attention back to
the road and steps on the gas.

Why the hell would she think I’m going to leave her, after everything we’ve been through? Is it about the kiss? About walking out mid-whatever it was we were about
to do? How am I supposed to tell her why it has to be this way? I don’t want her to know about Eleanor.

I keep my eyes on the road and the mirrors, checking we’re not being followed, but my mind is switching gears frantically. Finding Aiden will confirm what I know and might shed some more
light on things, but it isn’t going to change how screwed we are. Vorster are not going to stop coming after us. Ever.

I let my mind start doing the work, following thoughts quicker than I can verbalise them, hypothesising and assessing and judging every possible outcome until I have what I think could be a
workable plan. It’s the most outrageous, possibly insane, morally dubious, yet potentially brilliant plan I’ve ever come up with. It’s not legal. But then again legal won’t
keep Nic alive. Legal won’t give her justice. Legal, in my mind, is for people without imagination and who don’t see the system is corrupted beyond hope.

I find the place by following the map in my head. I have a near-photographic memory, which is a useful skill, especially when the truck you steal doesn’t come with
GPS.

About an hour and a half west of Boston we come to an area of thickly wooded hills and mountains. Several thousand acres are designated national forest. There’s a ski town nearby and the
road up the mountain is busy with people heading up the slopes.

My assumption is that Aiden is here on site, overseeing the build. I’m not sure how he managed to evade the FBI for so long, but my guess is he’s been planning this for a while and
has probably had professional help – a security company no doubt protecting him around the clock. I’m not sure why he didn’t offer the same protection to his stepdaughter, but
maybe he thought she was safe.

I slow as we get near to the area of land that he’s bought. It’s pristine woodland, nothing on it. About halfway along the road on the right-hand side I spot a well-trafficked track,
the ground rutted with tyre tracks that have been gouged deep into the earth.

I pull in and draw to a stop, letting the engine idle as I glance up into the trees that are pressing in on both sides. I see it then: a camera rigged up high in the branches, camouflaged well
but still visible if you look close enough. I get a huge surge of adrenaline. Everything was just a supposition until now, but the sight of a camera proves that there’s something going on
here.

Nic turns to me for the first time in two hours. ‘Why have you pulled over?’ she asks and the way she asks it you’d think I was a serial killer looking for a place to deposit a
body.

‘This is it,’ I say nodding at the woods around us.

She glances out the window. ‘But there’s nothing here.’

‘It’s underground,’ I tell her, grinning despite myself at Aiden’s balls. I had guessed this was how he’d build it. It’s how other synthetic diamond labs are
built.

Nic’s eyes widen as she scans the area around us once more.

I laugh under my breath. It’s genius actually. They’re borrowing military practices, building it bunker-style, but I guess they need to.

‘How do you know?’ Nic asks, sceptically.

‘Trust me,’ I tell her, driving another fifty metres down the track and coming to a stop in the middle of a man-made clearing. The earth looks recently disturbed and some small
saplings have been planted at random intervals.

‘What are we doing?’ Nic asks, frustration giving a rough edge to her words.

‘Waiting,’ I say, reaching for a bag of Fritos. I notice there’s a bottle of Snapple too and smile to myself.

I down the juice and am wiping my mouth when something catches my eye in the mirror. ‘Game on,’ I murmur at the sight of the jeep gunning up the track.

Nic jerks around.

‘Let’s go,’ I say, wiping my hands and jumping out of the truck. My gun presses against my spine comfortingly but I don’t think I’m going to need it.

The man who steps out of the jeep that parks up opposite us is about forty, ex-special forces by the looks of him. He has crew-cut hair and shoulders as wide as a tank. He’s wearing
wrap-around shades and under his jacket I’m guessing he’s packing some serious hardware. There’s another tell-tale bulge at his ankle.

‘Can I help you?’ the man says, marching towards us.

‘We’re looking for Aiden Cooper,’ I tell him.

The man says nothing but shakes his head as though confused. Nice try.

‘Tell him his stepdaughter would like to speak to him.’

The man opens his mouth but then spies Nic over my shoulder and closes it. He walks off a few feet and pulls out his phone, still keeping one eye on me. I don’t hear the conversation
because I walk back over to Nic, who is still staring around in disbelief. She looks cold, huddled in a hat and the jacket we stole from the house. Her face is no longer pale, and the sunburn
across her nose has mellowed into a band of freckles.

I pull open the truck door so Nic can at least sit out of the cold. She turns away from me to face the windshield, literally giving me the cold shoulder. I frown. Every single minute that passes
she’s withdrawing back into that defensive state, invisible porcupine quills bristling. Damn. She was letting go of all that and now it’s like she’s even further away than she was
before. She’s putting up walls. What can I say to let her know that it’s nothing to do with her? That it’s me. That I want to keep her safe, and that means keeping her at a
distance.

I can’t stand the thought of losing her and, ironically, that’s exactly what’s going to happen. I turn away and stare off down the track.

A few minutes later a Range Rover with blacked-out windows makes the turn into the wood and speeds towards us. A shaken-looking Aiden emerges from the driver’s side.

Nic tumbles from the truck and he runs towards her, gathering her in his arms in a way that makes my stomach clench tightly and my fists clench tighter. He’s the one who put her in this
danger. What right does he have to her affection? And why is she hugging him? This is the same asshole whose activities have made her a target and killed her mother.

Aiden pulls back, still clutching Nic by the top of her arms. ‘What are you doing here?’ he demands. ‘How did you find me?’

Glancing around, he spies me and the blood drains from his face. He looks at his security guy, who through this whole thing has been facing me with his hand buried inside his jacket in a gesture
so obvious I’ve chosen to ignore him.

‘What do you think we’re doing here?’ I ask loudly. ‘The same people who killed your wife and daughter are now trying to kill us, thanks to this little project
you’ve got going on here.’

‘Who’s he?’ Aiden asks Nic. ‘What’s he talking about? What’s happened?’

Nic follows his gaze and realises only now that the security guy is keeping me under armed guard. She darts in front of me. ‘This is Finn,’ she says. ‘Finn Carter.’

Aiden almost goes cross-eyed with confusion and panic. I see the little splinter of recognition dart across his face. He can’t quite place me, though.

I step forwards, making no sudden movements that will startle his security guy. I hold out my hand. Aiden shakes it warily. ‘You recognise me from the trial,’ I tell him.

The confusion clears. His hand drops away. ‘You . . . You’re the kid . . . ‘ he says, his eyes flashing darkly.

I sigh. Here we go. ‘Yeah, the kid who testified for the defence.’

He looks between Nic and I as though trying to figure out what the hell we’re doing in each other’s company, but there’s not enough time to try to explain it all.

‘Someone broke into Nic’s apartment,’ I tell him. ‘They were looking for something. They’ve chased us across three states trying to find it.’

‘They broke into your apartment?’ Aiden has turned away from me and is talking to Nic. His face is horror-struck.

She nods at him. ‘You didn’t see the news?’ she asks.

I glance across at her? The news? What news?

‘It’s in all the newspapers,’ she adds, giving me a quick look.

Shit. I should have warned her that would happen.

Aiden shakes his head. ‘No. I’ve been staying offline, lying low.’

‘The night after you visited Nic,’ I interrupt. ‘Did you leave something with her? Did you hide something in her apartment?’ I can’t disguise the anger in my
voice.

Aiden doesn’t seem to hear me. He’s staring around like he can’t believe what he’s hearing, clutching his head between his hands. I take a step towards him.

‘They were watching you the whole time,’ I say in a low voice, sounding more menacing than I mean to, but for God’s sake, is he stupid? Could he not see where this was all
going to lead? ‘Two men have been following us since then. I killed one. There’s one more still out there. But even if I stop him, they will keep coming. They are not going to quit.
They won’t quit until they kill you and Nic and everyone who knows anything about what you’re trying to do. What is it Vorster wants? I’m guessing it’s blueprints to some
kind of synthetic diamond lab. Am I right?’

Aiden, who’s been looking more and more horrified with every word, looks up sharply at the word
Vorster
.

‘Yes, it’s what they wanted all along,’ he says in a faraway voice. ‘I take a step backwards, exhaling loudly. Finally – confirmation that I was right. That there
is much, much more to this case than everyone realises.

‘That’s why they killed my mum and Taylor?’ Nic asks, her voice rising.

‘Yes,’ Aiden admits, unable to meet Nic’s eye. ‘That. They wanted to make us stop. They threatened to do something but I thought they were bluffing. I didn’t think
they’d actually do it.’

There’s a pause. Nic is just staring at Aiden in silent shock. He turns to me, suddenly alert. ‘What if I just give it to them?’ he asks. ‘What if I just give them the
plans and promise to walk away for good this time?’

It’s only then I feel sympathy well up for Aiden. The man is completely out of his depth.

I take a step towards him and when I speak my voice is fierce. ‘It’s too late for that. You can’t walk away,’ I tell him. ‘They won’t stop coming after you or
after Nic. If you want to stop them, you need my kind of smarts, not yours.’

We follow Aiden back to his place. My shoulder is starting to throb again and, while Finn is busy driving, I take two Advil and wash them down with some water. I wish I could
take something to clear my head. I can’t believe anything Aiden’s just told us. Why didn’t he stop? If he had, my mum would still be alive. So would Taylor. So would Hugo and
Agent Ziv.
How
could he have started again?

Aiden’s place is a rented chalet, buried deep in the woods. Finn parks up and then stares across at me, looking like he wants to say something, but I climb out of the truck before he
can.

‘Who’s running your security?’ Finn asks Aiden, scanning the woods, which are rapidly dissolving into the dusk. ‘Can you trust them?’

Aiden nods. ‘Yes. They’re a Canadian firm. Top in the world. I did my research.’