Page 8 of Carlos: Trilogy: Part Two

Keys looked to Zoe, who nodded. She trusted Carlos. She wouldn’t have moved in with him if she didn’t. However, she did ask, “What visitor?”

Carlos turned to Zoe. “How well did you know Conner? You told me that he rescued you from the courthouse and informed you about the hitmen your in-laws hired. How did he know about any of them? How did he get you out of there and to Montana without anyone seeing him or suspecting a thing?”

Zoe swallowed nervously, trying to push past the ache in her heart for her deceased friend. She’d left out specific parts of her story, not wanting to break Conner’s confidence. “He brought me to Montana in an RV. About three days later, he brought Kyle to me. We had to travel separately.”

She didn’t miss the look passed between Carlos and Keys. They had picked up on her evasiveness. She was not a very good liar. She didn’t know why they were asking about Conner. She wasn’t even sure how much she should say about the people she’d been with in Montana. In truth, she’d been so filled with grief over Conner’s death when she’d left Montana, she’d forgotten to ask those specifics. Obviously, it couldn’t be common knowledge that there was a mountain in Montana where innocent fugitives and the like were brought for safekeeping.

“Why are you asking about Conner?” Her voice cracked on his name.

Again, Keys and Carlos shared a look. She felt like she was missing something important. Carlos explained, “I had a visitor in my office this morning. He… Well, he looked a lot like Conner. But it couldn’t be?—”

“Owen?” Then realizing what she’d said, Zoe slapped her hands over her mouth in a horrified gasp. As Carlos and Keys stared at her in astonishment, Zoe clamped her eyes closed. She bowed her head in shame. She really was the worst liar! How could she have just spat out his name like that? After she’d sworn never to reveal his secret?

Zoe blinked. Wait. Owen had revealed his secret. He knew that his twin was dead. Actually dead, not dead like Owen was dead. Why would Owen return to a town where people would recognize him? Conner had sent her and Kyle here because he knew that the MC could be trusted—but Owen hadn’t gone to the MC. He’d gone to Carlos, a cop.

She spun around towards Carlos. “Are you okay? Did he threaten you? Was he warning you away from me?” If there was one thing she’d picked up on from her short time with Owen, it was that he was dangerous.

Not to her or to Kyle. He’d protected her so completely that he’d been a danger to those who wanted to harm her, not the other way around.

“Well, that answers some of my questions,” Keys finally said with a chuckle. “Conner’s twin is alive. He faked his own death while he was in the service. Do you know why?”

Zoe was grateful she didn’t have to lie or try to evade answering that one. She shook her head. “No.”

“So it was Owen, not Conner, you were in contact with in Philadelphia?—”

“No,” Zoe interrupted Keys. She dropped her head back down into her hands again. Carlos’s hand came up to rub soothingly along her back. Zoe tried to center herself and raised her head. She couldn’t have them thinking she’d never known Conner. He’d been her friend, her savior. She would not have his heroic actions transferred over for Owen to take the credit.

Zoe took a deep, shaking breath. “I knew Conner. He was my friend. He rescued me and my son. I didn’t know Owen was alive until after the courthouse. That was Owen, but only because Conner couldn’t get emergency leave to come to me himself. He sent Owen to me. But I only saw Owen that one time and never again. It was Conner who visited me in Montana. Conner was,” her voice cracked on the past tense word, “my friend.”

Carlos’s hand continued to make soothing circles on her back. With his other hand, he reached over to take her trembling ones clasped together on the table. “If it wasn’t Owen that you were friends with, though, why would he risk coming here with people who would recognize him to deliver a message that easily could have been left anonymously?”

Keys shrugged. “I don’t have that answer. But at least we know that Lionheart didn’t fake his death and betray us.”

“Lionheart?” Zoe inquired.

“When Conner died, he was a prospect,” Keys explained. “However, Bear pushed to have him buried in full colors, as a patched member. We gave him the road name ‘Lionheart’ to honor the sacrifice he made. I’m not sure if you know this, but he died saving Harper’s life, and the life of her unborn son, though she hadn’t known she was pregnant at the time.”

Zoe had to blink away tears. “No, I didn’t know that. Steel had told me he died honorably, but I didn’t know about Harper. Is that why her son’s name is Conner?”

Keys nodded. “She wanted to honor him in her own way.”

Zoe felt a tear escape the corner of her eye and quickly wiped it away. “That’s very sweet of her. He was my hero too.”

“I’ve been in contact with the people you were with in Montana.”

Zoe’s eyes widened at Keys’ words. “You have?”

Keys nodded. “I’ve known about the Mountain Mutineers for some time. That’s what they call themselves, by the way. It’s not that big of a stretch to suggest that Owen works for them. There aren’t many of us in the world who can do what I do, but they have a hacker among them that is nearly to my level. Because of that, they’ve been on my radar but I’ve never had reason to reach out to them before.”

Zoe was beyond impressed. She had never asked about the mysterious calculator app that had appeared on her phone or how Owen had known that Davis had been watching her on the camera planted inside her house. Anything more technologically challenging than downloading an app had always been out of her wheelhouse.

Creating fake identities was certainly not something she ever thought she’d need to know either.

“The identity of Clara Everwood is solid. The Mutineers have kept up appearances on it to make it seem like it’s an active identity.” Keys turned his laptop around to show her the screen. “They’ve even been updating your Facebook account.”

Zoe looked closer. A woman that could have been her—same height and body type—was standing by a waterfall with the caption Another great hike today. The hat and sunglasses made it hard to see the woman’s face fully.

Keys turned the computer back around. “You can live your life as Clara Everwood. There’s nothing stopping you. We can even make it official and hire movers to make it look like you moved to Mount Grove recently.”

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