This could be the end of everything.
Landon has less than four days left.
He is losing his life and I am letting it happen as I walk through the path of my brother's garden.
He said dad called him and told him I was in the country, so he invited me to visit him. Brooks informed me a while ago that dad was safe and except for following him around to find Caitlin, Landon stayed out of his way.
Same thing goes for Michael. Landon mist knew all about him, yet he stayed far away.
As far as I would if he didn't find out I am here.
The thing is, Micheal and I have a great relationship, it slipped some ranks down since we live so separately, but not much has changed. A bond between two brothers is something a few people could understand to the core.
I love him and Caitlin the same amount, yet as much as I am closer to her, I feel the need to be approved of by him.
Disappointment that comes from a parent is not a rare thing, but an older sibling can break you much more than any other adult.
I never told him about Landon, not as much as Caitlin knew. I couldn't bear him looking down at me with distaste.
"People still knock," I flip my head to the side. "In case you forgot."
Micheal is standing leaned on the pillar next to stairs, smiling as I can tell how long he looks and waiting for me to knock. But instead I stared at the wooden door for at least five minutes.
"Yeah," I speak, walking towards him. "But the wood looked so old, I was worried it might break."
He laughs, hands clasping my back when we hug. He is much taller than Cate and I, so we both look more as his children than his younger siblings even though he is two years older.
"How considerate." He says, pulling back as he keeps his hands on my shoulder. "Should I be offended that you didn't want to visit."
I clear my throat, looking around for an answer. "It's not that I didn't want to visit, I just had some business to take care-"
"Like lying to your brother." he throws an arm around my shoulder, leading us into his grand house. The whole bloody mansion he has is nothing Cate and I can't afford, yet we love modest rather than...well this.
I chuckle. "I am the one with the actual important job, Mike."
He gasps in fake offendence. "I beg your pardon, teeth health is just as important as finding serial killers."
"Sure."
The usual chit chat continues all the way through the long hallway, until one of the maids, that I remember to be called Miranda, opens the door to the living room with a nod.
As soon as I enter the room, the sight makes me pause.
Leah is jumping around the furniture as Caitlin runs around her, both of them playing some sort of game of cat and mouse.
I don't have time to process what is happening until Micheal whistles and their eyes snap back to me.
"Dad!" Leah is yelling and jumping from the armchair to a table, then back at the floor as she throws her arms around me.
I am too shocked to do anything at first, but then my instinct takes over as I lift her in my arms, and look back between Micheal and Caitlin.
Caitlin is smiling at Leah, but the mask over her face is evident to anyone that knows her. She is hiding a fear of sketching, concern washed over her as she hugs herself while Micheal looks half guilty, half confused, but determined.
"Did you know," Leah pulls back. "That uncle Mike and aunty Cate saw a volcano. When are we going to see volcano eruption dad?"
I narrowed my eyes at her, God knows what did these too fill her head with. "Not now, sweety..." I dragged my words out, still confused from all of this.
"Hey, Lee girl," Micheal comes closer, placing an elbow on my shoulder. "Do you want to be a real life panda?"
Leah shrieks at that, making me shut my eyes as she nods and practically lets Micheal rip her out of my arms. He only winks at all of us and leaves the room with my child, on the way to show her his private mini zoo.
When the door slams shut, I turn to Caitlin and I don't even have to ask if she has anything to do with this. Instead, I go with. "Why are you not home?"
She sighs, walking towards the kitchen. I am following her, as I come closer she walks past the tea cup and opens the drawer with liquid.
She is taking out two unopened bottles of beer and the glass clatters over each other when she places them on the counter.
"I went to see Lilah." she says when the cap plops from one bottle.
I stare at her impassively as she removes the other cap and pushes to the bottle in front of me, taking a large sip. I still stay quiet, when she licks her mouth from the liquid.
"Everytime I think there is an end to your stupidity, you do something like this."
"I had to see her one last time." she defends, helplessly.
"Why? So you could feel better after it?"
"Yes." she snaps at me, as if I have caused any of this.
"And do you?" I match her tone of voice which makes her ease down.
She doesn't reply, but I don't need her to. The answer is as clear as the lake water as I sit down on the chair, taking a sip of the beer I hate so much but still can't refuse.
"If you just called me I would have told you that it would only make you feel worse by going."
She taps her fingers over the porcelain, staring down at it, debating if she should speak her mind.
I wait carefully when she asks. "Is that why you never visited Landon?"
My grasp on the bottle throat tightens, not fully expecting this blow as I, of course, lie again. "I had nothing to say to Landon, that's why I never visited him."
She hums, obviously noy believing me, but still sure of her side. "Well, I had something to tell to Lilah and you should be glad that I did."
I narrow my eyes at that. "And why is that?"
She bites her lip, taking a long sip of the liquid then adds with a deep long breath before she jumps back on the kitchen table next to the sink.
"The story is not short by any means, so you have to let me tell it all, before you jump into any conclusions, all right?"
"Wha-"
"Just promise me." she cuts me off, insisting as she clenches on the glass for dear life. Despite my furrowed expression, I stay seated calmly and nod, letting her continue.
Another deep breath.
And she starts.
"Firstly, I don't think I need a to explain it to you exactly what Landon's job was back in Snowcombe."
I nod, remembering the confusion that I felt when I learned his gang was not as usually crime mafias. Snowcombe was a frequently small town, yet all Landon's jobs were related to keeping it alive.
The money he transforms over the borders across the pacific were spent on the civilians there in exchange for silence and loyalty.
It explains why the government could never pin any of his crimes on him or the rest of his people. They all vouched for him, covered, lied for alibis, made sure others could never bat an crossed eye at him.
That's the main reason I was sent to infiltrate it for such a long time.
It was the only way I could uncover all the secrets and bring them to court.
"After you helped put Landon down, the rest of the town fell down as well."
Another piece of information which is nothing new. Despite being civilians, they all helped the decades long crimes. From a dark but on the strangers eye happy town, only empty houses and streets are left there.
Nobody lives in Snowcombe anymore.
"I know."
She nods. "Well, do you know what happened to the people from there?"
"They got arrested and put in prison and charged with half of everything Landon has done."
She clicks her tongue, looking out of the window for a long moment, before turning to me again. There is a strange uncomfortable feeling under my skin as I wait for her to speak.
"They are not in prison, Winter. The Bureau lied to you."
I lean back, thankfully already sitting so the words don't manage to stir my posture. I open my mouth to speak, but she lifts her hand and I am closing my mouth, remembering my promise.
Still the words sound surreal. What are they even supposed to mean? Lied about what? And if they are not in prison, where else?
I admit I never tried to bother and look where they are, but still-
"The FBI, have some sort of contract with the government, so all of the criminals that they don't think are dangerous enough but make sure they have no one on the outside to worry for them, they take them for their own dirty business."
What?
"Some of them are far east, according to Lilah there are hidden human laboratories. They are being kept as human rats for their experiments there. Then some are illegally sent in South Africa and forced into caves to mine for crystals to return back here. One large portion of them is stealing oil from Saudi Arabia-"
"What, Caitlin-"
"Then of course that last one. They have the women and children locked up somewhere while they threaten their husbands with their safety. They use the skilled and trained man for undercover hitmen-"
"Caitlin-" I slide from the chair, not a good idea when the weight chokes me down.
"Winter." she raises her voice, wanting me to keep up on my promise, but I feel like I can't think properly.
This cannot be real.
I am not clueless, we all know that government corruption is something which will always be there. But not like this, not with the Bureau, not with them.
This can't be true.
I need air.
"Alena Brooks is one of the members of counsel that leads this mission."
My hands fly to my hair, this is stupid. Words are meaningless, there is no proof besides the determination in Caitlin's eyes and lies on Lilah's tongue.
It's all there is.
Just lies.
I can't breathe.
"That can't be true-"
"She is the one that sent you on that mission, Winter." Caitlin pleads. "She forbade you from leading the aftermath of the mission after Landon was arrested. She didn't allow us to tell you about Leah."
"Yes, so I could continue with my mission." I argue back.
"Oh please." she snaps, hands in the air. "That is a choice Winter. This is a democracy and not a dictatorship, you are allowed to make a choice and she stripped you from it."
My head hurts from all of this. Yes, maybe the choices she made were not the best, but this is absurd.
Fresh air. Fresh air. Fresh ai-
"She made me took Leah from you for the Witness Protection-"
"Oh, don't wash your hands now." I spit the words at her. "That was your choice."
Words are stuck in her throat, but she nods with regret. "I know, but she orchestrated it."
I scoff. "Yes, of course."
She shakes her head. "Let me finish, Winter."
"Caitlin-"
"Just let me finish!" she yells. "You promised."
I close my mouth, gritting my teeth as I nod at her to continue this nonsense.
She is nodding again, looking around as she massages her own forearms. She leans back, looking at me. "It's true, Winter, whether you believe it or not."
I need something stronger than this beer.
"One of them, I forgot what she said his name was, but he managed to escape and inform Landon about it. After that, he began planning his escape and what to do after, that's why Lilah was brought into the story."
"What does she have to do with anything?"
Caitlin blows out a deep breath, before adding. "Lilah is Landon's half sister."
I drop down on the chair once more.
My face drops, or maybe jumps, whatever you could describe the shock that follows with. And for the first time today, I feel like the pieces are being connected.
"Her mother was a criminal, but a petty one when you compare her to Landon. So one day, she came across that town and met his dad. That was couple of years after Landon's mom died, she-"
"Died in childbirth, yes I know." I finish for her and she nods. I'm not even sure why she seems surprised that I know that.
After all, I once used to be the person he trusted with his life.
"They had a fling, but she left and only later found out she got pregnant. Of course, she never wanted to tell his father and later on, he was killed as well so all the traces just disappeared. Until Lilah began searching for her family after her mother died, then Landon learned the truth about everything but kept it a secret, even from you."
Even from you.
I should not feel the anger and envy I do for that. Of course he had the right to keep things hidden, and on top of the things I lied about this one seems meaningless.
But it's not.
Because then he used to trust me with everything, everything but this.
"At first, all they wanted was for Landon to escape and gather some of his men and just straight up attack the Bureau." I snort, not even slightly surprised. "But then, one time Meredith went overboard to find some evidence for it, and she stumbled across some men in suits that captured her."
Shame they didn't kill her. I think, but don't say it out loud.
"They found out who she was, then told her who they were." she says, looking at me so intensely as if I should know an answer to that question.
But I suppose I do.
My mind switches back to a few days ago, and the papers which I spotted on Landon's desk.
"MI6 agents?" I ask, still in disbelief when she nods.
"What the hell do they want?"
She tilts her head. "I already told you about the deal the FBI has with the government, and these are not the only examples. They have been sending, mayne not them, but criminals similar to them to do their job in the UK, until a few years ago, one of them was caught."
I feel like a child being told that fairy tales they believe in are nothing more than a trick for children to shut up and go to sleep.
I feel lighheaded.
I think I need fresh air.
But I need the rest of the story more.
"After a while, he told them the whole story and since then the British government, mostly MI6, had the FBI on its radar. So when you arrested Landon and Meredith was caught, they all began piecing things together until they finally reached Landon."
She places the bottle back on the table. "So, you know the rest. They faked Lilah's documents, she joined the Bureau and your team and their plan began."
For now, the words are keeping my interest clear while I listen.
"Lilah was meant to obtain all the information she could to prove legally of their actions, then when Landon escapes, their focus would be on him and Lilah would transfer all the information she had and even more during that time. She was meant to still play her part even after being captured, but they didn't expect you to see through it."
I should feel some sort of pride, I suppose, for stepping over the enemy's plan and tricking them, but I feel empty of joy.
"Now, the MI6 has most of the information they need to go threaten the FBI to release their stolen subjects or they will go public with what they learned."
We all know that the FBI could never allow that. The conspiracy theorist will always exist, but if anything like this ever goes public the whole country will fall. Economy will drop, the power of politics will be as good as nonexistent, masses of people enraged, and if history has taught us anything, a revolution would follow, not to even add all the other strong forces which would see the USA's weakness and attack.
The country cannot afford a war. People cannot live through it, again.
"But that is not all." she adds.
My hands go over my face, dragged slowly as I stay still in shock, disbelief, fear, I'm not sure what else is there.
"What else is there?" I ask, desperate for this to be a nightmare which will soon end.
"Landon." she replies and I freeze.
What about Landon?
I lower my hands and she looks at me but this time with pity.
"Lilah told me you already knew, but they let themselves be caught, but it was meant to be a part of their plan."
Even though I already knew this part, a whole side of my head hurts from the idiocy of that plan.
What good could that even achieve?
"When he struck a deal with them, his part was to release them, which obviously the MI6 agreed to because it was in their best interest as well, but it was also for him to be free."
I feel my breathing getting harsher when I open my mouth, but she beats me to it. "Not just out of prison, Winter. Free, as in fully free to live and not as a fugitive, just not on these lands."
The air leaving my hands, too far away from me and I walk past her, pulling the window above the sink open. The wave of wind hits me as I swallow down and nod for her to continue.
My hands are shaking.
"But to do that, they needed him to be in prison as a charged criminal and not a fugitive with now even more crimes on his head and certainly not with a death sentence on his head. If he had more time, they were planning on escaping again, but now-"
"Oh, God." I turn the water on, the steam hits my hands as hard as it does on my face. I don't know if it's sweat mixed with cold water, but this is becoming unbearable.
I turn around and rush to the door.
"Winter." she goes after me, grasping my hand but I quickly turn to push it away. "Do not. I am not dumb, I know how the rest of your story goes."
I remove her hand and use my elbow to open the door as I go for the main, she is still following trying to get me to stop, but I have already grabbed keys from Micheal's table.
When the fresh air hits my face, problems still don't get solved by clear oxygen. In fact, even more weight drops on my shoulder as I click the button and lock the car as I try to enter it.
"Where are you going?" Caitlin tries to stop me as I witness Michael standing on the front door, weirded out and confused expression on him.
I shot him an apology for stealing his car and the chaos I created while leaving the house, but I have no time to waste now.
"To see Landon."