Page 85 of Avenging Angel

“God was watching out for me.”

That gets a chuckle out of him. “Then let’s see if He can get you out of your restraints.”

I don’t bother trying to escape. “If He wants to, He can. The Lord has performed much greater miracles than that to free someone from bondage. But Bennett, I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”

“And where’s that?”

I look outside again before meeting Bennett’s gaze. “Here with you. Isn’t that why you saved me? Granted, you did set explosives that trapped Angel and me in the mines for three days only to rescue me from an explosion at your parents’ house in Colorado Springs. The only conclusion I can come up with is that you need or want something from me.”

Bennett remains silent, getting up to pour himself another glass of whiskey. When he returns, he has a tall glass of water with a straw in it. He allows me to drink it until it’s gone before he speaks another word.

“You likely won’t believe me, Daisy, but I never intended to harm you. Not two decades ago, and not now. I set those explosives before you and Angel arrived; before the rest of your team showed up. They were meant for Eva, though at the time I wasn’t aware it was her who had been watching me. As far as saving you from the bomb at my parents’ house, the bomb had been under their floorboards for years. All I had to do was remotely activate it.”

My jaw drops as I think about the phone call he made outside of the cabin before reluctantly agreeing to come with me to Colorado. “Why would you do such a thing?”

“Because it was necessary to fully erase Logan Bloom from existence, and there was always the possibility my identity could be compromised. After Eva failed her mission and disappeared, the chances of that discovery increased exponentially. I’d already done most of the work, but there’s something heart-wrenching about blowing up the home you grew up in. I couldn’t do it unless it was required.”

“Yet you set the bomb anyway.”

Bennett takes another sip of whiskey; liquid courage, I suppose. “The evidence of who I was needed to disappear. Since my parents are always gone on the anniversary week that Emily died, there wasn’t a risk of them being home.”

“And if they were? What then?”

Bennett leans forward so I can see the truth in his eyes. “I wouldn’t have killed them if that’s what you’re thinking. I would have come up with some way to get them out of the house; likely a broken gas line or something. It’s not like I don’t have the resources to pull it off. You have to admit, my saving you was a boon because you trusted me after that.”

I sigh. “Why did you save me, Bennett? You already said I’m a loose end. There have been plenty of opportunities to take me out of the equation.”

He chugs the last of his whiskey, leans his head against the back of the seat, and closes his eyes.

“There are two reasons. The first is that I promised you answers, and I never make a promise that I don’t intend to keep. You’re special, Daisy. You always have been. Even when I watched you from the shadows, arguing with your parents all those years ago, I could see a goodness in you that reminded me so much of Emily.”

“I’m not her.”

He smiles in a way that makes him almost likeable. “No, you’re not. However, the qualities you possess are very similar. You stand up for what you believe in and don’t back down. You try to find the good in people even when there’s no good to be found. To you, people aren’t a means to an end even when the end justifies the means. I used to be like that. It’s why I joined the CIA.”

“What happened? What changed?”

“Brad Callahan happened.”

My lips purse of their own accord. “Brad did not kill Emily. He was at the campsite with two other people. He has an alibi.”

Bennett pounds his fist on the armrest. “He didn’t protect her! Brad was engaged to my sister, and he let her go hiking by herself. It took days to find her body, and the medical examiner said it was a slow death! Brad is to blame! She suffered, so he should suffer!”

I rear back as though I’d been slapped because the vehemence coming from Bennett feels directed at me for not casting blame on the man he feels is responsible. “Wait. Are you telling me that Brad has nothing to do with this? He’s not your partner?”

“All the evidence points to him. I made sure of that. The lucrative accounting job at Dominion Atrix Group, setting up his false identity, the money trail: it’s all me. He just didn’t know I was pulling the strings to frame him. By all accounts, the FBI will have no choice but to arrest him; especially when they find Genevieve further back in the mining tunnels bound with zip ties and duct tape over her mouth.”

Bennett continues to monologue about how he sent Brad a letter outlining all of the national parks that Emily had dreamed of going to before he faked his own death, guilting Brad into living out Emily’s last wish. “Every year, I’d inundate his email with ads for a specific park on the list, brochures in his mailbox, and eventually targeted social media ads or posts. It really is easy to plant an idea in someone’s brain.”

“Why the pattern of triangles?” I ask.

“You already know the answer. It was a clue to connect Brad to Dominion. I thought someone would have figured it out long before now, and that he’d already be rotting in prison. But I made an error. Brad was never a suspect because there was nothing tying him to the abductions. Vacationing isn’t a crime, so I rectified that when I anonymously sent him the job opening for an auditor position within the NPS, highlighting freedom to travel, benefits, and paid expenses.”

“Then you probably shouldn’t have taken the case away from the FBI in the first place. I’m sure they would have drawn the conclusions you wanted them to if you’d let them,” I say, stating what seems obvious to me.

Bennett gets up to check on Eva behind me. “Yes, well, Eva didn’t do what she was supposed to. If she had, then there would have been no reason to take the case away from the FBI. Unfortunately, when they matched Maarika Kivemäe’s DNA to Eva Vidal, it would eventually have led directly back to Dominion. Eva was ordered to kill Andrus Saarenõlv, and she didn’t. Dominion had to send in someone else to do it.”

“You framed her.”