Chapter Text
“He came ‘round looking for ya today Liv.”
The words were simple, they were clear. She knew who he was and she knew it would be inevitable that he would find out she was gone. That she had packed her life into boxes, watched as a man picked it up in a truck and then she had put her son on a plane and relocated.
Her retirement wasn’t completely forced, nor was it completely by choice. The damage had been done. Her attack had left her terrified. Not for herself, she was terrified for Noah. There were the night terrors he started having, he went from enjoying being out at dance and around the city to wanting to be home at all time. She knew it was because of the attack, and he knew that redirecting her energy to taking down BX9 wasn’t going to solve anything for Noah.
So when the McCann family mentioned a relocation, and McGrath mentioned a package, an opportunity to leave it all behind her, she took it. She watched the truck drive away, hugged Fin like her life depended on it and then they were gone.
They had stayed in a rental for a few months, but by the time summer hit, Olivia had closed on a property. It was amazing to her, the difference in real estate between Manhattan and North Carolina. Of course she had always known that it was different, but it was a shock to her. She had finally used some of the money she had inherited from her mother and once the school year started, Olivia planned to start volunteering with some local advocacy groups. Her relationship with the McCann’s had evolved. She felt comfortable sending Noah to visit them, they were about a 10 minute drive away and Connor was in the same school zone as Noah. The pair had gone away to a wedding and left Connor with Olivia and Noah which made Olivia feel more comfortable with the situation. She didn’t really have a choice but to feel better about it, she had relocated her son, she had moved away from the family she had built…this time she had left him without a word and changed her number as soon as she could. Of course changing her number wasn’t about getting away from Elliot. It was necessary given her line of work, it was a risk to keep all of those contacts and connections, and its as a risk she couldn’t take.
So Olivia wasn’t ignoring his calls. She just hadn’t reached out…she didn’t know how to. This wasn’t the same as when he vanished for a decade, they weren’t who they were when he had vanished for a decade. She had thought at first, once the cloud of grief cleared, that maybe they would find each other… but that had never materialized and Olivia wasn’t sure she could handle any more lingering what if’s if they weren’t even living in the same state.
Olivia clutched her phone in one hand and the stem of her wineglass in the other.
I’ll call him
It was a lie. They both knew that much.
He hired a PI Liv, he knows where you are.
There it was.
The other shoe had dropped.
It wasn’t like she had made much effort to hide herself. No assumed name, no blonde hair. She was just no longer in Manhattan.
She wanted to ask Fin how long she had, how long until everything blew up in her face and the peaceful views of Lake Norman in front of her were disturbed by Italian loafers and a well tailored suit.
The wine suddenly didn’t taste as smooth as she looked out at the water. She ran a hand through her hair. It had grown longer and she had enjoyed how it got lighter in the sun, her skin was tanned and her freckles were on full display as she stood at the edge of her dock in a v-neck cotton dress with black detailing. She had bought it on sale a few weeks earlier at J Crew, loving that it was sustainably made and supported women in Africa. This was her favourite place. Her favourite place in the 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom home she had purchased. Her bedroom gave her views of the lake from the main floor, Noah had a room on the second floor with a similar view and plenty of room for friends in the bonus room above the 3 car garage. She had a company move down her old Mustang, the one she had bought years earlier and then when she arrived in North Carolina she bought herself a new Suburban. One garage spot was full of stuff they hadn’t dealt with yet, Christmas decorations that hadn’t been opened because a holiday season hadn’t passed in their new home, clothes that she wondered if she would ever use again because business casual was no longer a necessary part of her day, bikes and scooters for Noah…it was perfect.
It was the sound of his feet first. The distinct sound of his footsteps that she had known for so many years, this time instead of on the streets of Manhattan, they were coming towards her, on gravel at first and then she heard it change to the composite wood that made up her dock.
“You’re one hell of a woman to track down, Liv.”