"Sir, when can we inform Miss Thorne on the whereabouts of her father?"
Nolan considered Denise's question carefully. Most of him wanted to tell Emily immediately, but a smaller part of him would rather wait; he wanted Emily to tell him her secret before he told her his. It was petty of him, he should be above such a thing, and yet...
"I'll arrange a conference call with her when she gets back to school."
Across the city, Denise raised a brow, curious. "Back to school, sir? Where is she?"
"Japan. Tokyo's business district, to be exact."
"I wasn't aware she was traveling."
"That's because she didn't tell me, and so I didn't tell you." It was a struggle to keep his voice even. He had been at once hurt and angry with Emily for what she was doing, traveling alone without informing him, risking herself and the secret he'd built. Still, no need to show his angst to Denise. "She's been there a week. Eye in the sky. I've been monitoring her bank transactions so I knew when she bought the ticket, booked her hotel room under a fake name and every time she's gone out for tempura and souvenirs." Nolan breathed out lightly and turned his eyes to the view out his office window. It was dark out now, he'd taken to working late through the nights as autumn was giving way to winter. Soon, Emily would join him in the city. "What I can't figure out is why she went there in the first place."
Denise thought on the question. "Who does she know in Tokyo?"
"No one. Emily Thorne doesn't know anyone, but Amanda Clarke might remember a few people. The Clarkes lived there for a few years while David was consulting. She'd been friends with the daughter of one of David's business associates there, Satoshi Takeda. It's strange, though. As far as I can tell she hasn't even reached out to the Takeda family so I'm not sure what she's doing."
Denise absorbed his statements, thinking of the risks, the consequences, the contingencies. "You truly think she would approach this man, Takeda?" Through the line, Nolan could hear the rapid clicking of her keyboard. No doubt she now knew nearly everything about the man, which wouldn't be much. Takeda was notoriously avoidant of the media. "Would she do that, endanger her new identity in such a way by approaching him? After everything you've done for her?"
"I didn't think she would, but this stunt of hers proves I don't know everything she's thinking."
The man was restless over the situation. Emily knew that Nolan could check in with her at any time, but her not mentioning this trip to Japan was pure proof that she was comfortable with hiding things and lying to him. Did she think he simply wasn't paying attention or that he didn't care? He had half a mind to fly to Tokyo just to catch her off-guard, but he'd restrained himself. He wanted to see what she would do.
Maybe she would tell him once she was ready. Maybe she was waiting for the right time.
Nolan didn't like secrets between them, but he was still sitting on a secret of his own.
Well.
Not his secret, but David's.
Emily wasn't the only daughter of David Clarke.
It wasn't his secret to tell, so he'd resolved to keep quiet.
Emily stared down into her bowl of ramen, the steam rising to heat her face. She wasn't hungry now or the last several times she'd come to this tiny restaurant but she wasn't here for her appetite. In her research she had come across a decade-old magazine article in which Mr. Takeda mentioned one of his favorite local lunch spots.
So.
Rather than approach the man's headquarter building - and the very real possibility of being detained by building security or the Japanese police - Emily had made the short habit of coming to this corner in the hopes of seeing a familiar face, if not an entirely friendly one.
So far she'd had no luck, and her trip was ending soon. In two days she would fly back to school and three weeks after that the semester would be over. From there, she would fly home to Nolan and, she hoped with everything that she had, she would see her father again. There was so much she wanted to tell David. Her triumphs on the volleyball court and in the classroom, she wanted to tell him of her friends and her boyfriend, the mundane details of her daily life...more than anything she wanted to hear her father's voice, smell his scent, be held by him like a little girl again.
She took a hard gulp of her tea, relishing the burn down her throat.
I'm not a little girl. I'm not weak. I don't need anyone, I-
She started as she felt a heavy hand clamp on her shoulder from behind.
"Amanda Clarke."
The girl sat in a basic office chair, struggling to remain calm. The view over Tokyo out of the floor to ceiling windows behind the man was breathtaking but her focus was on the man at the desk before her. He was older than she remembered, stark gray at his temples and shadows under his eyes; she understood all too well the physical toll that grief and stress could take. Still, his suit was impeccable, his face calm. But then, why wouldn't he be calm? They were in his office, in his building, in his country...and no one knew she was here.
O, God, what was I thinking?
She clenched her hands in her lap to keep their shaking under control. "How did you find me?"
He blinked at the question. "I frequent that restaurant. I am an important man and as such my security team is aware of anything out of the ordinary. A girl like you...well, you understand."
"A girl like me?"
"Ah, I see. You don't understand. This area is not such a melting pot as you know in your country. An American girl coming there twice a day for a week outside of the tourist season, that is unusual. From there it was just recognizing your face from the footage presented to me...you've colored your hair and it has been some time since I've last seen you, but I remember. I always keep track of my business associates, their spouses, even their children. In business, in life, it is important to remain vigilant."
They were both silent for a moment. She absorbed his words, now realizing the spectacle she'd made of herself, how foolish she was for thinking she could escape notice in a place like this. She'd been found out and taken by the very man she'd flown across the world to see; now he sat before her expecting an explanation. Emily visibly deflated, beaten by this disaster she'd created.
"Mr. Takeda...I came here to find you."
"Clearly."
"I wanted to tell you that I'm so sorry you lost your fiance."
"Thank you for your condolences."
His face was a mask.
Distantly, despite her fear, Emily was envious of his cool demeanor; she had tried to bury her true emotions for months, hiding behind makeup and hair dye and fake personas, yet here she was confronted for the first time and her resolve had crumbled apart within minutes. She was shaking like a leaf, trying not to cry when she hadn't lost anyone, yet this man had lost the woman he loved and didn't even blink when he spoke of it.
She didn't know what he would do to her or how he would react to her words, but she licked her lips and found her voice once more. "I also wanted to tell you that my father is innocent."
"On this...we agree."
Emily's eyes widened. No one outside of Nolan believed in David Clarke, even Denise had her doubts about her father. "You think he's innocent too?"
"No. I think he may know who did it and that they framed him for what he knows." He clarified. "That doesn't make him innocent, only less guilty than whoever makes up the Initiative. And I think you know who that may be."
"Me?"
"Yes, you, Amanda. Or is it Emily now? Cousin to Nolan Ross. You were pictured in an American tabloid last year outside of your father's prison. Nolan Ross was attacked soon after, said to be in the company of a girl, his cousin, who at that time shared a resemblance to Amanda Clarke. You don't look anything like you did in that picture now. He may have made his statements to the press distancing himself from your father, but please understand that I was in business with your father and I once met Nolan Ross while NolCorp was just coming up - Ross loves your father above anyone. And you show up here, a girl traveling alone, staying in a luxury hotel under an assumed name. All of this, your new identity, this disguise, the money, it's all Nolan Ross's doing, yes?"
"...yes."
Takeda eyed her, unblinking. He could see that she had suffered, but there was more. She had changed, grown. She was a woman restrained by her years, at once impulsive and calculating, hot rage and cold removal. A far cry from the sweet girl who had befriended his own daughter, those years ago during David's consultancy.
"Amanda. There is no point in keeping the lie now. Tell me."
She was quiet for several moments, fisting her hands and clenching her jaw. The only people who knew were her father, Denise, Marco and Nolan himself - it was strange, explaining everything to this man who was little more than a stranger to her.
"Nolan, he...he saved me. After the raid on the house they took my father away and I was put in a children's home. It was more like an asylum. No one would listen and no one would tell me anything! It was awful, I was there for weeks and they...and then Nolan and his lawyer came for me. I stayed with him for months before we were able to see my father in prison. The lawyer, she was able to get me twenty minutes alone with him, once a month. It was everything to me. I didn't have my father but at least I had that one visit to look forward to. Life was so simple in the Hamptons, Nolan and I built a routine. We'd go shopping and to the beach and out to eat, he taught me to drive and he bought me a bar. Nolan didn't have to do any of it, but he gave up so much to help me, even his..." She caught herself, then redirected. "That tabloid picture came out and ruined everything. All at once, the Hamptons weren't safe. Nolan wouldn't let me leave the house and he had to go to the press and lie, saying he had nothing to do with the Clarke family. After that, he had to get back to his life at NolCorp, but he couldn't do that if I was with him. I couldn't stay. Nolan told me his idea to make me into someone new and I...well, what could I do but agree? He gave me a new name, a new look and then he sent me to school. Nolan hid me away from the world to keep me safe." She reached to her face and brushed a tear from her cheek.
She had relived the entire ordeal all over again in the minute it took to tell it.
It was an exhausting relief.
Again, Takeda seemed neither surprised nor impressed with her story of Nolan's altruism. "He is a decent man."
"He is." Unbidden, the memory of the night Marco left and Nolan's heartbreak hidden behind so many smiles. She knew he never would have told her about Marco, he knew she would only blame herself. And she still did. "There's no one else like him."
"Your father often spoke favorably of him."
"They've been friends for a long time. My father trusts him." To anyone else in the world, that statement would condemn Nolan as an accomplice - to Takeda, they were only a confirmation of trust.
The man crossed his legs as he leaned forward across his desk very slightly, suddenly curious. "Does he know you came here?"
Emily took a deep breath, shamed. "I didn't tell him."
"The man has risked everything he built to help you. He may not have said anything about it yet, but he must know you are here. Does he know who downed Flight 197?"
"No." She shook her head. "My father thinks it was someone at Grayson Global. One person or maybe the whole company is a front for Americon Initiative, we don't know for sure. Nolan and I have been trying to figure out who could be behind it but we don't know anything at all, really. And then out of nowhere my father confessed at the trial!"
"Do you know why?"
"No. The police took him away and we haven't been able to get back into contact with him." She continued wringing her hands in her lap. "I stayed with him for as long as I could before Nolan had to send me back to school. I should have told him I was coming here and I'm so sorry that I didn't. Mr. Takeda, please. I just wanted to tell you that I was sorry for your loss."
"Again, thank you. I can see that you are sincere. I can also see that you believe your father to be innocent. I too was surprised by his confession. Much like you, I may have some idea why he spoke to condemn himself. Come, Amanda." He stood and buttoned his suit jacket, all business. "You and I have much to discuss."
The girl stood and followed him, this man who now held two lives in his hands.
