Chapter 10 - Christopher's Blood)
Christopher returned to the mansion furious enough to frighten himself.
Margaret was waiting in the library.
He placed the clinic photograph in front of her.
"Who is my father?"
Margaret stared at the image.
"Thomas."
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not."
"Someone has tracked me since I was six years old. There is a file calling me Subject C and mentioning a paternal discrepancy."
Margaret sank into a chair.
Evelyn stood near the fireplace.
Yvette remained outside with Emma.
Christopher leaned over the desk.
"Who is my father?"
Margaret looked older suddenly.
"I don't know."
He stared at her.
She reached for the wooden box.
"There were rumors."
"What rumors?"
"Your mother and Thomas separated for several months before you were born."
Christopher had never known that.
"Why?"
"Thomas had discovered what his own father had done to me."
Margaret's voice trembled.
"He became obsessed with proving Grant was his brother. Your mother couldn't stand the chaos."
"Where did she go?"
"New York."
"With whom?"
Margaret shook her head.
"I don't know."
Christopher laughed bitterly.
"Everyone knows half the truth."
"That's what your family did. They divided secrets so no single person could expose them."
Christopher turned toward Evelyn.
"Can we test it?"
"Thomas is buried."
"So?"
"With a court order, possibly."
Margaret looked at him.
"You may not need to."
She removed an old envelope.
Inside was a lock of hair.
"Your father gave this to me."
Christopher stared.
"Why?"
"For Grant."
Thomas had intended to privately retest the paternity question.
The results never came back before his death.
Cole arranged expedited DNA analysis using Thomas's preserved hair, Christopher, and Margaret.
Grant remained missing.
Juliette remained in custody.
At 6:00 p.m., her attorney requested a meeting.
Juliette wanted to talk.
Christopher refused to sit in the same room with her.
Cole attended.
Two hours later he returned to the mansion.
"She gave us something."
Christopher looked up.
"What?"
"A location connected to Grant."
"Where?"
"Storage facility downtown."
"Why now?"
"Because prosecutors showed her the recovered messages."
Christopher felt no sympathy.
"She wants a deal."
"Probably."
"Did she admit pushing Emma?"
"Yes."
The word brought a complicated silence.
"Did she say why?"
Cole sat down.
"She says Grant told her she would lose everything if she backed out."
Christopher laughed without humor.
"Everything?"
"He had evidence she committed financial fraud before meeting you."
"Of course he did."
"She also owed him money."
"How much?"
"Two million."
Christopher stared.
"How does someone owe Grant two million dollars?"
"She says he financed her investment company."
Christopher remembered Juliette describing herself as independently wealthy.
Another lie.
"Did she know about Rachel?"
Cole's expression changed.
"Yes."
Christopher stood.
"What did she say?"
"Grant showed her photographs."
"Rachel alive?"
"Apparently."
Christopher gripped the back of a chair.
"Where is she?"
"Juliette says she doesn't know."
"What did Grant tell her?"
"That Rachel suffered memory loss after the accident. He claimed he rescued her before the vehicle caught fire."
Christopher felt nauseated.
"The body?"
"Juliette says Grant claimed another woman was in the car."
Christopher stared.
"Who?"
"She doesn't know."
Cole paused.
"There's something else."
Christopher waited.
"According to Juliette, Rachel eventually recovered most of her memory."
"Then why didn't she come home?"
"Grant convinced her that returning would put Emma in danger."
"From whom?"
"You."
Christopher stared at him.
"What?"
"Grant told Rachel that you were responsible for the crash."
For several seconds Christopher could not speak.
"Why would she believe that?"
"Brain injury. Missing memories. Manipulation. We don't know."
Christopher sat down.
Juliette had been manipulated by Grant.
Rachel had possibly been manipulated by Grant.
But the clinic evidence suggested someone had manipulated Grant too.
A chain of lies.
Every person convinced someone else was the monster.
"Storage facility," Christopher said. "What's inside?"
Cole handed him photographs.
The police had searched the unit.
They found passports.
Cash.
Copies of trust documents.
A laptop.
And dozens of photographs of Rachel.
The newest photograph had been taken eleven days earlier.
Rachel was entering a small cottage beside a lake.
Christopher stared at the address.
"She's there."
"Maybe."
"When do we go?"
"Officers are already on the way."
Christopher stood.
"I'm coming."
Cole looked at him for a long moment.
"Fine."
The cottage was ninety minutes away.
Christopher spent the drive staring through the window.
He imagined every possible version of the woman waiting there.
Rachel with no memory.
Rachel afraid of him.
Rachel willingly hiding.
Rachel controlled by Grant.
Rachel working with Grant.
He hated himself for considering the last possibility.
They arrived after dark.
Two officers approached the cottage first.
The front door was open.
Lights burned inside.
No one answered.
Christopher entered behind Cole.
A cup of tea was still warm.
A book lay open.
A woman's coat hung beside the door.
Then Christopher saw the photograph on the mantel.
Rachel holding Emma as a newborn.
His legs nearly failed.
"She's been here."
Cole searched the bedroom.
Empty.
In the bathroom, water still filled the tub.
Someone had left quickly.
A sound came from outside.
Christopher ran toward the back door.
A figure stood near the lake.
Female.
Dark coat.
Short brown hair.
"Rachel!"
The woman stopped.
Christopher's heart slammed against his ribs.
She turned slowly.
It was Rachel.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakably Rachel.
Christopher could not move.
Neither could she.
For three years he had dreamed of seeing her face again.
Never like this.
"Rachel."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Chris."
He took one step.
She stepped backward.
That broke him.
"It's me."
"I know."
"Emma is alive."
Rachel covered her mouth.
Christopher moved closer.
"She needs you."
Rachel shook her head.
"No."
"Rachel."
"I can't go back."
"Why?"
Her gaze shifted behind him.
Toward the trees.
"Because he found me."
Christopher turned.
A branch moved.
Cole shouted.
"Police!"
A gunshot cracked through the darkness.
The porch light exploded.
Christopher dropped.
Cole pulled him behind the wall.
May you like
Another shot struck the railing.
When Christopher looked toward the lake again, Rachel was gone.
