Chapter 13 - The Night at Caroline's Cottage)
Everything happened quickly.
Palmer radioed for backup.
Voss shouted from outside.
"Margaret."
She closed her eyes.
Adrian pulled her away from the window.
Voss called again.
"I know you're inside."
Martin Kell held Michael by the arm.
Michael's face was bruised.
Adrian whispered, "How did they get him?"
Palmer looked furious.
Michael had left police protection less than an hour earlier after receiving a message supposedly from Melissa.
A trap.
Voss shouted.
"Bring me the tape."
Adrian looked toward Margaret.
"He knows."
"Of course he knows."
"You told him?"
"No."
Voss continued.
"And the bracelet."
Adrian realized Voss wanted everything Richard had hidden.
Evidence.
Margaret whispered, "He cannot get that bracelet."
"Why?"
"It contains blood."
Adrian stared.
"A newborn blood sample."
"Enough for modern DNA testing."
Adrian understood.
They could identify his brother genetically if they had a comparison.
Voss did not want that.
Outside, Michael shouted.
"Don't give him anything."
Kell struck him.
Margaret flinched.
Adrian's anger rose.
Palmer moved toward the rear door.
"Backup is eight minutes out."
Voss shouted again.
"Eight minutes is too long, Detective."
Palmer stopped.
Voss knew about the call.
Someone was monitoring police radio.
Kell dragged Michael closer to the lake.
Voss held a pistol.
Grace was not there.
Lily was safe at Morrell House.
For that Adrian was grateful.
He moved toward the door.
Palmer blocked him.
"No."
"He wants me."
"He wants evidence."
"He won't shoot the person who can access the trust."
Palmer looked at him.
Adrian continued.
"Not yet."
Margaret whispered, "Adrian."
He turned.
She removed something from beneath her sweater.
A locket.
Caroline's initials were engraved on it.
"This belonged to your mother."
Adrian took it.
Inside was a tiny photograph of two boys.
One was Adrian at about six.
The other was older.
Maybe ten.
Adrian stared.
"Who is this?"
Margaret looked toward the window.
"Your brother."
Adrian's heart stopped.
"He knew me?"
"No."
"Then why are we in a photograph together?"
"It isn't real."
Adrian looked closer.
The images had been combined.
A handmade composite.
Caroline had created a picture of the two sons she believed she would never see together.
Adrian swallowed hard.
"Who is he?"
Margaret whispered a name.
Adrian stared at her.
For several seconds the entire mystery seemed to stop.
"That's impossible."
"It's true."
Adrian looked at the photograph again.
He knew the man.
Not well.
But he knew him.
More importantly, Samuel Voss knew him too.
Adrian realized why Margaret had been terrified to say the name.
Before he could process it, a gunshot shattered the cottage window.
Everyone ducked.
Voss shouted.
"Last warning."
Adrian stepped outside.
Palmer cursed behind him.
Voss smiled.
"Richard's boy."
Adrian walked slowly toward the lake.
Michael was on his knees.
Kell stood behind him.
"Let him go."
Voss shook his head.
"The tape."
"You already know what's on it."
"I want the original."
"Why?"
"Because your father recorded more than one conversation."
Adrian stopped.
Margaret had only given them one cassette.
"There are more?"
Voss smiled.
"Ask your nanny."
Adrian looked back at the cottage.
Margaret stood in the doorway.
Her face said enough.
There were more recordings.
Voss continued.
"Your father spent his final year building a confession."
"About you?"
"About all of them."
"Charles."
"Yes."
"St. Catherine's."
"Yes."
"My mother's child."
Voss's smile disappeared.
"Especially him."
Adrian looked toward Michael.
"What do you want?"
"The bracelet. The recordings. And Margaret."
"No."
Voss lifted the pistol.
Michael shouted, "Don't."
Then another voice came from the darkness near the lake.
"Samuel."
Voss froze.
A woman stepped from between the trees.
Gray hair.
Dark coat with a stitched patch at the shoulder.
Michael stopped breathing.
"Melissa?"
Vanessa's mother walked into the light.
Voss's face changed completely.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
Melissa Grant stared at him.
"It's over."
Voss laughed.
"You've said that before."
Michael rose.
Kell tried to pull him back.
Melissa looked at her brother.
"I'm sorry."
Michael's eyes filled.
"Twenty seven years."
"I know."
"You were alive."
"I know."
"Vanessa thought you were dead."
Melissa closed her eyes.
"I know."
Voss shouted.
"Enough."
He aimed the gun toward Melissa.
Palmer moved.
Kell panicked.
Michael slammed backward into him.
The gun fired.
Adrian heard Margaret scream.
Then chaos.
Palmer tackled Voss.
Michael struck Kell.
Melissa fell.
Adrian ran toward her.
For one horrible second he thought she had been shot.
She had not.
The bullet had struck the wooden railing behind her.
Within minutes police vehicles filled the road.
Voss was arrested.
Kell was arrested.
Michael held Melissa as though he was afraid she might disappear again.
Adrian stood beside the lake holding Caroline's locket.
The immediate danger was over.
But one question remained.
Who was his brother?
Margaret approached him.
"You know now."
Adrian looked at the photograph.
"Does he know?"
"No."
"Did my father tell him?"
"He tried."
"What happened?"
"Richard died first."
Adrian looked toward the police cars.
"Then tomorrow I tell him."
Margaret grabbed his arm.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Samuel isn't the only person who wanted that identity hidden."
Adrian looked at her.
"Who else?"
May you like
Margaret stared toward Morrell House in the distance.
"Someone still inside your family."
