Chapter 15 - The Brother Behind the Door)
Adrian did not sleep that night.
Margaret told him pieces.
Never all at once.
Caroline had been twenty one when she became pregnant.
She and Richard had temporarily separated.
During that period, something happened.
Margaret would not identify the father immediately.
Not because she wanted to protect him.
Because the name connected several families still involved with Morrell Holdings.
According to Margaret, Charles discovered Caroline's pregnancy before Richard did.
He arranged everything.
The secret hospital wing.
The falsified death.
The disappearance of the child.
Richard married Caroline afterward believing the baby had died.
Years later, after Adrian was born, Caroline began suspecting the truth.
She spent decades searching.
Then Melissa Grant contacted her.
Melissa knew where the child had been placed.
Before she could reveal the full truth, Caroline died.
Adrian listened to Richard's remaining tapes one by one.
The first described payments.
The second described Voss.
The third described Martin Kell's father.
The fourth contained Richard crying.
Adrian had never heard his father cry.
"I failed Caroline."
The fifth described finding the missing child.
"I saw him today."
Adrian sat forward.
"He has her eyes."
Richard's voice broke.
"He doesn't know me."
The sixth tape contained a meeting with Margaret.
The seventh began with silence.
Then Richard spoke.
"I am recording this because I no longer know whom to trust."
Adrian listened.
"If something happens to me before I tell Adrian the truth, he must understand that his brother has been closer than any of us realized."
Adrian's pulse increased.
Richard continued.
"Charles did not send him across the country. He kept him close."
Margaret watched Adrian from across the table.
Richard's recording continued.
"The boy grew up under another name."
Adrian whispered, "Who?"
The tape hissed.
Then Richard said the name.
Adrian stopped breathing.
For several seconds he believed he had misheard.
He rewound.
Played it again.
Same name.
He stood so quickly the chair fell backward.
Margaret closed her eyes.
"You knew."
"Yes."
"All these years."
"Yes."
Adrian stared at her.
"He's been inside Morrell House."
"Many times."
"He's been at family dinners."
"Yes."
"He knew my father."
"Yes."
"Does Eleanor know?"
Margaret did not answer.
That was an answer.
Adrian grabbed his phone.
Margaret stood.
"Do not call him."
"Why?"
"Because we don't know whether he already knows."
"I'm not letting him live another day without the truth."
"Adrian."
He turned.
Margaret was pale.
"Richard recorded that tape ten months before he died."
"So?"
"The man named on it disappeared yesterday."
Adrian froze.
"What?"
"Nobody has seen him since the reception."
Adrian's chest tightened.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I only found out an hour ago."
"Who told you?"
"Melissa."
Adrian immediately called Detective Palmer.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Then Grace called.
Adrian picked up.
Her voice was frantic.
"Mr. Morrell."
"What happened?"
"It's Lily."
His heart stopped.
"What about Lily?"
"She's fine. She's here."
Adrian closed his eyes in relief.
Grace continued.
"But someone left something outside my apartment."
The same place where the first threatening photograph had appeared.
"What?"
"A box."
Adrian gripped the phone.
"Don't open it."
"Police already checked it."
"What was inside?"
Grace hesitated.
"A photograph."
"Of what?"
"You."
Adrian frowned.
"Me?"
"You and another man."
His pulse slowed.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Adrian looked toward Margaret.
"Send it."
Seconds later the image appeared on his screen.
It had been taken during the Morrell reception.
Adrian stood near the ballroom doors.
Several feet behind him stood the man Richard had identified as Caroline's missing son.
Adrian's brother.
A red circle had been drawn around the man's face.
On the back of the photograph, police said, someone had written a message.
Grace read it aloud over the phone.
"One brother learned the truth."
Adrian felt cold.
Grace continued.
"The other brother will die for it."
Margaret covered her mouth.
Adrian stared at the photograph.
Then he noticed something Grace had not.
In the far corner of the picture, almost hidden behind one of the ballroom columns, stood Eleanor Morrell.
She was watching Adrian's brother.
Not casually.
Not accidentally.
She was holding a phone.
And when Adrian enlarged the image, he could see the screen.
A message was open.
Only the first line was visible.
HE KNOWS WHO HE IS.
Adrian looked toward Margaret.
"You said someone in my family wanted his identity hidden."
Margaret did not answer.
He pointed at Eleanor's image.
"Is it her?"
Margaret's eyes filled with fear.
Before she could speak, the lights inside the cottage went out.
Adrian froze.
The same darkness as the ballroom.
Three seconds.
Then four.
Outside, an engine started.
Adrian rushed toward the window.
A black vehicle accelerated away from the cottage.
He ran outside.
By the time he reached the road, the taillights were disappearing through the trees.
Something lay on the ground near his feet.
A phone.
Margaret's phone.
Adrian turned toward the cottage.
"Margaret?"
No answer.
He ran back inside.
The fireplace was still burning.
The cassettes remained on the table.
The chair where Margaret had been sitting was empty.
The rear door stood open.
On the floor was Caroline's locket.
Adrian picked it up.
There was something beneath it.
A folded note.
He opened it.
The handwriting was Margaret's.
Only one sentence.
If they take me, do not trust the person who brings your brother home.
Adrian stared at the words.
Then his own phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Adrian heard breathing.
Then a man's voice.
Calm.
Familiar.
"Adrian?"
His heart stopped.
He knew that voice.
The missing man.
The man Richard had named on the tape.
His brother.
"Where are you?"
Silence.
Then the man whispered.
"I think I know why they took me."
Adrian gripped the phone.
"Tell me where you are."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because someone is standing outside the door."
Adrian looked into the darkness beyond the cottage.
"Who?"
For several seconds there was only breathing.
Then his brother said one name.
Adrian's face went cold.
May you like
Before he could respond, the call ended.
And somewhere in Morrell House, a door that had remained locked since Richard Morrell's death slowly opened.
