Chapter 6 - The Brother Who Never Came Home
The following morning, Margaret found Luca alone beside the lake.
Mist drifted above the water.
He was skipping stones from the dock, his movements sharp and distracted.
Margaret approached quietly.
“You throw like someone arguing with the lake.”
Luca gave a tired smile.
“The lake usually wins.”
“Claire said your brother died here.”
His smile disappeared.
“She told you?”
“She mentioned it once.”
Luca looked across the water.
“He was twenty-one.”
“What happened?”
“The official version?”
Margaret noticed the bitterness.
“Whichever version you believe.”
Luca sat on the edge of the dock.
Margaret joined him.
“Étienne took a boat out during a storm,” he said. “He had been drinking. The boat struck rocks near Montreux.”
“Was his body found?”
“No.”
“Were there witnesses?”
“My mother said she saw him leave.”
“Your mother?”
“She tried to stop him.”
“Did anyone else see him?”
Luca frowned.
“Why are you asking?”
Margaret took the brass token from her pocket.
She held it out.
Luca stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“What is it?”
He did not answer.
“Luca.”
He took the token.
His fingers shook.
“I found one of these in Étienne’s room after he disappeared.”
“The number thirteen?”
“His was seven.”
“What did it open?”
“I never found out.”
“Did you ask your parents?”
“My father took it from me.”
“What did he say?”
“That it was from a private club.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I was sixteen.”
“That is not an answer.”
Luca looked at her.
“No.”
The mist shifted around the dock.
“Étienne changed during his final months,” Luca continued. “He stopped sleeping. He searched Father’s office. He told me the Beaumont name belonged to someone else.”
Margaret felt her chest tighten.
“What did he mean?”
“I thought he was drunk.”
“What else did he say?”
“That our family had been living inside a stolen house.”
Margaret looked toward the villa.
“Did he mention the Laurents?”
Luca turned sharply.
“How do you know that name?”
Margaret chose her words carefully.
“I saw it beneath one of the paintings.”
“You read the ownership label?”
“There was no label.”
Luca rose.
“Who are you?”
“Claire’s mother.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Margaret stood.
Before she could answer, Claire called from the terrace.
“Breakfast!”
Luca looked between Margaret and the villa.
“Does Claire know?”
“Know what?”
“Whatever you are hiding.”
Margaret’s silence answered him.
Luca stepped back.
“You cannot marry secrets into a family already full of them.”
“You think I do not understand that?”
“I think my father recognized you.”
Margaret’s eyes narrowed.
“You saw?”
“He asked me last night whether you had ever lived in France.”
“What did you say?”
“That I did not know.”
“Did he ask about Claire?”
“He asked whether she had access to your documents.”
Margaret’s fear sharpened.
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing.”
“Good.”
Luca’s voice became cold.
“Do not praise me. Tell me the truth.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“When I know you are not helping them.”
He looked wounded.
“I would never hurt Claire.”
“People hurt those they love every day while telling themselves they have no choice.”
Luca closed his hand around the token.
“Then watch me choose.”
At breakfast, Philippe announced that the evening dinner would include several prominent guests.
Claire forced a smile.
Hélène corrected the way she held her coffee cup.
Margaret said nothing.
Across the table, Luca slid the brass token into his pocket.
Philippe saw it.
His expression changed.
A minute later, he excused himself.
Margaret watched him leave.
Under the table, her phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number appeared.
May you like
ROOM THIRTEEN OPENS AT MIDNIGHT.
COME ALONE OR CLAIRE LEARNS HOW HER FATHER REALLY DIED.
