Chapter 13 - The Second Father
DNA made old lies cruelly efficient.
Within forty-eight hours, Natalie submitted a sample.
Eleanor Vale arranged for a stored sample from Alexander's estate with permission from his surviving son.
The result was conclusive.
Alexander Vale was not Natalie’s biological father.
Natalie sat in Daniel's office staring at the report.
"Then Evelyn lied."
Rebecca shook her head.
"No."
"She named him."
"Because she believed him too."
Natalie turned toward her.
Rebecca looked devastated.
"There was someone else."
"Who?"
"Before Alexander."
Natalie laughed from exhaustion.
"Of course."
Rebecca continued.
"Evelyn dated a man named Michael Arden."
The name meant nothing.
"He was married too?"
"No."
"Rich?"
"No."
"Powerful?"
Rebecca hesitated.
"Later."
Natalie waited.
"He became a prosecutor."
Daniel looked up sharply.
"Michael Arden?"
Rebecca nodded.
Daniel swore quietly.
Natalie looked between them.
"Who is Michael Arden?"
Daniel turned his laptop around.
A photograph filled the screen.
Judge Michael Arden.
Former state attorney.
Retired appellate judge.
Seventy-four.
One of the most respected legal figures in the state.
Natalie stared at the face.
Something in the eyes.
She knew immediately.
Not certainty.
Recognition.
"What does Margaret have to do with him?"
Rebecca answered.
"Margaret dated him first."
Natalie looked at her.
"Before Evelyn?"
"Yes."
"Did Evelyn know?"
"Not initially."
The family history had become a maze built from betrayals.
Rebecca continued.
"Michael left Margaret. Months later he met Evelyn."
"So Margaret hated her."
"Already."
"And then Evelyn became pregnant."
Rebecca nodded.
"Michael denied he was the father. Evelyn believed Alexander was more likely because the dates overlapped."
Natalie closed her eyes.
"Did anyone do testing?"
"In 1988? No."
Daniel searched public records.
Michael Arden had never had biological children.
His wife died six years earlier.
He currently served on several legal foundations.
Natalie looked at Daniel.
"Call him."
"Natalie."
"Call him."
Michael Arden agreed to meet the next afternoon.
Too quickly.
He arrived at Daniel's office without an attorney.
Tall.
White-haired.
Controlled.
He looked at Natalie and lost that control immediately.
"Evelyn."
Natalie was getting tired of men calling her by a dead woman's name.
"My name is Natalie."
He nodded.
"Of course."
She placed the DNA report in front of him.
"Alexander Vale wasn't my father."
Michael did not look surprised.
"You knew."
He sat slowly.
"I suspected."
"Did you know Evelyn thought you might be?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you test?"
"Because I was afraid."
Natalie almost laughed.
The men in her story seemed to share one defining characteristic.
"What were you afraid of?"
"Margaret."
That answer surprised her.
Michael continued.
"Margaret knew I had been with Evelyn while I was an assistant prosecutor."
"So?"
"I was investigating Franklin Voss at the time."
Daniel leaned forward.
"For what?"
"Judicial bribery."
Silence.
Michael looked at Natalie.
"Voss was buying emergency guardianship orders."
Natalie's chest tightened.
"Like mine."
"Yes."
"Did you know?"
"Not until later."
"When?"
"After Evelyn died."
Natalie felt anger rising.
"And you did nothing."
"I tried."
"How?"
Michael looked ashamed.
"I opened an internal inquiry."
"What happened?"
"It was closed."
"By whom?"
He hesitated.
"My superior."
"Name."
"Robert Keene."
Daniel went still.
Natalie noticed.
"What?"
Daniel spoke carefully.
"Robert Keene later became state attorney general."
"And?"
"He is Margaret's godfather."
Natalie stared.
Of course.
Another connection.
Another protector.
Michael reached into his coat and removed an old sealed envelope.
"Evelyn mailed this to my office two days before she died."
"Why do you still have it?"
"Because it contains something I was too ashamed to make public."
Natalie opened it.
Inside was a handwritten note and a photograph.
The photograph showed Franklin Voss.
Richard Hale.
Margaret.
And Robert Keene.
They were standing outside the Pine Crest Motor Lodge.
The date stamped on the back was October 17, 1997.
The night Evelyn died.
Natalie looked at Michael.
"Why did you hide this?"
"Because I received a call."
"From Keene?"
Michael nodded.
"He said if I pursued Evelyn's death, he would expose that I had manipulated an unrelated prosecution years earlier."
"Had you?"
Michael closed his eyes.
"Yes."
Natalie sat back.
Everyone had leverage on everyone.
No wonder the truth stayed buried.
Daniel studied the photograph.
"This changes the cold case."
Michael nodded.
"There's more."
Natalie almost laughed.
"There always is."
Michael looked directly at her.
"Franklin Voss didn't create the guardianship fraud by himself."
"Who did?"
May you like
Michael's answer was barely audible.
"Margaret did."
