Chapter 5 - The Lawyer Who Vanished)
Marcus showed the message to Daniel.
Evelyn read it twice.
"Someone's watching us."
"They've been watching you longer than us," Marcus said.
The photograph had been taken from a high angle, probably inside a building facing the hotel entrance.
Daniel sent it to a private cybersecurity firm.
Then he looked at Marcus.
"We still need Harold."
Marcus glanced toward the boys.
"I won't leave them."
Evelyn shook her head.
"You're going."
He looked at her.
"If Harold knows why those documents were created, you need the answer."
"So do you."
"I'll stay with the boys and hotel security."
Marcus hesitated.
Evelyn almost smiled.
"Five years without you, remember?"
He hated the reminder.
But she was right.
By noon, Marcus and Daniel were on a chartered flight to Burlington.
Harold Vale lived outside a small Vermont town in a cedar house surrounded by pine forest.
He answered the door after Marcus knocked for nearly five minutes.
The man Marcus remembered had been sharp, broad-shouldered, always dressed in dark suits.
The man standing before him was thin and gray.
Fear entered Harold's eyes when he recognized Marcus.
"You shouldn't be here."
"You forged my signature."
Harold looked toward the road.
"Inside."
He locked three bolts after them.
Marcus noticed cameras above every window.
"You expecting somebody?"
Harold poured himself whiskey.
It was barely three in the afternoon.
"I've been expecting somebody for five years."
Daniel placed the settlement agreement on the table.
Harold looked at it.
His hand trembled.
"Did you notarize this?"
"Yes."
"Did Marcus sign it?"
"No."
Marcus's anger surged.
"Why?"
Harold looked at him.
"Because your mother told me if I didn't, my daughter would go to prison."
Daniel frowned.
"For what?"
"She was chief financial officer of a nonprofit. Eleanor discovered irregularities. My daughter hadn't stolen anything, but the books were bad enough to ruin her."
"And you believed Eleanor could prosecute her?"
Harold laughed bitterly.
"Eleanor Hale could make a snowstorm look like arson if she owned the right newspaper."
Marcus leaned across the table.
"You helped her erase my children."
"I didn't know there were twins."
"One child would have been enough."
Harold looked away.
Marcus wanted to hate him.
Instead, he saw a frightened old man who had spent five years waiting for punishment.
"Tell me about GHT-19."
Harold's face changed.
"Where did you hear that?"
"My mother's settlement referenced it."
Harold whispered something Marcus could not hear.
"What?"
"She was supposed to destroy that page."
Daniel and Marcus exchanged a glance.
Harold sat heavily.
"The trust was not created to protect wealth."
"What was it created for?"
"To keep Eleanor from controlling it."
Marcus stared.
"My grandfather made her trustee."
"Temporary trustee. There is a difference."
Harold poured another drink.
"Jonathan Hale never trusted Eleanor."
"Why?"
"Because he knew what she wanted before Richard married her."
Marcus felt a strange pressure behind his ribs.
"And what did she want?"
"Hale Hospitality."
"She already had money."
"Money wasn't the point."
Harold looked directly at Marcus.
"Control was."
Daniel asked, "What happened five years ago?"
Harold's voice lowered.
"When Evelyn became pregnant, Eleanor discovered it before you did."
Marcus went cold.
"How?"
"Medical insurance."
Evelyn had briefly been enrolled under Marcus's executive partner benefits.
Harold continued.
"The moment Eleanor learned there was a child, she panicked. If the child was born, the trust's disclosure provisions might trigger."
"Why twins?"
Harold blinked.
"Twins?"
"Two boys."
Harold stared at Marcus.
Then he laughed.
It was not amusement.
It was shock.
"Two."
He sank back in his chair.
"Good God."
Marcus moved closer.
"What?"
"Then Eleanor lost control the day they were born."
"Legally."
"Yes."
"But she hid them."
"Yes."
Marcus put the photograph of his father and the unknown baby on the table.
Harold's face drained of color.
"Where did you get that?"
"Who is Adrian Cole?"
Harold stood abruptly.
"We're done."
Marcus blocked the doorway.
"Who is he?"
"I cannot tell you."
"You cannot or you will not?"
Harold's eyes filled with fear.
"Marcus, your children are dangerous to Eleanor's control."
Marcus waited.
"But Adrian is dangerous to the entire Hale family."
"Why?"
Harold shook his head.
"Ask your father."
"He's dead."
"Then ask what he left behind."
"The safe deposit key?"
Harold stared.
Marcus knew immediately.
"You know about the key."
Harold sat again.
"Richard gave me three keys before he died."
"Three?"
"One for you. One for someone else. One to be delivered only if Eleanor broke the terms of the trust."
"Who received mine?"
Harold swallowed.
"I gave it to Richard's private investigator."
"Name."
"Thomas Reed."
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
Marcus pushed the brass key across the table.
"This appeared at Evelyn's apartment."
Harold picked it up.
"That's not your key."
Daniel leaned forward.
"Whose is it?"
Harold read the stamped number.
His lips parted.
"Adrian's."
The room became silent.
Marcus forced the question.
"Is Adrian my brother?"
Harold's eyes moved toward the window.
Before he could answer, glass exploded inward.
Marcus dropped instinctively.
Daniel pulled Harold to the floor.
A stone rolled across the room.
Wrapped around it was a sheet of paper.
No gunshot.
No blood.
Only a warning.
Daniel retrieved the paper.
Four words were printed across it.
STOP LOOKING FOR ADRIAN.
Harold stared at the shattered window.
"They found me."
Marcus turned toward him.
"Who?"
But Harold was no longer afraid of Marcus.
He was staring beyond him.
At the tree line.
May you like
"There were always two sides to this family," Harold whispered.
"And your mother is not the side you should fear most."
