Chapter 4 - A Name Maria Was Never Supposed to Hear
Maria stared at the silver ring.
"Where?"
Lily thought.
"The kitchen."
Adrien crouched.
"Who was wearing it?"
"The old man."
"What old man?"
"He talked to Mrs. Harris."
Maria looked at Adrien.
Mrs. Harris had worked for the Voss family for thirty-one years.
Adrien stood.
"Stay with Lily."
He left.
Maria followed anyway.
They found Mrs. Harris in the downstairs pantry.
She looked from Adrien to Maria.
"What happened?"
Adrien showed her the photograph.
The older woman's face drained.
"You recognize the ring."
"No."
"Don't lie to me."
"I've never—"
"Lily saw him here."
Mrs. Harris gripped the counter.
Adrien's voice became softer.
"Margaret."
She closed her eyes.
"Your father wore that ring."
Adrien stared.
"My father is dead."
"So I believed."
Maria almost laughed from sheer disbelief.
Adrien didn't.
"When was he here?"
Mrs. Harris began crying.
"Yesterday."
Adrien stepped backward.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"He threatened my grandson."
"What did he want?"
"To know whether Maria still worked here."
Maria felt suddenly exposed.
"Me?"
"And whether she ever brought Lily."
Adrien's face hardened.
"Why Lily?"
"I don't know."
"Did he mention Gabriel?"
Mrs. Harris looked confused.
"Who?"
"Daniel," Maria said.
Recognition.
"Yes."
Maria approached.
"What did he say?"
Mrs. Harris hesitated.
"That Daniel had made the same mistake twice."
"What mistake?"
"Choosing the wrong woman."
Silence.
Maria thought of Eva.
Then herself.
The implication was obvious.
Adrien saw it too.
"Gabriel loved Eva."
Mrs. Harris nodded.
Maria looked away.
She should not have cared.
Daniel had met Eva before he ever knew Maria.
But grief wasn't rational.
Neither was jealousy toward a dead woman.
"Did she love him?"
Mrs. Harris answered carefully.
"Eva trusted him more than anyone."
That wasn't an answer.
Perhaps it was the only one Maria needed.
Adrien checked his watch.
11:29.
"We go to the cemetery."
Maria nodded.
"Lily stays."
"No."
Everyone turned toward Lily.
She hugged the umbrella.
"The bad man wants this."
"Which is exactly why you're staying here," Maria said.
"But Daddy needs it."
Adrien looked at the umbrella.
Then at Maria.
"She's right about one thing. Vale believes there's something else inside it."
"We already found the key."
"Maybe that's not what he wants."
Adrien examined the umbrella again.
He ran his thumb across one metal spoke.
A tiny series of numbers had been etched into it.
4-19-86.
Maria frowned.
"A date?"
Adrien shook his head.
"Eva was born in 1984."
Mrs. Harris gasped.
Adrien looked at her.
"What?"
"Your mother."
Adrien went still.
"What about her?"
"April nineteenth, 1986."
"That doesn't make sense."
Mrs. Harris looked suddenly frightened.
"Adrien, there's something your father made everyone promise never to tell you."
He stared at her.
"What?"
She glanced at Lily.
"Not in front of the child."
Maria took Lily into the hallway.
Through the partially open door, she heard Mrs. Harris say one sentence.
It changed everything.
"Eva wasn't your sister by blood."
Maria stopped.
Inside, Adrien said nothing.
Mrs. Harris continued.
"Your mother found Eva when she was eighteen months old. Her mother worked for the family. She disappeared."
"Who was her mother?"
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do."
Mrs. Harris began crying harder.
"Her name was Elena Mercer."
Maria's breath caught.
Mercer.
Gabriel Mercer.
Daniel's real surname.
She stepped back into the pantry.
"Did you say Mercer?"
Mrs. Harris stared at her.
Adrien understood first.
"Gabriel and Eva."
Maria's skin prickled.
"Brother and sister?"
Mrs. Harris nodded.
"Half siblings."
The room went silent.
Maria felt shame for the jealousy she had carried only minutes before.
Daniel hadn't been Eva's lover.
He had been her brother.
"Did he know?" Maria asked.
"I believe so."
Adrien leaned against the counter.
For fourteen years, he had believed Gabriel might have betrayed Eva.
Instead, Gabriel had been trying to expose whoever killed his own sister.
Maria looked at the clock.
11:36.
"We need to go."
Adrien agreed.
Mrs. Harris took Lily.
This time Maria made her daughter promise to stay.
Lily handed Adrien the umbrella.
"For Daddy."
Adrien accepted it.
Then Lily grabbed his sleeve.
"And Mr. Voss?"
"Yes?"
"Come back too."
His expression softened.
"I'll try."
"Don't try."
Lily frowned with the seriousness only children could make adorable.
"Just do it."
For the first time that night, Adrien smiled.
Barely.
"All right."
He and Maria left through the service garage.
They took an ordinary sedan instead of one of Adrien's recognizable cars.
The cemetery was twenty minutes away.
They arrived at 11:57.
Rain had weakened to a cold drizzle.
Eva's grave stood beneath an oak tree.
A lantern glowed beside it.
Daniel sat tied to a chair.
A man stood behind him.
Older.
Silver-haired.
Elegant dark coat.
Silver ring.
Adrien stopped.
Maria saw his face change.
"Father."
Victor Voss smiled.
"Hello, son."
Adrien's voice was almost emotionless.
"You died."
"Officially."
"You let me bury you."
Victor glanced at Daniel.
"Apparently that's becoming a family tradition."
Maria stepped toward her husband.
Victor raised one hand.
"Not yet."
Adrien held up the umbrella.
"You wanted this."
Victor smiled.
"I wanted what Eva put inside it."
"The key?"
"No."
For the first time, Adrien looked uncertain.
Victor pointed toward the umbrella's central shaft.
"The ledger."
Adrien twisted the handle.
Nothing.
Victor laughed.
"Eva always was cleverer than you."
Daniel suddenly spoke.
"Don't give it to him."
Victor struck the back of Daniel's chair.
Maria flinched.
Adrien didn't move.
"What ledger?"
"The one that proves your father built his fortune by stealing from his own partners," Daniel said.
Victor's smile disappeared.
"And more."
Daniel looked at Maria.
"The ledger names everyone he paid. Everyone he blackmailed. Everyone who helped cover Eva's death."
Maria's stomach tightened.
Victor looked at Adrien.
"Give it to me."
Adrien slowly extended the umbrella.
Victor stepped forward.
Then Daniel shouted.
"Adrien, don't!"
Adrien stopped.
Daniel stared directly at him.
"Eva never put the ledger in the umbrella."
Victor's face changed.
Daniel smiled despite the blood at his mouth.
"She put the location."
Adrien looked at the etched numbers.
4-19-86.
Victor lunged.
Adrien moved faster.
The umbrella fell between them.
Maria rushed to Daniel.
She loosened the rope.
Victor and Adrien struggled briefly before Victor stumbled backward.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Victor stared at Adrien.
"You called them?"
Adrien shook his head.
Daniel smiled.
"I did."
Victor fled toward the trees.
Adrien didn't chase him.
He helped Maria free Daniel.
For the first time in seven years, husband and wife stood face-to-face.
Daniel whispered, "I'm sorry."
Maria slapped him.
The sound cracked through the cemetery.
Then she threw her arms around him.
Daniel broke.
So did she.
Adrien turned away, giving them the privacy grief had stolen.
Police lights appeared beyond the gates.
Then Adrien looked down.
The umbrella lay open on the ground.
Rain had washed dirt from its inner fabric.
Words were appearing.
Invisible ink.
A message Eva had hidden fourteen years earlier.
Adrien lifted the umbrella toward the cemetery light.
The first line became readable.
IF VICTOR IS ALIVE, DO NOT TRUST—
The remaining letters slowly appeared.
Adrien read the name.
His face went white.
Maria stepped beside him.
"What does it say?"
May you like
Adrien lowered the umbrella.
The person Eva had warned him about was standing behind Maria.
