Anna.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
"Victoria, if you're listening to this, then Lucy has found you."
Victoria closed her eyes.
Anna continued.
"I don't know whether you will believe me."
A pause.
"You should not."
Victoria opened her eyes.
Lucy sat beside her.
Anna's voice came through the old speaker.
"Because I am going to tell you something that will make you question everything."
Static.
Then:
"Daniel was not my only child."
Lucy stopped breathing.
Victoria looked at her.
The tape continued.
"I had another baby."
Lucy whispered,
"No."
Victoria reached for her hand.
Anna's voice trembled.
"His name was Michael."
The tape clicked.
Then stopped.
Lucy stared at the recorder.
"That's it?"
Victoria pressed play.
Nothing.
She rewound.
The same ending.
Michael.
Another child.
Victoria felt dizzy.
"Anna had a son."
Lucy shook her head.
"But Mom never told me."
"Maybe she couldn't."
"Why?"
Victoria stared at the recorder.
"Because someone took him."
The next morning, the cottage door was open.
Victoria saw it from the upstairs window.
The curtains moved in the wind.
She called Detective Marcus Lane.
Then she called the police.
She did not enter the cottage.
Not yet.
When officers arrived, they searched the property.
Jonathan Hale was gone.
His bed had not been slept in.
The kitchen contained a cup of coffee that was still warm.
A newspaper lay open on the table.
The date was that morning.
On the front page was an article about the Hale family foundation.
A photograph showed Victoria and Lucy together.
The headline read:
FAMILY REUNITED AFTER DECADES OF SECRETS.
Victoria stared at it.
"He was here."
Marcus nodded.
"Recently."
"How recently?"
"Within hours."
Lucy entered the room.
"Did you find anything?"
Marcus looked at her.
"Maybe."
He held up a small photograph.
It showed a young woman.
She was standing outside a hospital.
Behind her was a newborn baby.
Victoria took the photograph.
The woman was Anna.
The baby was not Lucy.
Lucy looked at the photograph.
"Who is that?"
Victoria's voice shook.
"Your brother."
Marcus looked at them.
"You had a brother?"
Lucy nodded slowly.
"I didn't know."
Victoria turned the photograph over.
A hospital name was written on the back.
St. Vincent Medical Center.
Date:
October 12, 2001.
Victoria stared.
"That hospital closed twenty years ago."
Marcus nodded.
"But its records were transferred."
"Where?"
"To the state archive."
Victoria looked at Lucy.
"We're going."
The archive building was cold.
Rows of boxes filled the basement.
An archivist brought them the records from St. Vincent.
They searched for hours.
Then Lucy found the file.
MICHAEL MERCER.
Mother:
Anna Whitmore Mercer.
Father:
Daniel Mercer.
Birth weight:
Seven pounds, four ounces.
Victoria stared at the page.
"He was real."
Lucy touched the paper.
"Why didn't Mom tell me?"
The next page contained the answer.
Infant transferred to pediatric unit.
Mother requested confidentiality.
Father deceased.
Child later transferred to private care.
Transferred where?
The final page was missing.
Marcus frowned.
"Someone removed it."
Victoria looked at him.
"Recently?"
"No."
The paper edges were old.
"It was removed years ago."
Lucy sat down.
"Why would someone hide a baby?"
Victoria thought of her father.
"Because he was an heir."
Marcus looked at her.
"An heir to what?"
"The trust."
Victoria pulled out the original agreement.
"The property belonged to my mother's descendants."
She pointed to the document.
"Anna's children were entitled to a share."
Lucy understood.
"If Michael existed, his inheritance would have been larger."
"Yes."
"Then whoever took him..."
"...wanted him gone."
A voice came from behind them.
"Not gone."
They turned.
Eleanor stood at the entrance.
"Hidden."
Victoria stared.
"You knew?"
Eleanor nodded.
"I knew about Michael."
Lucy looked devastated.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Anna made me promise."
"Why?"
"Because she believed someone was watching him."
"Who?"
Eleanor hesitated.
"Jonathan."
Victoria stepped forward.
"Why would Jonathan hide Anna's son?"
"Because Jonathan was trying to protect him."
Lucy shook her head.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will."
Eleanor placed another envelope on the table.
"Anna wrote this for you."
Lucy stared.
"You had another letter?"
"I found it two days ago."
"Why didn't you give it to us?"
"Because I needed to be sure."
"Sure of what?"
Eleanor looked toward Marcus.
"That the people who hurt Anna were no longer powerful."
Marcus frowned.
"Who are you talking about?"
Eleanor answered quietly.
"The Hale Foundation board."
Victoria's face changed.
"What?"
"Three members of the board knew about Michael."
"Who?"
Eleanor gave them three names.
Victoria recognized all of them.
They had served on the board for decades.
One was a lawyer.
One was a banker.
One was a family doctor.
All three had attended Victoria's father's funeral.
All three had helped Victoria rebuild Hale House.
All three had advised her on the family trust.
Victoria felt sick.
"Why would they help my father?"
Eleanor looked at her.
"Because your father wasn't the only one who profited."
The first board member died before they could question him.
Charles Whitcomb had suffered a heart attack.
At least, that was what the preliminary report said.
Victoria didn't believe it.
Neither did Marcus.
The second, Margaret Sloan, disappeared from her home.
Her car was found abandoned near the airport.
The third, Dr. Henry Calloway, called Victoria at midnight.
His voice was trembling.
"You need to stop."
Victoria sat upright in bed.
"Stop what?"
"Looking."
"Where is Michael?"
Silence.
Then:
"He's alive."
Victoria's heart stopped.
"Where?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why?"
"Because if I do, they'll kill him."
"Who?"
Calloway whispered,
"The people who built your family's fortune."
The call ended.
Victoria immediately called Marcus.
Then Lucy.
Within an hour, they were back at the archive.
They found another file.
This one was labeled:
PRIVATE PLACEMENT.
Inside was a photograph.
Michael at three years old.
Then five.
Then eight.
Then twelve.
Then seventeen.
He had grown up.