The message stayed on my screen.<\/p>\n
Samuel is not your brother.<\/p>\n
Daniel read it twice.<\/p>\n
Then he looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant took the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't respond.\u201d<\/p>\n
She photographed the message.<\/p>\n
Then she called Robert.<\/p>\n
He answered on the second ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFederal building.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you receive any messages?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard contacted us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
I told him.<\/p>\n
Robert exhaled slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's trying to destabilize you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Samuel my brother?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're certain?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would he say otherwise?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause there is another secret.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course there is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can't over the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause someone may be listening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant took the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert, tell us what you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI'll meet you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe federal building.\u201d<\/p>\n
He arrived twenty minutes later.<\/p>\n
He looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
I was beginning to wonder whether every person in my family had forgotten how to tell the truth without first making everyone else suffer.<\/p>\n
Robert sat across from me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel is your brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what's the secret?\u201d<\/p>\n
He placed a folder on the table.<\/p>\n
Inside was a hospital record.<\/p>\n
The child's name was Samuel Hale.<\/p>\n
Mother: Rebecca Hale.<\/p>\n
Father: Thomas Hale.<\/p>\n
The date matched.<\/p>\n
I looked at Robert.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he's our brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did Richard say otherwise?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Samuel isn't the person he claims to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert opened another document.<\/p>\n
A photograph of Samuel.<\/p>\n
Then another photograph of a different boy.<\/p>\n
They looked almost identical.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is Samuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed to the first.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this is his cousin, Jonathan.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey look alike.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were raised together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy does that matter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Jonathan died when they were teenagers.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
Robert continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor used Jonathan's identity after Samuel disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor was pretending to be Samuel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who was?\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn't understand.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard used Jonathan's records to create another identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo control Samuel's assets.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the documents.<\/p>\n
The financial network had been using Samuel's identity to move money.<\/p>\n
But Samuel had not done it.<\/p>\n
Someone had been impersonating him.<\/p>\n
Richard.<\/p>\n
After Richard supposedly died, someone continued using the identity.<\/p>\n
That person was Victor.<\/p>\n
The network had passed identities between men.<\/p>\n
Not because the names mattered.<\/p>\n
Because the names were shields.<\/p>\n
Grant studied the documents.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Samuel is still your brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the message was designed to make Emily doubt him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt relief.<\/p>\n
Then anger.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Richard is alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert looked toward the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomewhere close.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant received a call.<\/p>\n
They had found Jackson.<\/p>\n
Alive.<\/p>\n
He had been taken to a warehouse outside the city.<\/p>\n
We drove there.<\/p>\n
Jackson was sitting on the floor with his hands tied.<\/p>\n
He looked shaken but conscious.<\/p>\n
He had been interrogated for hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho took you?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
He looked at Robert.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe location of the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you tell him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jackson laughed weakly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I didn't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard had shown him photographs.<\/p>\n
One was of the original ledger.<\/p>\n
Another was of me as a child.<\/p>\n
The third showed Robert standing beside a younger Samuel.<\/p>\n
Richard believed Jackson knew where the ledger had been hidden.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said the ledger could destroy everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jackson nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe also said my mother wasn't his real partner.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Robert.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was?\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert didn't answer.<\/p>\n
Jackson whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt the room go still.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said Thomas created the network.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard lied.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jackson looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he told me something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said Thomas had a daughter before Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cA daughter?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jackson nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was the first beneficiary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca arrived at the warehouse.<\/p>\n
When she heard this, she went pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKnew what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father had another child.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca sat down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert opened the folder.<\/p>\n
A birth record.<\/p>\n
A girl.<\/p>\n
Name: Clara Hale.<\/p>\n
Mother: unknown.<\/p>\n
Father: Thomas Hale.<\/p>\n
Clara Vale.<\/p>\n
The woman who had given us the ledger pages.<\/p>\n
The woman who had helped us.<\/p>\n
The woman who claimed Richard was her father.<\/p>\n
She wasn't his biological daughter.<\/p>\n
She was Thomas's.<\/p>\n
I felt dizzy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did Richard raise her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo control her inheritance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara's inheritance.<\/p>\n
Another protected portion of the original trust.<\/p>\n
The trust had three known beneficiaries.<\/p>\n
Me.<\/p>\n
Daniel.<\/p>\n
Samuel.<\/p>\n
But Clara was an earlier beneficiary.<\/p>\n
A fourth.<\/p>\n
Richard had hidden her identity.<\/p>\n
He had married her mother.<\/p>\n
Raised Clara as his own.<\/p>\n
Then used her access to the financial network.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn't know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot until recently.\u201d<\/p>\n
That explained why Clara had seemed frightened.<\/p>\n
Why she had helped us.<\/p>\n
Why Richard wanted her controlled.<\/p>\n
Grant received another call.<\/p>\n
Clara had disappeared.<\/p>\n
Her apartment was empty.<\/p>\n
Her phone was found in the street.<\/p>\n
On the floor of her bedroom was a photograph.<\/p>\n
Clara as a child.<\/p>\n
Thomas standing beside her.<\/p>\n
The back contained a message.<\/p>\n
I finally know who my father is.<\/p>\n
Then another line.<\/p>\n
And he is not the man you think.<\/p>\n
I looked at Robert.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is Thomas's father?\u201d<\/p>\n
He shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're telling me there is another generation?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family history stretched backward again.<\/p>\n
Every answer opened another door.<\/p>\n
But this time I refused to follow blindly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stop chasing ghosts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to find Clara.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe find her because she's in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recover it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Richard?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe arrest him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Thomas\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas can tell us the truth himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
I called him.<\/p>\n
He answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know about Clara.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs she your daughter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was afraid Richard would use her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe already did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas breathed slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're her father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen find her.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was silent.<\/p>\n
I continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent my entire life being protected from the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
My voice shook.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't want protection anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas finally answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen come to Vermont.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the original ledger is there.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Grant.<\/p>\n
Thomas continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Richard is coming for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I ended the call.<\/p>\n
Daniel stood beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're going.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel appeared in the doorway.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am too.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou heard?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we're all going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Richard wants all of you in one place.\u201d<\/p>\n
I held his gaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we'll make sure he doesn't get what he wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside, the sky was beginning to lighten.<\/p>\n
For once, the morning did not feel like the beginning of another disaster.<\/p>\n
It felt like a decision.<\/p>\n
We were going to Vermont.<\/p>\n
We were going to find Clara.<\/p>\n
We were going to recover the original ledger.<\/p>\n
And this time, nobody was going to decide what we were allowed to know.<\/p>\n
The message stayed on my screen. Samuel is not your brother. Daniel read it twice. Then he looked at me. \u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d \u201cI don't know.\u201d Grant took the … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33289"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33324,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33289\/revisions\/33324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}