Chapter 3 - The Payments No One Could Explain
Adrian didn't ask Caroline to repeat herself.
He simply stared at her.
“My brother has been missing for twenty-three years.”
Caroline nodded miserably.
“I know.”
“Then explain how he's paying Sophie's mother.”
“I can't.”
“Can't?”
She wiped her face.
“Not without putting her in danger.”
Adrian turned to Marcus.
“Bring Sophie here.”
“Boss, her ankle—”
“Then I'll go to her.”
Daniel followed him.
Caroline hurried after them, but Adrian stopped at the hallway entrance.
“You stay.”
“Adrian—”
“For once in your life, Caroline, do exactly what I say.”
He left her standing beneath the chandelier.
Inside the private lounge, Sophie was trying to remove the ice pack from her ankle when Adrian entered.
She immediately attempted to stand.
“Please don't,” he said.
She froze.
Adrian pulled a chair closer.
“You don't have to stand when I walk into a room.”
Sophie looked embarrassed.
“I'm sorry, sir.”
“Stop apologizing.”
His voice softened.
“Your ankle needs medical attention. Marcus has arranged for a doctor.”
She glanced toward Daniel, who stood quietly near the doorway.
“Who is that?”
“Someone who knew my brother.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Maybe your mother knew him too.”
Sophie's expression changed.
“My mother?”
Adrian watched her carefully.
“Has Linda Bennett ever mentioned Nicholas Vescari?”
Sophie shook her head.
“No.”
“Are you certain?”
“My mother barely talks about her life before I was born.”
Daniel exchanged a glance with Adrian.
Sophie noticed.
“What is this about?”
Adrian placed the pocket watch on the table.
“Have you seen this before?”
Sophie leaned forward.
Her face changed immediately.
“Yes.”
Adrian's heart began pounding.
“Where?”
“My mother's bedroom.”
Daniel took a step closer.
“She has one like it?”
“No. Not exactly.”
Sophie pointed at the inside cover.
“There's another watch. Silver. Same shape. But it has a little scratch near the hinge.”
Adrian swallowed.
Nicholas and Adrian had received matching pocket watches from their grandfather when Adrian turned eighteen.
Adrian had lost his years ago.
Nicholas had treasured his.
“Where is it now?” Adrian asked.
“In my mother's jewelry box.”
Daniel looked stunned.
“Why would your mother have something belonging to Nicholas?”
Sophie shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Adrian placed both hands on his knees.
“Caroline says your mother has been receiving money from my brother.”
Sophie stared at him.
“That isn't possible.”
“Why?”
“Because my mother has been struggling to pay her medical bills for years.”
“Perhaps she has another account.”
Sophie's expression hardened.
“Mr. Vescari, my mother sold her wedding ring to pay for medication last winter.”
Adrian said nothing.
“She skipped treatments because she couldn't afford transportation. I work two jobs because I can't watch her suffer.”
Her voice began to shake.
“If someone has been sending us money, I'd like to know where it went.”
Adrian believed her.
Not because she was crying.
Because her anger was unmistakably real.
Daniel sat down across from her.
“My grandmother told me someone used to send money for my education. We never knew who.”
Adrian looked between them.
Two families.
Two unexplained arrangements.
And one missing man.
“What was your mother's maiden name?” Daniel asked.
Sophie hesitated.
“Whitcomb.”
Daniel became very still.
“What?”
“My mother was Linda Whitcomb before she married my father.”
Daniel looked at Adrian.
“Evelyn worked with someone named Whitcomb.”
“Who?”
“My grandmother said a young nurse helped my mother after I was born.”
Sophie frowned.
“My mother was a nurse. Before she got sick.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“Where did she work?”
“Providence General. Then a private clinic near the harbor.”
Daniel covered his mouth.
“My mother gave birth in Providence.”
For the first time, Sophie looked frightened of the truth itself.
“Are you saying my mother knew yours?”
“Possibly.”
Adrian stood.
“Marcus, arrange transportation. We're going to see Linda Bennett.”
But Sophie raised her hand.
“Wait.”
He turned.
“When Caroline caught me behind the painting, she said something strange.”
“What?”
“She said, ‘Your mother should have burned that photograph when she had the chance.’”
Daniel stared at her.
“What photograph?”
“I don't know.”
Sophie looked down.
“I thought she was just trying to frighten me.”
Adrian remembered the photograph Daniel had brought.
Nicholas.
Evelyn.
A baby.
But something bothered him.
If Linda had helped Evelyn give birth, perhaps she knew what really happened at the harbor.
And if Caroline knew that, why had she allowed Linda's daughter to work inside the mansion?
He returned to the ballroom.
Caroline was still there.
She stood beside the painting, holding a champagne glass she hadn't touched.
“Did you hire Sophie?” Adrian asked.
Caroline blinked.
“What?”
“Did you personally hire Sophie Bennett?”
“No. The household agency—”
“Caroline.”
She looked away.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Her fingers tightened around the glass.
“Because I wanted to know whether Linda had told her anything.”
Adrian felt his anger rise.
“So you brought her daughter into our home to spy on her?”
“I needed to know what she remembered.”
“Then why threaten her?”
Caroline's voice broke.
“Because she found the photograph.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“What photograph?”
“The one I took from Linda twenty-three years ago.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Adrian said, “You took evidence from a frightened woman and kept it hidden inside a painting?”
Caroline nodded.
“Why?”
She looked toward the pocket watch.
“Because I thought it proved Nicholas was guilty.”
“Guilty of what?”
Caroline set down the glass.
“Selling our father's shipping records to the men who tried to kill him.”
Adrian frowned.
Their father had survived an assassination attempt shortly before Nicholas vanished.
Three employees had died.
Nicholas had been blamed by men within the organization.
Their father had forbidden anyone from speaking about the incident.
“You're lying,” Adrian said.
Caroline shook her head.
“I wish I were.”
She reached into her handbag and removed a narrow brass key.
“This opens Nicholas's old storage locker at the harbor.”
“Why do you have it?”
“Because I found it in Father's desk after his funeral.”
Adrian took the key.
A number had been engraved into the metal.
117\.
The same numbers as the stopped watch.
Caroline touched his arm.
“Whatever you find there, promise you'll remember Nicholas wasn't the only person our father loved.”
Adrian stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Her eyes filled again.
“It means I was seventeen when Father told me what Nicholas had done.”
She swallowed.
“And I believed him.”
Before Adrian could answer, Marcus appeared with Sophie.
She was holding her phone.
“Mr. Vescari, I just spoke to my mother's dialysis center.”
Adrian immediately noticed her expression.
“Is Linda all right?”
Sophie shook her head.
“They said she left an hour ago with a man claiming to be her brother.”
“Does she have a brother?”
“No.”
Sophie looked at Daniel.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“But the nurse said the man signed the visitor book as Nicholas Vescari.”
