Chapter 6 - The Man in the Guest Wing
The mansion still belonged to the trust.
Adrian had no idea that Naomi retained remote access to every security system.
We opened the interior cameras.
The guest wing had been disabled three weeks earlier.
Not malfunctioning.
Manually isolated.
Marcus’s credentials.
Naomi restored one hallway feed.
A man walked past.
Late sixties.
Gray hair.
Slight limp.
Daniel stopped breathing.
“Dad.”
Hector Alvarez.
Alive.
Inside my house.
I stared at Daniel.
He looked furious.
Not relieved.
Not yet.
“Why is he with your children?”
“I don’t know.”
Neither did I.
Naomi pulled audio from another camera.
Hector entered the study where Adrian waited.
“You pushed too far.”
Adrian laughed.
“You wanted her isolated.”
“I wanted access to Thomas Cross’s archive.”
“My mother is Thomas’s archive.”
Hector’s expression hardened.
“She knows nothing.”
I almost laughed bitterly.
Finally, someone telling the truth about my ignorance.
Then Adrian said:
“She knows more than she admits.”
Hector:
“Do not underestimate Evelyn.”
Adrian poured himself a drink.
“I lived with her for twenty-eight years.”
Hector stared at him.
“And still managed not to understand her.”
For one second, I almost liked him.
Then Marcus entered.
“The guardianship hearing is at two.”
Hector swore.
“I told Darren not to file yet.”
So Hector knew Darren.
Daniel’s anger deepened.
“Dad is part of it.”
Maybe.
Then Hector said:
“If Evelyn is declared incompetent before we locate Thomas’s key, the trust could lock permanently.”
Marcus frowned.
“What key?”
Hector looked at him.
“That’s exactly why children should not play with adults’ crimes.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“You promised us CrossShield.”
“No. I promised you freedom from Evelyn’s control.”
Celeste entered wearing my wedding ring.
Hector saw it.
His expression changed.
“Take that off.”
She laughed.
“Why?”
“Because it isn’t yours.”
Celeste rolled her eyes.
“Neither was anything else until yesterday.”
Hector looked genuinely disgusted.
Then he noticed the camera above the doorway.
Naomi whispered:
“He sees it.”
Hector walked directly beneath it.
Looked straight into the lens.
And said:
“Evelyn, if you can hear me, Thomas lied to both of us.”
My blood froze.
Adrian turned.
“What are you doing?”
Hector ignored him.
“Find the original adoption files.”
Then Marcus unplugged the camera.
Feed lost.
Daniel stared at me.
“Adoption files?”
My heart started pounding.
Adrian.
Celeste.
Marcus.
Three children.
Three foster homes.
Three supposedly unrelated histories.
Naomi began searching.
Then stopped.
“Evelyn…”
“What?”
She found something impossible.
All three adoption cases had been approved by the same private-placement consultant.
Darren Holt’s mother.
And twenty-eight years ago, each file had been funded through a charitable foundation created by Thomas Cross.
May you like
My husband had helped place all three children into my life.
Without ever telling me.
