CHAPTER 8: THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
Ethan stared at the photograph.
His hands became cold.
“My mother is Margaret Mercer.”
Conrad’s expression remained unreadable.
“The woman who raised you is Margaret Mercer.”
Ava looked up at her father.
“What does that mean?”
Ethan folded the photograph quickly.
“It means Mr. Vale is trying to confuse us.”
Conrad stepped closer.
“Samuel always planned to tell you.”
“Then why didn’t he?”
“Because he disappeared first.”
Eleanor entered the dressing room.
“That photograph proves nothing.”
Conrad laughed softly.
“You have spent eighteen years saying that.”
Ethan turned toward her.
“You know the woman.”
Eleanor did not answer.
Bianca moved closer to the photograph.
Her face drained of color.
“I know her.”
Everyone looked at her.
“She was in the portrait room at Grandmother’s estate.”
Eleanor’s voice sharpened.
“Bianca.”
“There’s a painting hidden behind the blue curtains,” Bianca continued. “A woman wearing a white coat.”
Conrad smiled.
“Dr. Evelyn Hart.”
The name struck Ethan like a physical blow.
Dr. Evelyn Hart had been the physician who treated dozens of Vale athletes during the late 1990s.
She had died in a laboratory fire weeks after Samuel disappeared.
At least, that was what newspapers had reported.
“What does she have to do with me?” Ethan asked.
Conrad looked toward Ava.
“More than you are ready to explain in front of your daughter.”
Ava tightened her grip on Ethan’s hand.
“I don’t want to leave.”
Conrad glanced at the service elevator.
“The map leads beneath Halcyon Field. Samuel placed something there that could destroy every member of my family.”
“Why would you help me find it?”
“I am not helping you.”
Conrad’s eyes moved toward Eleanor.
“I am trying to reach it before she does.”
Eleanor signaled to Dane.
The security chief drew a concealed pistol.
Several guests in the hallway screamed.
Dane pointed the weapon at Conrad.
“You should have stayed hidden.”
Conrad did not flinch.
Ethan moved Ava behind the dressing table.
Eleanor’s voice became almost gentle.
“Give me the map, Conrad.”
Conrad slowly folded the paper.
Then he dropped it into the open flame of a decorative candle.
The map caught fire.
Ava cried out.
But Ethan saw something Conrad did not.
May you like
Before the paper burned away, three numbers appeared along the bottom edge.
And Ethan knew exactly what they meant.
