Chapter 2 - The Child Hidden Behind a Name
The first thing Adrian did was move the entire house into lockdown.
The second was ask Cassia whether Ellie was with her.
When she said no, his expression did not change.
But something inside him shifted.
“You need to bring her here.”
“No.”
“Cassia.”
“She is not part of this.”
“She became part of it the moment someone followed you.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand more than you think.”
“No, you don't.”
She pushed past him.
“I have spent four years protecting her without anyone's help.”
Adrian stepped aside.
“I know.”
“You don't know what it means to wake up at three in the morning because you're afraid someone followed you home.”
“I know what it means to wake up wondering if the person you love is alive.”
Cassia froze.
He continued.
“For five years, I had no idea whether you were alive.”
Her anger softened for half a second.
Then returned.
“You chose to let me go.”
“I chose to believe you were leaving because I had become too dangerous for you.”
“You could have come after me.”
“I did.”
“How hard?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Hard enough to find you three times.”
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
“The first time, I found the apartment where you'd been living in Columbus.”
Cassia stared.
“The second time, I found a bakery in Pittsburgh where you worked.”
Her face went white.
“The third time, I found your name on a medical record.”
“You knew?”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I knew you had gone through a hospital. I didn't know why.”
Cassia lowered her gaze.
“They treated Ellie for pneumonia.”
Adrian closed his eyes briefly.
“So close.”
She said nothing.
He approached carefully.
“Bring her here.”
“I don't trust this house.”
“You shouldn't.”
That surprised her.
“You shouldn't trust me either.”
“Then why should I bring her?”
“Because I can guarantee one thing your old life cannot.”
“What?”
“No one gets near her without going through me.”
Cassia looked at him.
She hated how much she believed him.
That night, she drove to Mrs. Palmer's house.
Adrian followed in another vehicle.
When Cassia entered, Ellie ran into her arms.
“Mama!”
Cassia lifted her.
She buried her face in her daughter's hair.
“I missed you.”
Ellie giggled.
“You were gone twenty-two minutes.”
Cassia smiled.
“You counted?”
“Yes.”
Adrian stood in the doorway.
Ellie noticed him.
She stared.
“Who's that?”
Cassia opened her mouth.
Adrian answered first.
“I'm Adrian.”
Ellie studied him.
“Are you Mama's friend?”
Cassia's heart nearly stopped.
Adrian looked at her.
Then he crouched to Ellie's height.
“I hope I can be.”
Ellie considered that.
“Do you like pancakes?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She held up a stuffed rabbit.
“His name is Pickles.”
Adrian nodded solemnly.
“Excellent name.”
Ellie smiled.
Then she looked at Cassia.
“Can he come with us?”
Cassia nearly laughed.
Adrian answered:
“Yes.”
Back at the townhouse, Mara prepared a room for Ellie.
She had no idea it had once belonged to Adrian's younger sister, who had died at eighteen.
Cassia noticed photographs on the wall.
She immediately understood why Adrian kept the room untouched.
The following morning, Mara found Adrian sitting outside Ellie's door.
He hadn't slept.
“You can't stay there every night.”
“Yes, I can.”
“She likes you.”
He looked at her.
“She barely knows me.”
“She still likes you.”
A strange softness entered his face.
“I like her too.”
Cassia swallowed.
“She's very stubborn.”
“I noticed.”
“She gets that from me.”
“I noticed that too.”
Before she could answer, Adrian's phone rang.
“Adrian.”
A long pause.
His face hardened.
“Where?”
He listened.
“Don't touch anything. I'm coming.”
He hung up.
“What?”
“One of the men outside your café was found dead.”
Cassia froze.
“Dead?”
“He had a photograph of Ellie.”
Her legs weakened.
Adrian caught her.
She pushed him away.
“Did he say her name?”
“No.”
“Then how did he know?”
“We'll find out.”
At the café, police cars surrounded the block.
Corey stood outside.
When he saw Cassia, relief crossed his face.
“Thank God.”
She hugged him.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
Adrian approached the dead man's vehicle.
He inspected the interior.
A photograph was on the passenger seat.
Ellie at the park.
Four years old.
Playing on a swing.
Cassia's face drained of color.
“That was taken yesterday.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Who took it?”
“I don't know.”
Corey spoke quietly.
“There was a woman.”
“What woman?”
“She came into the café last week.”
“Describe her.”
“Dark hair. Green coat.”
Adrian turned.
“Did she speak to Cassia?”
“No.”
“What did she order?”
“Black coffee.”
“Anything else?”
Corey swallowed.
“She asked whether Cassia had a daughter.”
The atmosphere changed.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Corey looked at Cassia.
“You told me not to scare you.”
Adrian stared at him.
Then his phone rang.
“Marco.”
The voice belonged to Adrian's oldest security chief.
“We found the registration.”
“And?”
“It traces back to a holding company.”
“Owner?”
“Graham Harlow.”
Cassia stopped breathing.
“My father.”
Adrian looked at her.
The dead man outside her café had been hired through her father's company.
Her father had been declared missing seven years earlier.
Everyone believed he had fled the country.
Adrian had always suspected otherwise.
Now there was proof he was still moving pieces.
“He's alive,” Cassia whispered.
“Probably.”
“Then why hasn't he contacted me?”
Adrian's voice became cold.
“Because he doesn't want you.”
Cassia looked confused.
“He wants Ellie.”
Adrian showed her a second photograph.
It showed a little girl standing beside a man.
The image was grainy.
The man's face had been deliberately obscured.
But Ellie was unmistakable.
Cassia stared.
“I don't recognize him.”
Adrian looked closely.
“Neither do I.”
Then he turned the picture over.
A handwritten message was on the back.
SHE CARRIES HIS BLOOD.
Cassia's hands shook.
“What does that mean?”
Adrian looked at her.
“It means someone believes Ellie has a claim to something important.”
“What?”
“I don't know yet.”
Then he noticed something.
A symbol in the corner of the photograph.
A small black raven.
His face changed.
“What?”
He took out an old photograph from his wallet.
The same symbol appeared on the back.
Cassia stared.
“What's that?”
“My father's old mark.”
“Why would your father's mark be on a photograph of Ellie?”
Adrian didn't answer.
He looked toward the street.
Because suddenly he remembered a secret his father had kept from him for eighteen years.
A child.
May you like
A hidden inheritance.
And a woman named Lucia Bennett.
