Chapter 2 - The Necklace Her Mother Left Behind
Grace never made it into Lily's car.
A black SUV pulled up first.
She stepped backward.
The driver's window lowered.
Lily was inside.
“Grace!”
Grace ran toward her.
Then a second SUV blocked the road.
Everything happened quickly.
A man stepped out.
Lily screamed.
Jack arrived seconds later.
He had followed Grace.
He had no reason to explain why.
He simply knew he couldn't let her walk home alone.
The men fled.
Jack caught Grace before she fell.
“You're shaking.”
“So are you.”
He looked at her.
“I am not.”
“You are.”
He looked down.
His hands were trembling.
Grace noticed.
Jack hated that she noticed.
“Get in the car.”
She did.
For several minutes neither spoke.
Finally Grace whispered:
“You said my mother didn't die of cancer.”
“No.”
“Then why did everyone tell me she did?”
“I don't know.”
“Who was your mother?”
“Eleanor Remington.”
Grace looked at him.
“And my mother?”
“They knew each other.”
“How?”
Jack didn't answer.
Instead, he reached toward the pendant.
Grace pulled away.
“Don't.”
“I need to examine it.”
“Why?”
“Because my mother gave it to Evelyn.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she wrote about it.”
Grace stared.
“You have something from her?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you show me?”
“Because I didn't know who you were.”
Grace frowned.
“You knew my name before tonight.”
“I knew the name.”
“That's not the same.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“It isn't.”
They went to Jack's private residence.
Not his mansion.
A smaller apartment in Manhattan.
Grace looked around.
“You live here?”
“Sometimes.”
“It feels empty.”
“It is.”
She looked at him.
“Why?”
He shrugged.
“Less to lose.”
That answer stayed with her.
Jack opened a safe.
Inside were documents.
Photographs.
A letter.
One photograph showed two women.
Eleanor Remington.
Evelyn Whitmore.
Young.
Laughing.
Pregnant.
Grace stared.
Her mother.
Jack's mother.
Together.
“Why have I never seen this?”
“Because my family erased it.”
“Why?”
Jack looked at the photograph.
“My father.”
Grace looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because my mother left him.”
“When?”
“Twenty-two years ago.”
Grace looked at the women.
“Was she pregnant with you?”
“Yes.”
“And my mother?”
“Apparently pregnant too.”
Grace swallowed.
“Then why hide it?”
Jack answered quietly.
“Because my father believed Evelyn stole something.”
“What?”
“The Remington family trust.”
Grace laughed bitterly.
“My mother worked in a clinic.”
“That was her cover.”
Grace froze.
“What?”
“My father believed she was an accountant.”
“She was a nurse.”
Jack stared.
“That is what she wanted you to believe.”
The pendant suddenly seemed heavier around Grace's neck.
Jack took a small tool.
“May I?”
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
He opened the pendant.
Inside was a tiny metal chip.
Grace stared.
“What is that?”
Jack picked it up.
“A data key.”
“To what?”
“I don't know.”
Then the apartment door opened.
Reed entered.
“Boss.”
Jack looked at him.
“What?”
“We found Marcus.”
“Where?”
“Dead.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Jack asked:
“How?”
“Same toxin.”
“Anything else?”
Reed hesitated.
“The police found a note.”
Jack held out his hand.
Reed gave it to him.
Three words.
ASK THE DAUGHTER.
Jack looked at Grace.
She stared back.
“What daughter?”
He didn't answer.
Because the question was no longer about her.
It was about someone else.
Someone who had been hiding behind the Remington family for decades.
Someone who knew exactly what Grace's mother had discovered.
May you like
And someone who had just murdered Marcus to keep the secret buried.
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