Chapter 5 - The Harbor, the Missing Child, and the Man I Thought Was My Enemy
Pier 18 was one of the oldest parts of the Boston harbor.
It had been abandoned for years.
At 3:00 a.m., I arrived alone.
The wind cut through my coat.
Snow covered the docks.
A single warehouse light was on.
I carried the yellow bus.
No gun.
No guards.
At least that's what I wanted them to believe.
I entered.
“I'm here.”
A voice answered.
“Arthur.”
Victor stepped out.
Theo was with him.
The boy was scared but unharmed.
I moved forward.
“Give me my family.”
Victor shook his head.
“He isn't yours.”
My eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“Not biologically.”
Silence.
“What are you talking about?”
Victor looked at Theo.
Then at me.
“Your mother discovered something twenty-four years ago.”
I tightened my grip on the bus.
“She discovered that the hospital had been falsifying medical records.”
“Why?”
“To hide a child.”
I stared.
“Whose child?”
“Yours.”
I almost laughed.
“I don't have a hidden sibling.”
Victor shook his head.
“Not your sibling.”
He looked at Theo.
“Theo is your blood.”
The world seemed to stop.
Samuel had been unconscious in my home.
Margaret was supposedly dead.
Theo was six.
The math wasn't impossible.
But the story was.
“Explain.”
Victor told me that two years before Theo was born, Samuel's wife, Margaret Carter, had discovered that one of the hospital's charitable programs was actually being used to hide children whose parents were involved in illegal financial schemes.
One child had been placed under a false identity.
That child was Theo.
“Why?”
“Because someone wanted to use him.”
“For what?”
“To inherit.”
I stared.
“That's insane.”
Victor reached into his coat.
He removed a DNA report.
The first name was mine.
Arthur Pembroke.
The second was Theo Carter.
A genetic match.
I couldn't speak.
Victor continued.
“Your father had another child.”
“No.”
“Not biologically yours.”
He pointed at Theo.
“Your father was the child's grandfather.”
My knees went weak.
My mother had never told me.
My father had never told me.
Why?
Victor explained.
Before my father died, he discovered that a woman named Sarah Carter had been pregnant by a member of the Pembroke family.
My mother protected the child because she believed the family would destroy him to obtain the inheritance attached to his mother's trust.
Sarah Carter died during childbirth.
Margaret Carter raised Theo's father.
But Theo's father later died too.
Theo became the last descendant.
The person who controlled his inheritance could claim several hidden properties.
And that was why powerful people had been searching for him.
I looked at the boy.
He stared back at me.
“Am I your family?”
I couldn't answer.
Victor knelt.
“Yes.”
Theo looked at me.
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
The word barely came out.
He smiled.
Then another voice came from the darkness.
“Touching.”
Leonard Price stepped into the warehouse.
Gun in hand.
Everything became clear.
He had orchestrated the theft.
He had framed Samuel.
He had threatened Martin.
He had manipulated the employees.
He had been working for someone else.
“Who do you work for?”
Leonard smiled.
“Your father.”
“My father is dead.”
“Exactly.”
I stared.
Leonard explained that my father had been involved in the original fund.
But when he attempted to leave, the network turned against him.
My mother discovered the truth.
Leonard had remained silent.
Then he revealed the final piece.
The criminal network hadn't been controlled by Victor.
It had been controlled by my uncle.
Richard Pembroke.
My father's younger brother.
The man I believed died in a car accident twenty years ago.
He was alive.
And he had been behind everything.
“He wants Theo,” Leonard said.
“Why?”
“Because Theo's mother left him a legal inheritance.”
“How much?”
“Enough to control half of Pembroke Harbor.”
I looked at Victor.
“Is that why you protected him?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you come to me?”
“Because your uncle threatened my family.”
Leonard lifted his weapon.
“We're done.”
A shot rang out.
Leonard dropped.
Victor had fired first.
But another shot followed.
Victor fell.
Blood spread across his chest.
I grabbed him.
“Why?”
He smiled.
“Because your mother asked me to keep you safe.”
He pushed the yellow bus toward me.
“Protect the boy.”
I looked at Theo.
Then toward the warehouse door.
A black SUV disappeared into the night.
Richard.
My uncle.
May you like
Alive.
And now he knew I had Theo.
Related Stories
