Chapter 16 - BELLE ASHFORD’S REAL NAME
The answer was no.
At least not when it came to Eleanor Ashford.
Federal records showed no body.
No verified hospital death.
No cremation.
Only paperwork.
Belle stared at the documents in Naomi’s temporary command office.
“My aunt arranged the funeral.”
“Where is she?” Naomi asked.
“Dead.”
Naomi raised an eyebrow.
Belle almost laughed.
“I saw that body.”
“Useful distinction.”
Renick stood beside the window.
Owen remained near the door.
Belle had not looked at him for several minutes.
“You worked with my mother.”
“I worked with Bianca Avery.”
“How did you not know?”
“She never talked about family.”
“She knew you were married to me.”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
Belle looked at Naomi.
“What did my mother do?”
“Information brokerage.”
“That means nothing.”
“She gathered sensitive information and sold or traded it.”
“To criminals?”
“Sometimes.”
“Government?”
“Sometimes.”
Renick said, “Cormac.”
Naomi nodded.
“Frequently.”
Belle felt sick.
The woman who packed peanut butter sandwiches.
Who clipped coupons.
Who told Belle never to lie because lies multiplied.
A spy.
A criminal.
Something between.
“What happened to her?”
Naomi slid a report forward.
“Last confirmed sighting was eighteen months ago.”
Belle stared.
“Eighteen months.”
“Yes.”
“She could still be alive.”
“Yes.”
Micah sat in the corner coloring.
He had heard too many adult secrets.
Belle wanted him elsewhere.
She also no longer trusted elsewhere.
Renick’s phone buzzed.
He looked at the message.
His face changed.
“Isla’s transport was attacked.”
Everyone stood.
“Is she okay?” Belle asked.
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“Maeve moved her.”
“To where?”
Renick hesitated.
Belle laughed bitterly.
“More secrets.”
“She doesn’t know.”
“What?”
“Maeve gave her to someone outside our network.”
Naomi frowned.
“Who?”
Renick looked at Belle.
“A woman named Eleanor.”
Silence.
Belle stared.
“No.”
Renick handed her the phone.
Maeve’s message:
SHE SAID BELLE WOULD UNDERSTAND WHEN SHE SAW THE YELLOW COAT.
Belle dropped the phone.
Her mother owned a yellow wool coat.
She wore it every winter.
Belle remembered holding the sleeve when she crossed streets as a child.
“Where?”
Renick called Maeve.
No answer.
Owen cursed.
Naomi ordered a trace.
Twenty minutes later they found Maeve’s abandoned vehicle near Quincy.
Inside was a note.
BELLE.
COME ALONE.
OLD CAROUSEL.
5 P.M.
Belle knew the place.
Nantasket Beach.
Her mother had taken her there every birthday until she was twelve.
The old carousel.
Renick said, “You’re not going alone.”
Belle looked at him.
“No.”
Owen said, “Belle.”
“She asked for me.”
“It could be a trap.”
“Everything is a trap.”
Naomi arranged surveillance.
Belle went inside alone.
The carousel was closed.
Dusty horses.
Faded mirrors.
Ocean wind rattling the doors.
At exactly five, music started.
The old organ wheezed to life.
Belle’s heart pounded.
A yellow coat appeared between the carousel horses.
The woman wearing it was older.
White hair.
Thin.
But Belle knew her walk.
“Mom.”
Eleanor Ashford stepped into view.
Belle forgot every speech she had imagined.
She slapped her mother.
Apparently the Ashford family had developed a reunion tradition.
Eleanor accepted it.
Then Belle hugged her.
For three seconds.
Then shoved her away.
“You died.”
“Yes.”
“You abandoned me.”
“To protect you.”
Belle laughed wildly.
“Everyone says that.”
Eleanor almost smiled.
“I imagine they do.”
“Isla?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“With Maeve.”
“Then why did she say—”
“To get you here without Renick.”
Belle looked toward the windows.
“He’s outside.”
“I know.”
“Of course you do.”
Eleanor sat on a carousel bench.
“You look like your father.”
Belle froze.
“My father was David Ashford.”
“No.”
The world stopped again.
Belle whispered, “Don’t.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“David raised you. He loved you.”
“Don’t.”
“Your biological father was Cormac Kavanaugh.”
Belle stared.
Outside, Renick waited.
Her blood turned cold.
“No.”
“Belle.”
“That would make Renick—”
“Your half brother.”
Belle backed away.
Every interaction with Renick replayed differently.
His father in Owen’s photograph.
Cormac protecting Belle and Micah.
The ledger hidden inside a building he owned.
Owen working for Cormac.
Everything had always circled her.
“Did Renick know?”
“No.”
“Maeve?”
“No.”
“Declan?”
Eleanor’s face hardened.
“Yes.”
Belle understood.
Trust no brother.
Declan knew Belle was Cormac’s daughter.
Maybe that was why Owen’s box mattered.
Why Belle mattered.
“Why hide me?”
“Cormac had enemies.”
“Everyone had enemies!”
“He wanted you outside the life.”
“So you faked your death?”
“After Patrick discovered who you were.”
Belle’s heart slammed.
“Patrick knew too?”
“Later.”
Eleanor stood.
“And he realized something important.”
“What?”
“If Renick died without a surviving heir recognized by the old family trusts, control could shift.”
Belle frowned.
“Renick has Brinley.”
“Not under the original trust.”
“Isla?”
“Was hidden.”
Belle stared.
Eleanor continued.
“But Cormac’s bloodline included another child.”
Belle.
“And through you…”
She looked toward the door.
Micah.
Belle’s stomach turned.
“No.”
“Micah is a contingent beneficiary.”
“No.”
“That is why they watched him.”
“No.”
“That is why Callum wanted him dead.”
Belle stepped toward her mother.
“I don’t care about money.”
“It isn’t money.”
“What is it?”
“Control.”
Eleanor looked at the carousel.
“Warehouses. companies. voting rights. properties. political leverage. legal entities worth hundreds of millions.”
Belle almost laughed.
“I clean houses.”
“I know.”
“My son wears shoes from a thrift store.”
“I know.”
“You knew and did nothing?”
Pain crossed Eleanor’s face.
“I kept him invisible.”
“You watched us struggle.”
“I kept you alive.”
Belle’s eyes filled.
“I needed a mother.”
Eleanor looked away.
“I know.”
Outside, a gunshot cracked.
Belle froze.
Renick’s voice shouted.
Eleanor pulled a pistol.
“Stay behind me.”
The carousel doors burst open.
Declan Kavanaugh entered.
Hands raised.
“No shooting.”
Renick appeared behind him.
Gun aimed at his back.
Belle stared at Declan.
“You knew.”
Declan looked at Eleanor.
“She finally told you.”
Renick frowned.
“Told her what?”
Belle looked at him.
How did you tell a man that his stranger employee was his sister?
Eleanor answered.
“Belle is Cormac’s daughter.”
Renick’s gun lowered.
“What?”
May you like
Declan smiled bitterly.
“Welcome to the family.”
