Chapter 4 - THE TWO HALVES OF THE MOON
Grant Mercer tried to leave.
Thomas stopped him.
"Move."
"No."
"I'm a member of this family."
Thomas didn't blink.
"I work for Mr. Whitmore."
Grant looked toward Arthur.
"You're detaining me now?"
Arthur pointed toward the silver charm.
"Explain it."
Grant glanced at Natalie.
The resemblance between the charms was undeniable.
Natalie's crescent curved left.
Grant's curved right.
Placed together, they would form a circle.
Grant shoved his charm into his pocket.
"It belonged to my brother."
"Daniel?" Arthur asked.
"Yes."
Natalie touched her necklace.
"My mother gave me this when I turned sixteen."
Grant stared at it.
"Where did Caroline get it?"
"I don't know."
Grant laughed once.
"No, of course you don't."
Arthur slammed his cane against the marble floor.
"Enough games."
The sound echoed through the foyer.
Grant's eyes flashed.
"You want the truth?"
"Yes."
"The truth is Daniel gave Evelyn those charms before they married."
Arthur froze.
"A pair?"
"One for each of them."
Natalie looked down.
Grant continued.
"When Daniel died, I received a box of his personal belongings. The other charm should have been with Evelyn."
Everyone looked at Natalie's necklace.
Her throat tightened.
"If Caroline had Evelyn's necklace…"
Arthur whispered, "She was with Evelyn after she left Daniel."
Grant's face hardened.
"Or she stole it."
Natalie snapped her head toward him.
"Don't."
"What?"
"Say whatever you want about me. Don't insult the woman who raised me."
Grant folded his arms.
"You don't know what she did."
"Neither do you."
"I know she disappeared with my niece."
"Then maybe she had a reason."
Grant stepped closer.
"And maybe the reason was money."
Natalie laughed in disbelief.
"My mother cleaned offices at night."
"That proves nothing."
"She died with thirty-eight hundred dollars in savings!"
Grant fell silent.
Natalie's voice shook now.
"We lived over a laundromat. She drove a twelve-year-old Honda. She bought my prom dress secondhand and spent three weeks altering it because we couldn't afford the one I wanted."
Arthur watched her, grief deepening across his face.
Natalie pointed toward Grant.
"If Caroline kidnapped a billionaire's granddaughter for money, she was spectacularly bad at collecting the ransom."
Thomas looked away, hiding what might have been the beginning of a smile.
Grant didn't.
His expression remained cold.
Arthur said, "We're doing a DNA test."
Natalie's stomach tightened.
Grant immediately answered.
"Absolutely."
Everyone looked at him.
Grant shrugged.
"Why not? Let's end this."
His eagerness unsettled Natalie.
Arthur noticed too.
"You seem confident."
"I am."
"Why?"
"Because she's not Emily."
Natalie stared at him.
"Again, you sound like you know something."
Grant gave her a thin smile.
"I know probabilities."
Arthur turned toward Thomas.
"Call Dr. Patel."
Grant interrupted.
"No private physician."
Arthur glared.
Grant continued.
"If you're going to change hundreds of millions of dollars based on a DNA test, we use an independent accredited laboratory."
"Fine."
"I choose one."
"No."
"Then we choose together."
Arthur reluctantly nodded.
Natalie shook her head.
"I haven't agreed to anything."
Both men stopped.
Arthur's expression softened.
"You're right."
Grant rolled his eyes.
Natalie turned toward him.
"And that's exactly why you're not choosing anything."
Arthur almost smiled.
Grant's jaw tightened.
Natalie continued.
"I'll take the test."
Arthur's eyes filled.
"But I'm doing it for answers. Not money."
Grant laughed quietly.
"Everyone says that before the money arrives."
Natalie looked directly at him.
"Then you should understand better than anyone."
His smile vanished.
Arthur ordered Grant out.
This time he went.
But as Grant passed Natalie, he leaned close enough that only she could hear him.
"You should've taken the fifty thousand."
Natalie froze.
Grant kept walking.
The front door closed.
Natalie turned.
"Arthur."
"What?"
"I know who sent the letter."
Thomas already knew from her face.
"Grant?"
Natalie nodded.
Arthur's expression became ice.
Thomas reached for his phone.
Natalie stopped him.
"No."
Arthur stared.
"No?"
"If Grant thinks I'm scared, let him."
"Natalie—"
"I want to know why."
Thomas studied her with new respect.
Arthur looked less convinced.
"This isn't a game."
"I know."
"People were hurt before."
"So tell me what happened twenty-five years ago."
Arthur sighed.
Then he led Natalie into his study.
The room was warm and lined with books.
Hundreds of them.
Maybe thousands.
Arthur walked toward a locked cabinet.
Inside were several boxes.
He removed one labeled EVELYN — 2001.
Natalie sat on the sofa.
Arthur opened the box.
Photos.
Letters.
A child's knitted blanket.
A newspaper clipping.
He handed Natalie the clipping.
LOCAL HEIRESS PRESUMED DEAD AFTER LAKE ACCIDENT
Natalie stared at Evelyn's photograph.
The same crooked smile.
"She didn't look like someone who would abandon her child."
"She wouldn't."
"What was happening with Daniel?"
Arthur sat opposite her.
"Their marriage had become difficult."
"Difficult how?"
Arthur hesitated.
"Daniel was charming publicly. Controlling privately."
Natalie understood what he was avoiding.
"He hurt her?"
Arthur looked down.
"Once that I know of."
"Once that she told you about."
Arthur's silence answered.
"Why did she stay?"
"They had a child."
Natalie looked at the clipping again.
"When did Daniel die?"
"Two months after Evelyn disappeared."
"Car accident."
"Yes."
"Anyone suspicious?"
"Police said alcohol."
"Did you believe that?"
"Daniel drank."
"So maybe."
"Maybe."
Natalie sifted through the box.
One photograph showed Evelyn holding a newborn wrapped in a pink blanket.
Arthur's hand trembled when he touched it.
"Emily."
Natalie's chest tightened.
The baby was too small to recognize.
But around Evelyn's neck hung a silver crescent moon.
Natalie touched her own.
Arthur looked between them.
"There are too many coincidences."
"Coincidences happen."
"Not this many."
Natalie found another object.
A cassette tape.
Label:
EVELYN — SEPTEMBER 29
"What's this?"
Arthur took it.
His face changed.
"I've never seen that."
"How is it in the box?"
"I don't know."
Thomas stepped closer.
"Don't play it here until we check it."
Arthur gave him an irritated look.
"It's a cassette, Thomas."
"Things can be modified."
"Do you believe someone planted an explosive cassette in my daughter's memory box?"
"I've seen stranger."
Natalie stared at Thomas.
"What kind of security work did you do before this?"
"Federal."
That explained absolutely nothing and somehow explained everything.
They brought an old cassette player from the library.
Thomas inspected the tape.
Then inserted it.
Static filled the room.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then a woman's voice.
Evelyn.
Arthur closed his eyes.
The recording sounded frightened.
"If Dad ever hears this, I'm sorry."
Arthur gripped the armrest.
"I should have listened sooner. Daniel isn't the worst one."
Natalie looked at Arthur.
The tape continued.
"Grant knows about the accounts."
Grant.
Arthur's eyes opened.
"He knows Daniel moved money through the Whitmore charitable funds. Grant says if I tell Dad, Daniel goes to prison."
Natalie's pulse raced.
"I don't care anymore. I'm leaving."
A baby began crying in the background.
Evelyn's voice softened.
"It's okay, Emily. Mommy's here."
Natalie's eyes filled.
The tape continued.
"Caroline is helping me."
Natalie stopped breathing.
"She doesn't know everything. That's safer. If I can't get to Dad, she'll take Emily somewhere Grant can't find her."
Arthur covered his mouth.
Static.
Then Evelyn's voice returned.
"Grant thinks I have copies of the financial records."
She inhaled shakily.
"I do."
The tape clicked.
Then one final sentence.
"If something happens to me, it wasn't Daniel."
Silence.
The tape ended.
No one moved.
Arthur whispered, "Grant."
Thomas was already reaching for his phone.
Then the lights went out.
The entire mansion plunged into darkness.
A second later, somewhere downstairs, glass shattered.
Thomas drew a handgun.
"Natalie, stay down."
Arthur stood.
"What happened?"
"Security breach."
Red emergency lights flickered on.
A siren began screaming.
Thomas moved toward the door.
His radio crackled.
"East entrance compromised."
Another voice shouted through the radio.
"Archive room—fire!"
Arthur's face went white.
The archive room.
The boxes.
Evelyn's records.
Thomas turned toward Arthur.
"Someone is inside the house."
Natalie clutched the cassette.
Then she smelled smoke.
And suddenly she understood.
May you like
Whoever had frightened Evelyn twenty-five years ago wasn't just afraid Natalie might be Arthur Whitmore's granddaughter.
They were afraid she might discover why her mother had died.
