Chapter 4: The Man Margaret Feared
The footsteps stopped halfway down the staircase.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Richard could hear Caleb breathing against his chest.
“Dad,” the boy whispered, “who's there?””
Richard tightened his arms around him.
“I've got you.””
A faint glow appeared at the top of the stairs.
Someone had a flashlight.
The beam slid across the wall, across the framed family photographs, and finally settled on Richard.
A man's voice came from the darkness.
“Richard Hale.””
Olivia reached into her handbag.
Daniel quietly moved in front of her.
“Stay back.””
Margaret stood frozen near the staircase.
“Victor,” she whispered.
The flashlight moved toward her.
A man stepped into view.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, and dressed in a black raincoat. Silver threaded through his dark hair. His face was calm.
Too calm.
He looked at Margaret.
“You weren't supposed to say my name.””
Margaret's lips trembled.
“I had no choice.””
“There is always a choice.””
Richard stared at him.
“Who are you?””
The man looked over.
For a moment, he studied Richard as though comparing him to a photograph.
Then he smiled.
“Your mother has talked about you for years.””
Richard felt Caleb hide his face against his shoulder.
“You know my mother?””
Victor laughed softly.
“Know her?””
He walked down another step.
“She built half her life around me.””
Margaret snapped,
“Don't tell him anything.””
Victor's smile disappeared.
“You've been telling him nothing for six years.””
Daniel whispered,
“Richard, don't let him get closer.””
Victor stopped.
“You're still carrying that recorder?””
Daniel's hand instinctively moved toward his coat pocket.
Victor noticed.
“Give it to me.””
“No.””
Victor's gaze hardened.
“You don't understand what you're holding.””
“I understand exactly what it is.””
“Then you understand why people have died for it.””
Richard's eyes narrowed.
“Who died?””
Victor looked at him.
“Your wife.””
The room went silent.
Richard's body stiffened.
“You killed Emily?””
Victor didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at Margaret.
“Did you tell him what happened that night?””
Margaret shook her head.
“You promised.””
Victor laughed.
“I promised to keep you alive.””
His gaze returned to Richard.
“She was never part of that promise.””
Richard took one step forward.
“Tell me the truth.””
Victor looked at Caleb.
Then back at Richard.
“You've already heard pieces of it.””
Olivia stepped beside Richard.
“Then let's put the pieces together.””
Victor smiled.
“You must be the lawyer.””
“Olivia Grant.””
“I know.””
Her eyes narrowed.
“How?””
Victor nodded toward the folder in her hands.
“You've been digging through records that were buried for a reason.””
Olivia didn't flinch.
“And you came here to stop me?””
“No.””
Victor lowered the flashlight.
“I came here because Margaret failed.””
Margaret's voice broke.
“I didn't fail.””
“You were supposed to destroy the original recording.””
“I tried.””
“You were supposed to make Richard believe Emily had betrayed him.””
“I did.””
“You were supposed to keep Caleb away from him.””
Margaret looked at Richard.
“I did.””
Victor's expression turned cold.
“Then why is the boy standing beside his father?””
Margaret said nothing.
Caleb lifted his head.
Richard glanced down.
The boy looked frightened.
Victor saw him.
Something strange flashed across his face.
Recognition.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Richard noticed immediately.
“You know my son.””
Victor said nothing.
“You've seen Caleb before.””
Still nothing.
Richard's voice hardened.
“Answer me.””
Victor finally nodded.
“Once.””
“Where?””
“At the hospital.””
Richard's stomach tightened.
“When?””
“The night he was born.””
Margaret closed her eyes.
Daniel whispered,
“No.””
Richard turned sharply.
“What?””
Daniel looked shaken.
“That means Victor knew about Caleb before the clinic test.””
Victor glanced at Daniel.
“He knew.””
Daniel swallowed.
“Then you were part of it.””
Victor gave him a cold look.
“I was part of protecting Margaret.””
Richard stared.
“Protecting her from what?””
Victor's silence was answer enough.
Olivia stepped forward.
“Let's stop speaking in riddles.””
Victor looked at her.
“You want the truth?””
“Yes.””
“Then ask Margaret why she needed a fake DNA test.””
Richard turned toward his mother.
She looked exhausted.
“I already told you.””
“No,” Olivia said.
“You told us you wanted to protect Richard. That's not a motive.””
Victor chuckled.
“Finally. Someone asks the right question.””
Richard looked at Margaret.
“Why?””
Margaret's shoulders dropped.
“I was afraid.””
“Of Emily?””
“No.””
“Then who?””
Margaret looked at Victor.
Victor said nothing.
Margaret whispered,
“His father.””
Richard frowned.
“Victor's father?””
Victor's face changed.
“No.””
Margaret shook her head.
“Richard's father.””
Richard went still.
“My father?””
“You were told he died when you were twelve.””
“I watched his funeral.””
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
“He didn't die.””
Richard stared at her.
Olivia slowly lowered the folder.
Daniel whispered,
“Margaret…”
Richard's voice was barely audible.
“What are you saying?””
“He disappeared.””
“That's not the same thing.””
“He disappeared because he was running from Victor.””
Victor looked away.
Richard saw it.
“What does Victor have to do with my father?””
Victor answered.
“Your father and I were partners.””
Richard felt a chill move through him.
“In what?””
“Money.””
Olivia's expression sharpened.
“How much?””
Victor smiled bitterly.
“Enough to make people disappear.””
Caleb whimpered.
Richard immediately crouched.
“Hey. Look at me.””
The boy stared at him.
“Are we going home?””
Richard touched his wet hair.
“Yes.””
Victor laughed softly.
“No, you're not.””
Richard stood.
“What did you say?””
Victor pointed toward the front door.
“There are two men outside.””
Daniel rushed to the window.
He lifted the curtain a fraction.
Two black SUVs were parked across the street.
His face went pale.
“They're here.””
Olivia looked at Victor.
“Your people?””
Victor shook his head.
“No.””
Richard's voice was cold.
“Then whose?””
Victor looked at Margaret.
“Yours.””
Margaret's knees nearly buckled.
“No.””
Victor nodded.
“The people you hired six years ago.””
Richard turned toward his mother.
“You hired people to watch me?””
Margaret whispered,
“I had to.””
“For what?””
“To make sure you didn't find Caleb.””
Richard stared at her in disbelief.
“You had my son watched?””
“I never wanted him hurt.””
“But you let him believe his father hated him.””
Margaret covered her face.
“I thought it was the only way.””
Richard's voice broke.
“You ruined six years of his life.””
Outside, a car door slammed.
Then another.
Footsteps approached the house.
Daniel looked at Victor.
“What did you bring us into?””
Victor replied quietly,
“What Margaret started six years ago.””
Olivia locked the back door.
“Richard, we need to leave.””
Victor shook his head.
“Too late.””
A fist struck the front door.
Everyone froze.
A man's voice shouted from outside.
“Margaret Hale! Open the door!””
Caleb grabbed Richard's hand.
Richard squeezed it.
“Stay behind me.””
The pounding came again.
“Open the door!””
Margaret backed toward the staircase.
Victor watched her.
“You know what happens next.””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“You always knew.””
“No!””
Margaret suddenly ran upstairs.
Richard shouted,
“Mom!””
She kept going.
Victor moved to follow her.
Richard blocked him.
“Where is she going?””
Victor looked at him.
“To destroy the evidence she kept hidden.””
Richard's eyes narrowed.
“What evidence?””
Victor pointed upward.
“The second envelope.””
Richard froze.
The envelope containing Emily's DNA report.
The one Margaret had mentioned.
Olivia looked at him.
“We need it.””
Richard nodded.
“Stay with Caleb.””
He ran upstairs.
Behind him, the front door shook under another blow.
“Open up!””
Richard reached the master bedroom.
The door was locked.
“Mom!””
No answer.
He slammed his shoulder against it.
Once.
Twice.
The lock snapped.
Margaret stood at the desk.
A lighter burned between her fingers.
The yellow envelope lay open before her.
Richard's eyes widened.
“Put it down.””
Margaret was crying.
“You don't understand.””
“I understand enough.””
She lifted the lighter.
“I did terrible things.””
Richard stepped closer.
“But there was one thing I never did.””
“What?””
Margaret's hand shook.
“I never killed Emily.””
Richard stopped.
Margaret looked at him through tear-filled eyes.
“Because I couldn't.””
The lighter fell from her hand.
Richard picked up the envelope.
Inside was a medical report.
At the bottom, beneath Emily's name, was a handwritten note.
Richard read it once.
Then again.
His heart began pounding.
Olivia rushed into the room.
“What does it say?””
Richard couldn't answer.
He handed it to her.
Olivia read the note.
Her face went white.
“This isn't a paternity report.””
Richard looked at her.
“Then what is it?””
Olivia slowly raised her eyes.
“It says Caleb wasn't the only child Emily gave birth to.””
Downstairs, the front door finally exploded inward.
A man's voice shouted,
“Find the boy!””
Richard stared toward the doorway.
Caleb.
May you like
His son.
And suddenly, six years of lies took on an entirely different meaning.
