Chapter 5: The Daughter Nobody Claimed
The maintenance corridor smelled of rust, dust, and overheated electrical wiring.
Marcus led the way with his weapon raised.
Nathaniel followed, keeping Rose between himself and Daniel.
Nobody trusted anyone.
Not completely.
Especially not after discovering that Richard Callaway might have fathered another child.
"How long until we're out?"" Nathaniel asked.
"Three minutes," Marcus replied.
"If the lower access door hasn't been compromised.""
Daniel glanced behind them.
"Don't use the lower exit.""
Marcus stopped.
"Why?""
"Because Sterling knows about it.""
"How?""
"Because I designed the original security system.""
Nathaniel stared at him.
"You designed the Callaway Tower security system?""
"Your father hired me before we became partners.""
"Then you should know another way out.""
Daniel nodded toward a narrow staircase.
"The old service elevator. It connects to the parking structure.""
Marcus shook his head.
"That elevator was decommissioned.""
"Not entirely.""
Nathaniel looked between them.
"Can we argue later?""
They climbed.
Rose's bandaged hands throbbed with every step. Her breathing became uneven, but she refused to slow down.
Daniel noticed.
"Rose, are you hurt?""
She didn't look at him.
"I'm fine.""
"Your hands—"
"Don't.""
He stopped speaking.
At the top of the stairs, Marcus opened a steel panel.
Behind it was a small elevator with faded brass buttons.
Nathaniel stepped inside.
"Where does this go?""
"Private garage level B4," Daniel answered.
The elevator shuddered as it descended.
Rose stood in the corner, staring at the photograph.
The child is not the only heir.
She read the sentence again.
Then again.
"Daniel?""
He looked at her.
"Yes?""
"Who is the other child?""
Daniel's face tightened.
"I don't know.""
Rose raised her eyes.
"You're my father. You expect me to believe you don't know whether you have another child?""
"I know what your mother told me.""
"Then tell me.""
Daniel hesitated.
"She said there was a baby born six months before you. A boy.""
Nathaniel turned sharply.
"A boy?""
Daniel nodded.
"Richard had been involved with a woman before he married Eleanor. She became pregnant. The child was placed with another family.""
Nathaniel's face hardened.
"My father had another son?""
"Possibly.""
"Who?""
"We never found out.""
Rose looked down at the photograph.
"Why would my mother write that message?""
Daniel closed his eyes.
"Because she discovered that the child had been brought into the Callaway family under a different name.""
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened.
Marcus stepped out first.
The garage was empty except for a black SUV parked beneath a security camera.
He checked the surrounding area.
"Clear.""
Nathaniel turned toward Daniel.
"You're coming with us.""
Daniel nodded.
"Where?""
"Somewhere my father can't hide from me anymore.""
At 6:20 p.m., Nathaniel brought them to the old Callaway estate in Connecticut.
The property had been closed since Richard's death.
Its stone walls were covered in ivy, and the gardens had grown wild. The fountain in the courtyard no longer worked.
Eleanor had refused to return after the funeral.
Nathaniel had always assumed it was because the house reminded her of losing her husband.
Now he wondered what else she had been trying to forget.
Inside, the air smelled of polished wood and old books.
Rose followed Nathaniel into the library.
A portrait of Richard hung above the fireplace.
She stopped.
The man in the painting had Daniel's eyes.
"Your father was handsome," she said quietly.
Nathaniel glanced at her.
"He was.""
"Did you love him?""
Nathaniel considered the question.
"I wanted him to be proud of me.""
Rose looked at the portrait.
"That's not what I asked.""
Nathaniel gave a small, bitter smile.
"No. It isn't.""
Daniel moved toward a bookshelf.
"Richard kept a private ledger in this room.""
Nathaniel turned.
"Where?""
"Behind the third shelf.""
Daniel ran his fingers along the wood.
A hidden latch clicked.
A narrow compartment opened.
Inside sat a small leather case.
Nathaniel removed it.
The case contained several documents, a faded hospital bracelet, and a photograph of a woman holding a newborn baby.
Nathaniel stared.
He recognized the woman.
"That's Evelyn.""
Daniel looked at him.
"Who?""
"My father's former secretary.""
Rose leaned closer.
"She had a child?""
Nathaniel nodded slowly.
"She disappeared shortly after my father died.""
Daniel opened the leather case.
Beneath the photograph was a hospital document.
*PATIENT: EVELYN CROSS.*
*DELIVERY DATE: MARCH 17.*
*CHILD: MALE.*
Nathaniel looked at the date.
He was born in November.
The baby in the photograph was born eight months earlier.
"Richard's son," Daniel whispered.
Nathaniel stared at the hospital record.
"Where is he now?""
Daniel turned the page.
A handwritten note appeared beneath the medical information.
*Transferred to St. Catherine's Children's Home. Guardian: Eleanor Callaway.*
Nathaniel stepped backward.
"My mother?""
Daniel nodded.
"She raised him?""
"Apparently.""
Nathaniel's voice dropped.
"Who was he?""
A floorboard creaked behind them.
Everyone turned.
Eleanor Callaway stood in the doorway.
She was pale and leaning heavily on a silver walking cane.
Dr. Vance stood behind her.
"Mother?""
Nathaniel rushed forward.
"What are you doing here? You should be in the hospital.""
Eleanor looked at the papers in his hand.
Then at Daniel.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"You're alive.""
Daniel lowered his head.
"Hello, Eleanor.""
She struck him with her cane.
The sharp crack echoed through the library.
"You coward!""
Daniel didn't move.
"You left us!""
"I know.""
"Richard died believing he had destroyed his best friend. I buried my husband while you were hiding somewhere safe!""
Daniel swallowed.
"I wasn't safe.""
Eleanor raised the cane again.
Nathaniel caught her arm gently.
"Mother, stop. We need answers.""
She looked at the hospital document.
Then her face crumpled.
"You found it.""
Nathaniel held up the photograph.
"Who is the boy?""
Eleanor sat heavily in an armchair.
For several moments, she couldn't speak.
Then she whispered:
"His name was Michael.""
Nathaniel stared.
"Was?""
Eleanor looked at him.
"He died when he was three.""
Silence.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Nathaniel looked at the hospital bracelet.
"Then why did you raise him?""
"Because his mother died during childbirth. Richard brought him home. He wanted to tell you when you were older.""
"Why didn't he?""
"Because Arthur Sterling found out.""
Eleanor's hands trembled.
"Arthur threatened to take the boy and use him against Richard. So your father asked me to hide him.""
Nathaniel's voice grew sharper.
"Where did you hide him?""
Eleanor looked toward the fireplace.
"In this house.""
Nathaniel frowned.
"Mother, you said he died.""
"I was told he died.""
"By whom?""
She looked at Daniel.
Daniel shook his head.
"I don't know.""
Eleanor reached into her handbag and removed a folded letter.
"I received this six months after Michael disappeared.""
Nathaniel unfolded it.
The handwriting was unmistakably his father's.
*Eleanor,*
*If anything happens to me, you must never tell Nathaniel about the boy. The child is alive, but he is no longer safe here. I have arranged for him to be placed with someone I trust.*
*One day, he may come back.*
*When he does, remember that he is your son too.*
Nathaniel lowered the letter.
"Where is he?""
Eleanor began crying.
"I don't know.""
Daniel moved toward her.
"Who took him?""
She looked up.
"Your father gave him to Margaret.""
Rose went still.
"My mother?""
Eleanor nodded.
"Margaret was the only person Richard trusted after Daniel disappeared.""
Rose's face drained of color.
"Then why didn't she tell me?""
"Because she wasn't protecting just you," Eleanor whispered.
She looked directly at Rose.
"She was protecting your brother.""
Nathaniel stared at the letter.
His father had another son.
His mother had raised him.
And Margaret Bennett had apparently been entrusted with his survival.
Rose slowly sat down.
"All those years," she whispered.
"My mother kept saying I wasn't alone.""
Nathaniel looked at her.
"What?""
"Whenever I asked why she never remarried, she said she had already promised someone she would take care of their child.""
Daniel's eyes widened.
"Did she ever mention a name?""
Rose shook her head.
"No.""
Then she looked at Eleanor.
"But she did leave something else.""
Rose removed a small folded piece of paper from the inside pocket of her borrowed sweater.
It had been tucked into her necklace box for years.
She had never understood why her mother had kept it there.
The paper was yellowed at the edges.
On it was a single handwritten sentence.
*If you ever meet Nathaniel Callaway, tell him he has a brother named Thomas.*
Nathaniel read it twice.
"Thomas?""
Rose nodded.
"That was the name my mother used whenever she talked about him.""
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
"Do you know where he is?""
Eleanor shook her head.
"Not anymore.""
Nathaniel stared at the paper.
Then he noticed something beneath the sentence.
A small address.
And a date.
March 17.
The same date as the hospital record.
He looked up.
"Marcus.""
The security chief stepped into the room.
"Sir?""
"Find everyone who has ever been registered at this address.""
Marcus took the paper.
He read the street name.
His expression changed.
"Mr. Callaway...""
"What?""
"That's not a residential address.""
"Then what is it?""
Marcus looked at Nathaniel.
"It's the address of Sterling Defense's private rehabilitation facility.""
Daniel went pale.
"That's impossible.""
Nathaniel turned.
"Why?""
Daniel stared at the address.
"Because that facility didn't exist when Richard was alive.""
Eleanor gripped the arms of her chair.
"Arthur built it eleven years ago.""
Nathaniel looked at her.
"Why?""
She began to tremble.
"Because he needed somewhere to keep people who knew too much.""
An hour later, Nathaniel stood in the estate's security room.
A map of Connecticut filled the main monitor.
Marcus had located the facility.
A secluded compound surrounded by trees, approximately forty miles from the Callaway estate.
The official records described it as a long-term neurological rehabilitation center.
But the property belonged to a subsidiary controlled by Arthur Sterling.
Daniel studied the satellite image.
"That's where they took him.""
Nathaniel looked at him.
"Thomas?""
"Yes.""
Rose stepped closer.
"Is my brother alive?""
Daniel hesitated.
"I don't know.""
"Then we're going to find out.""
Nathaniel looked at her.
"You're not going there.""
Rose's eyes hardened.
"He's my brother.""
"It's dangerous.""
"So was standing on that terrace.""
Nathaniel had no answer.
Marcus interrupted.
"Sir, there's something else.""
He enlarged a security photograph.
A man was walking through the facility's courtyard.
He was tall, wearing a dark coat, and had his head slightly lowered.
Nathaniel leaned closer.
The image was blurry.
But the face was clear enough.
He looked like Richard Callaway.
Not exactly.
But close enough to make Nathaniel's heart pound.
Daniel stepped forward.
"That's him.""
Rose turned.
"Who?""
Daniel pointed to the screen.
"Thomas.""
Nathaniel stared at the photograph.
The man had his father's eyes.
And beneath the image was a timestamp.
*RECORDED: 7:12 A.M. TODAY.*
Rose covered her mouth.
Her brother was alive.
But before Nathaniel could speak, Marcus opened another surveillance image.
It showed the same man entering a room.
Behind him stood Victoria Sterling.
She placed a hand on his shoulder.
And then she kissed his forehead.
Nathaniel's face went rigid.
"Why is my wife with my brother?""
Daniel looked at the screen.
His voice was barely audible.
"Because she isn't trying to inherit the Callaway fortune.""
May you like
He turned toward Nathaniel.
"She's already promised it to him.""
