Chapter 4: The Grandmother's Secret
For several seconds, nobody in the library spoke.
Arthur stared at the name written beneath his father's final warning.
ELEANOR.
His grandmother.
The woman currently lying in a hospital bed after being attacked by his bride.
The woman who had raised him after his mother's death.
The woman who had held his hand at his father's funeral and whispered that everything would eventually be all right.
Arthur looked at Maya.
"What does this mean?""
Maya shook her head.
"I don't know.""
"Don't tell me you don't know. You've been investigating my family for months.""
"I've been investigating the people who may have harmed your father. I haven't been given every answer.""
Daniel moved toward the desk.
"Give me the letter.""
Arthur immediately pulled it away.
"No.""
"Arthur, listen. This is getting dangerous.""
"Your phone just received a message telling you to eliminate Maya.""
Daniel's expression tightened.
"I didn't send that message.""
"Then who did?""
"I don't know.""
Arthur pointed toward the door.
"Get out.""
Daniel didn't move.
"You're making a mistake.""
"Get out of my house.""
For a moment, the two men stared at each other.
Then Daniel straightened his jacket.
"Your father made the same mistake.""
He walked toward the door.
Before leaving, he turned around.
"When you discover what Eleanor did, remember that I tried to warn you.""
The door closed.
Arthur remained motionless.
Maya quietly picked up the silver key.
"We should leave.""
Arthur looked at her.
"Why?""
"Because he knows we have the key now.""
"He wouldn't hurt me.""
Maya's expression didn't change.
"Perhaps not.""
She placed the key in her pocket.
"But he might hurt someone standing beside you.""
Arthur glanced at the family portrait above the fireplace.
It showed Richard, Eleanor, Daniel, and himself at a summer celebration fifteen years earlier.
Everyone was smiling.
He suddenly wondered how many people in that photograph had been lying.
At 6:20 p.m., Arthur and Maya arrived at St. Catherine's Private Hospital.
The building stood on a quiet stretch of Manhattan's Upper East Side, protected by a private security team and surrounded by ornamental gardens.
Eleanor had been admitted under a restricted-access arrangement.
Only Arthur, Daniel, and two designated medical representatives were permitted to visit.
At least, that was what the hospital administration believed.
Arthur approached the nurses' station.
"Good evening. I'm here to see Eleanor Hawthorne.""
The nurse checked her computer.
"Of course, Mr. Hawthorne. She's resting.""
"Has anyone visited her?""
"Your family attorney came earlier.""
Arthur froze.
"Which attorney?""
"Mr. Edward Blackwood.""
Maya looked at him.
Arthur forced himself to remain calm.
"Did he speak with her?""
"For approximately twenty minutes.""
"Was she awake?""
The nurse hesitated.
"She appeared to be sleeping when he arrived.""
Arthur's jaw tightened.
"Then why did he stay twenty minutes?""
"I couldn't say.""
Maya stepped forward.
"Did he bring anything?""
The nurse considered the question.
"A leather document case. He also asked us to disconnect the bedside television because he didn't want her disturbed.""
Arthur exchanged a glance with Maya.
"Can we see her now?""
"Certainly.""
They walked down the corridor.
Outside Eleanor's room stood a security guard Arthur had never seen before.
The man immediately straightened.
"Mr. Hawthorne.""
Arthur stopped.
"Who assigned you?""
"Mr. Blackwood, sir.""
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
"Step aside.""
The guard hesitated.
"I was instructed not to allow unauthorized visitors.""
"I'm her grandson.""
"I understand, sir.""
Maya moved slightly to the left.
Her eyes examined the guard's hands, belt, and jacket.
"Arthur," she whispered.
He followed her gaze.
A hospital visitor badge was attached to the guard's jacket.
It had been printed that afternoon.
But beneath the badge, a small black earpiece was visible.
Maya looked at the man's shoes.
Then his hands.
"He's not hospital security.""
The guard reached toward his belt.
Maya moved instantly.
She caught his wrist, twisted it away from his weapon, and drove him against the wall.
His shoulder struck the plaster with a dull thud.
Arthur stepped back.
"Jesus!""
The guard struggled.
Maya forced him to his knees.
"Don't move.""
A nurse screamed from the station.
Within seconds, two actual hospital security officers rushed down the corridor.
They restrained the man and discovered a concealed handgun beneath his jacket.
Arthur stared at Maya.
"How did you know?""
"The hospital shoes are different. His badge was printed by an external security company, and he kept checking the corridor rather than the patient room.""
One of the officers removed the fake guard's earpiece.
A voice crackled through it.
"Unit Three, report. Has the grandmother been secured?""
The officer looked at Arthur.
"Mr. Hawthorne, I think we need the police.""
Arthur stared at the locked hospital room.
"Get me my grandmother first.""
Eleanor was awake.
She lay against several pillows, her throat wrapped in a medical dressing.
When Arthur entered, she immediately reached for his hand.
"Arthur.""
He sat beside her.
"Grandmother, what is happening?""
Eleanor looked toward Maya.
For a long moment, she studied the young woman's face.
Then she whispered something that made Maya go completely still.
"You're Thomas's daughter.""
Maya nodded.
"Yes, ma'am.""
Eleanor closed her eyes.
"I wondered when you would come.""
Arthur looked between them.
"You know her?""
"Not personally. But I remember your father.""
Maya moved closer.
"My father died in the warehouse fire.""
Eleanor's expression changed.
"That's what they told you.""
Maya's jaw tightened.
"Are you saying he survived?""
"I don't know.""
"Then who told you about him?""
Eleanor reached toward the bedside drawer.
Her fingers trembled as she searched beneath a folded handkerchief.
She finally produced a small photograph.
It showed a young man standing beside Richard Hawthorne outside the family's shipping headquarters.
Arthur recognized the man immediately.
Thomas Collins.
But there was something else.
A little girl stood between them.
Maya.
She was perhaps six years old, wearing a yellow coat and holding a stuffed rabbit.
On the back of the photograph was a date.
Eighteen years earlier.
And a handwritten sentence.
*IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, THOMAS WILL KNOW WHERE TO FIND HER.*
Maya took the photograph.
Her eyes filled.
"Why do you have this?""
Eleanor looked at Arthur.
"Because your father gave it to me the night he disappeared.""
Arthur leaned forward.
"Grandmother, stop speaking in riddles. What happened on that yacht?""
Eleanor stared at the ceiling.
"Your father didn't die in an accident.""
Arthur's fingers tightened around hers.
"What?""
"The explosion was deliberate.""
Maya stepped closer.
"Who arranged it?""
Eleanor swallowed painfully.
"Edward Blackwood.""
Arthur stood.
"Edward?""
"He had been stealing from the company for years. Your father discovered the false shipping contracts and the offshore accounts. He confronted Edward privately.""
"And then?""
"Edward arranged for the yacht to explode.""
Arthur stared at her.
"How did my father survive?""
Eleanor's eyes filled with tears.
"Thomas Collins.""
Maya stopped breathing.
"Your father was aboard the yacht," Eleanor continued.
"He had discovered the sabotage shortly before the explosion. He managed to get Richard into the water.""
Maya's voice trembled.
"What happened to my father?""
Eleanor turned her head.
"I don't know.""
"Did you see him?""
"No.""
"Did you know he was going to die?""
Eleanor began crying.
"I was told he had been killed.""
Maya stepped away from the bed.
For eighteen years, she had believed her father had died in a fire.
Now she was learning that the fire might have been staged to conceal something much larger.
Arthur sat down again.
"Where is my father?""
Eleanor reached for his wrist.
"He was taken to a safe location.""
"By whom?""
She hesitated.
Then she whispered:
"Me.""
Arthur stared.
"You hid my father?""
"I had no choice.""
"You let me bury an empty coffin?""
Eleanor's tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I thought I was protecting you.""
Arthur pulled his hand away.
"From whom?""
Eleanor looked toward Maya.
"From the people who wanted to use you as leverage.""
A sudden knock sounded.
The hospital room door opened.
Detective Collins entered with two uniformed officers.
"Mr. Hawthorne, we need everyone to remain here.""
Arthur frowned.
"What's happened?""
Collins held up his phone.
"We received an anonymous report that your grandmother was being held against her will.""
Arthur stared.
"By whom?""
The detective looked at Eleanor.
May you like
Then he spoke quietly.
"By you, apparently.""
