Chapter 5: The Man Outside the Gate
The black car remained outside the estate.
Its windows were tinted.
Its engine was running.
James stood in the study, staring at the photograph on Helen's phone.
"Call security," he ordered.
Helen immediately dialed the estate manager.
"Lock every entrance. Nobody comes in or goes out.""
Emily looked between them.
"Who sent that message?""
James didn't answer.
"Who wants to hurt me?""
He placed the phone on the desk.
"Someone who believes your mother left something behind.""
"Is that why you brought me here?""
James looked at her.
"I brought you here because I thought the safest place for you was beside your grandmother.""
Emily glanced at Margaret.
The old woman had begun breathing rapidly.
Helen moved toward her wheelchair.
"Margaret, calm down.""
But Margaret was already signing.
Emily followed her hands.
The driver.
Emily frowned.
"What driver?""
Margaret pointed toward the front of the mansion.
Then she made a motion with her fingers that resembled turning a steering wheel.
The driver took Anna.
James closed his eyes.
"Not now, Mother.""
Margaret shook her head.
He knows.
Emily stepped closer.
"Who knows?""
Margaret pointed toward James.
He knows where Anna went.
James's face tightened.
"Mother, you're confusing two different nights.""
Margaret slammed her hand against the wheelchair.
Emily understood the next words immediately.
The driver was paid.
James looked toward the ceiling.
"God help me.""
Emily turned.
"Tell me.""
He hesitated.
Then he pulled a chair toward the desk.
"Twenty-four years ago, Anna left the estate with a driver named Thomas Reed. He was employed by the family for almost thirty years.""
"Where is he now?""
"Dead.""
"When?""
"Eleven years ago.""
Emily stared.
"How?""
"Car accident.""
"Convenient.""
James looked at her sharply.
"Don't.""
"Don't what? Ask questions?""
He stood.
"Thomas was a good man.""
Margaret shook her head.
She signed again.
He gave her the key.
Emily looked at James.
"What key?""
James rubbed his face.
"Thomas was the person who transported Anna to the location where she was supposed to meet someone who could get her out of the country.""
"Who?""
"Anna never told me.""
Emily looked at the photograph of the black car.
"Was Thomas the person who brought me back?""
James shook his head.
"No. I arranged your return.""
"But the recording said the person who helped my mother escape had to sign the trust.""
James nodded.
"That's why I believe Thomas may not have been working alone.""
Emily turned toward Margaret.
The old woman was struggling to sign something.
Emily moved closer.
"Slowly, Grandma.""
It was the first time she had called her that.
Margaret froze.
Her eyes filled with tears.
She touched Emily's cheek.
Then she signed.
There was another woman.
"Who?""
Margaret pointed to her own chest.
Then toward the photograph of Anna.
She made a gesture like holding a baby.
Emily understood.
"You?""
Margaret shook her head.
Then she pointed toward the hallway.
The woman who raised you.
Emily stopped breathing.
"My adoptive mother?""
Margaret nodded.
James looked startled.
"Mother, that's impossible.""
Margaret signed again.
Susan knew.
Emily's stomach twisted.
"My mother knew?""
James walked toward Margaret.
"She never met Anna.""
Margaret shook her head.
Not Anna. Me.
Emily looked at James.
"Did my adoptive mother know Margaret?""
He didn't answer.
"James!""
He exhaled.
"Yes.""
The room seemed to shrink.
Emily felt the photographs slipping from her fingers.
"When?""
"Before you were adopted.""
"You're telling me my mother knew my grandmother?""
"She met her once.""
Emily shook her head.
"No. That's impossible.""
James lowered his voice.
"Your adoptive mother was the person Thomas Reed contacted after Anna disappeared.""
Emily stared at him.
"Why would he contact her?""
"Because Susan worked at the hospital where you were born.""
Emily felt a strange coldness spread through her chest.
She remembered her mother's stories.
The way she always said Emily had arrived unexpectedly.
The way she never discussed the adoption agency.
The way she kept a photograph of Emily's first birthday tucked inside a kitchen drawer.
"Did she know who I was?""
James nodded.
"Yes.""
Emily covered her mouth.
For years, she had believed her adoptive parents had simply found a baby in need of a home.
Now she was being told that the woman who raised her had known her biological family.
"Why didn't she tell me?""
"I don't know.""
"Did she receive money?""
James shook his head.
"Not from me.""
Emily looked at Margaret.
The elderly woman signed.
Susan loved you.
Emily's eyes filled.
"I know she did.""
Margaret pressed Emily's hand against her chest.
She protected you.
Emily closed her eyes.
For the first time since entering the mansion, she didn't feel angry.
She felt lost.
Then the sound of breaking glass came from downstairs.
Helen jumped.
"What was that?""
James immediately moved toward the door.
"Stay here.""
Emily grabbed his sleeve.
"No.""
"Emily, this isn't a discussion.""
"Neither is my life.""
James looked at her.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
"What's happening?""
A guard's voice came through.
"Sir, someone has breached the east entrance.""
James's expression hardened.
"How many?""
"One. He's inside the house.""
James reached for the security panel.
"Lock the internal doors.""
The guard hesitated.
"Sir, he says he knows Mrs. Whitmore.""
James went still.
"What's his name?""
A pause.
Then the guard answered.
"Thomas Reed.""
James nearly dropped the phone.
"That's impossible.""
Emily stared at him.
"Thomas is dead.""
The guard's voice became urgent.
"Sir, he says he has something for Emily Carter.""
James looked toward the study door.
"Do not let him near her.""
But the line went dead.
A second later, footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Then someone knocked.
Three times.
Helen moved behind Margaret's wheelchair.
James stood between Emily and the door.
"Who is it?""
A man's voice answered.
"Someone who owes Anna Whitmore a promise.""
James reached for the handle.
Emily grabbed his arm.
"Wait.""
She looked at Margaret.
The old woman was staring at the door.
Her face had turned completely white.
Emily signed.
Do you know him?
Margaret nodded.
Then she signed something that made Emily's blood run cold.
He was there when your mother disappeared.
James opened the door.
An elderly man stood in the hallway.
His hair was almost completely white, and a scar ran from his left temple toward his jaw.
He wore a dark overcoat and held a small leather bag.
His eyes moved directly to Emily.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he smiled sadly.
"Good Lord," he whispered.
"You have Anna's eyes.""
Emily stepped forward.
"Who are you?""
The man placed his bag on the floor.
"Thomas Reed.""
James stared at him.
"You're supposed to be dead.""
Thomas gave a tired laugh.
"That was the idea.""
James grabbed his coat.
"Where have you been?""
"Keeping a promise.""
"What promise?""
Thomas looked at Emily.
"To bring her mother home.""
Emily felt her heart hammer.
"Where is she?""
Thomas's expression changed.
He looked at Margaret.
Then at James.
Finally, he answered.
"Alive.""
Emily's knees almost gave way.
"She's alive?""
Thomas nodded.
"She's been alive all these years.""
Emily began crying.
"Where?""
Thomas opened the leather bag.
Inside was a photograph.
A middle-aged woman stood in front of a small seaside house.
Her dark hair was streaked with gray.
Her face was older, but her eyes were unmistakable.
Emily recognized them.
They were the eyes she saw every morning in her own reflection.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten message.
I never stopped waiting for you.
Emily pressed the picture to her chest.
"Take me to her.""
Thomas looked at James.
"There's a problem.""
"What problem?"" Emily demanded.
Thomas took a folded newspaper clipping from the bag.
The headline read:
*FORMER WHITMORE EMPLOYEE FOUND DEAD IN COASTAL TOWN.*
Beneath it was a photograph of the same seaside house.
Thomas's voice dropped.
"Someone found Anna's location yesterday.""
Emily stared at the clipping.
"Is she dead?""
Thomas didn't answer.
Then he pulled out a second photograph.
It showed the house surrounded by police officers.
But there was something else.
A black falcon had been painted across the front door.
Thomas looked at Emily.
"Your mother left that mark because she knew the people hunting her would understand it.""
May you like
He paused.
"And now they've started hunting you.""
