Chapter 7 - The Brother's Betrayal
Kieran hit the table with his fist.
“Explain.”
Garrett's voice was barely audible.
“I was twenty-six. Father told me it was a legitimate investment account.”
“You forged Mila's signature?”
“I didn't know who she was.”
“You used a pregnant woman's identity!”
“I didn't know she was pregnant!”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“That's the problem with the Voss family. You never know who you're hurting until the consequences arrive.”
Kieran grabbed his brother by the collar.
“You put her and her child in danger.”
Garrett didn't fight back.
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because Father threatened to kill me if I refused.”
“Father's been dead for years!”
“I know that, too!”
Garrett's voice broke.
“I thought if I kept the account hidden, nobody would ever find it. Then I got shot. Someone had discovered the records. I thought it was another one of Father's old enemies.”
He looked at me.
“I didn't know Noah was connected until the photograph arrived.”
I couldn't believe any of it.
All those years, I'd worked double shifts, skipped meals, and worried about rent while wealthy men used my identity to hide their money.
“Where is my son?” I demanded.
Garrett looked at Daniel.
“Tell her.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I gave him to someone I trusted.”
“Who?”
“Someone who was supposed to keep him safe until I could reach you.”
Kieran's expression darkened.
“You handed a five-year-old to an unknown person?”
“I knew him.”
“Who?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Your father's former driver. Thomas Reed.”
Garrett stepped backward.
“Thomas has been dead for three years.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No. He's alive.”
A gunshot exploded from the far end of the warehouse.
The overhead light shattered.
Kieran pulled me behind a concrete pillar.
Garrett returned fire.
Men appeared near the loading entrance.
Daniel disappeared into the darkness.
I heard Kieran shout my name.
Then a second shot.
Garrett fell.
Kieran rushed toward him.
“Garrett!”
His brother clutched his side.
“I'm okay.”
Blood spread beneath his fingers.
I dropped beside him and pressed both hands against the wound.
“Look at me. Don't move.”
Garrett tried to smile.
“Still bossing people around, nurse?”
“Save your breath.”
Kieran's men secured the entrance, but Daniel was gone.
So was the silver key.
One of the guards ran toward us.
“Mr. Voss! We've got a location.”
Kieran looked up.
“Where?”
“An abandoned house in Evanston. Thomas Reed's last known address.”
We drove there with Garrett in an ambulance.
The house was dark.
The front door stood open.
Inside, a child's drawing lay on the floor.
A blue dinosaur.
Noah's drawing.
I picked it up with shaking hands.
From somewhere upstairs came a faint sound.
“Mommy?”
I ran.
Noah stood in a small bedroom, frightened but unharmed.
I dropped to my knees and wrapped my arms around him.
“Baby, I'm here.”
He clung to my neck.
“I told the man I wanted you.”
“Who was the man?”
Noah pointed toward the doorway.
A tall figure stood in the hallway.
Daniel.
But he wasn't alone.
Behind him stood an older man with a scar across his cheek.
Thomas Reed.
And Thomas was holding a photograph of Kieran's father.
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“There's something you all need to understand,” he said.
“Vincent Voss didn't die of a heart attack.”
