Chapter 21 - THE CLIENT WHO KNEW HER NAME
Marlo had represented dozens of clients by the time she turned twenty-three.
Most came to her carrying folders.
Some carried photographs.
Others carried nothing but a story and the desperate hope that someone would believe them.
But the woman sitting across from her that rainy Tuesday morning carried something different.
Fear.
Real fear.
She was approximately fifty years old, dressed in a plain navy coat, her hands trembling around a paper cup of coffee.
“My name is Evelyn Cross.”
Marlo stopped writing.
Cross.
The name immediately triggered something in her memory.
Adrian.
Nathaniel.
Elliott.
The old partnership.
The buried history.
She carefully placed her pen down.
“Are you related to Adrian Cross?”
The woman nodded.
“He was my brother.”
Marlo's pulse accelerated.
Adrian had been dead for years.
Or had supposedly died.
His story had already become one of the most complicated chapters in the Callaway history.
“What do you need from me?”
Evelyn looked toward the glass wall outside Marlo's office.
“Your mother told me never to contact you.”
Marlo frowned.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew what would happen if you discovered the truth.”
Marlo leaned forward.
“What truth?”
Evelyn slowly removed an old envelope from her handbag.
It was yellow with age.
Across the front was written:
FOR THE GIRL WHO NEVER KNEW SHE WAS THE KEY.
Marlo stared.
“Where did you get this?”
“My brother gave it to me before he disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“He didn't die.”
Marlo's heart stopped.
“Adrian is alive?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“He was murdered.”
The room went silent.
“Then why did everyone think he died years ago?”
“Because the wrong body was identified.”
Marlo stood.
“Who killed him?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Your grandmother.”
Marlo froze.
“No.”
“She didn't do it herself.”
Evelyn opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Vivian.
A younger Vivian.
Standing beside Adrian.
But the date was recent.
Only six months before Adrian's supposed death.
Marlo stared.
“This photograph is impossible.”
“No.”
Evelyn's voice broke.
“It was taken after your family believed he was dead.”
Marlo sat down.
Someone had been lying.
Again.
But this time the lie wasn't about money.
It was about murder.
Then Evelyn said the sentence that made Marlo's blood turn cold.
May you like
“Your grandmother wasn't trying to protect the Callaway family.”
“She was trying to protect you.”
