CHAPTER 8 WHAT HER MOTHER TOOK TWENTY YEARS AGO
The photograph remained on the table.
Nobody touched it.
For several seconds, Julian simply stared at the name beneath the unfamiliar face.
MICHAEL CROFT.
The name looked wrong.
Not because it was unfamiliar.
Because it shouldn't have existed.
Julian had grown up inside the Croft family.
He knew every portrait hanging in the old mansion.
Every branch of the family tree.
Every cousin.
Every uncle.
Every scandal his father had spent decades burying.
There had been only two sons.
Daniel.
And Julian.
Yet the photograph showed a third.
A boy with Daniel's eyes.
Daniel's jaw.
Daniel's crooked smile.
Julian picked it up.
"Where did this come from?"
Derek checked the package.
"No return address."
"Fingerprint?"
"Too many."
Julian looked at the photograph again.
Maya stood beside him.
"He looks like Daniel."
"He does."
"Not similar."
She pointed to the face.
"Exactly like him."
Julian said nothing.
Then he noticed something in the background.
A church.
A stone cross.
And a black car.
He recognized the location.
"St. Agnes."
Maya looked at him.
"What?"
"The church."
"Where?"
"Chicago."
Her face tightened.
"The church from the call."
Julian nodded.
"We're going there."
St. Agnes had been closed for eleven years.
The doors were chained.
The windows were boarded.
Snow had accumulated along the steps.
Julian's men had already searched the area.
Nothing.
No vehicles.
No people.
No obvious surveillance.
Yet Maya felt watched.
She walked beside Julian.
"Why would someone leave that photograph here?"
"Because they wanted us to find it."
"Why?"
"To make us ask questions."
"And if the answers are dangerous?"
Julian looked at her.
"They already are."
Inside, the church smelled of dust and old candles.
Maya walked toward the altar.
Her breathing changed.
She touched the wooden bench.
Another memory.
A woman's hand.
A child's voice.
Daniel laughing.
And another boy.
Michael.
He was holding her hand.
Maya closed her eyes.
"I know this place."
Julian stayed beside her.
"What do you remember?"
"Two boys."
"Daniel and Michael?"
"I think so."
"How old were they?"
"Daniel was older."
"Michael?"
"Maybe eight."
Julian frowned.
"That would mean he was younger than Daniel."
Maya nodded.
"But..."
She opened her eyes.
"What?"
"Michael was already missing."
Julian stared.
"Before?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"I don't know."
She touched her temple.
"My memories aren't clear."
Julian gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't force them."
"I need to remember."
"You don't have to do it tonight."
"What if remembering is the only way to keep us alive?"
Julian looked at her.
"Then we'll remember together."
Her eyes softened.
Neither noticed Derek watching them from across the church.
He looked away.
Some things didn't need witnesses.
They found the hidden room beneath the altar.
It wasn't large.
A stone staircase led down to an old crypt.
Derek found the entrance behind a loose panel.
Inside was a wooden cabinet.
Maya recognized it immediately.
"My mother."
Julian looked at her.
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"She kept things like this."
Maya ran her fingers over the cabinet.
There was a tiny carving.
Three interlocking circles.
The Moretti symbol.
Julian opened it.
Inside were letters.
Dozens.
All addressed to one person.
Victor Croft.
Maya picked up the first.
The paper was dated twenty years earlier.
Julian read over her shoulder.
Victor,
I know what you're planning.
If you take the child, I will tell them everything.
Maya looked at him.
"Child?"
Julian turned the page.
The next letter was worse.
Isabella cannot know.
If she finds out the boy survived, she will come back.
Julian's face hardened.
"The boy."
"Michael?"
"Possibly."
Another letter.
Daniel is beginning to ask questions.
Keep him away from the house.
Keep Julian away from all of them.
Maya stared.
"Your father was hiding them."
Julian nodded.
"Or hunting them."
They found another document.
A hospital record.
Patient: Male infant.
Mother: Isabella Moretti.
Father: Unknown.
Twin status: Confirmed.
Maya's breathing stopped.
"Twins."
Julian stared.
"Daniel and Michael were twins."
"Then why didn't anyone know?"
"Because someone erased Michael."
"Who?"
Julian looked at the document.
The doctor's signature had been removed.
But beneath it was a handwritten note.
Payment received from V.C.
Victor Croft.
Maya whispered:
"Your father paid to erase him."
Julian's face became cold.
"Yes."
Another document.
This one was dated the same year.
Custody transfer.
The child identified as Michael Moretti-Croft was transferred to a private institution.
Maya's eyes widened.
"He wasn't killed."
"No."
"Where was he taken?"
The document listed a location.
St. Matthew's Children's Home.
Derek looked at Julian.
"That place closed fifteen years ago."
Julian nodded.
"Find the records."
"I'm already trying."
Maya picked up another letter.
Her hands began to shake.
This one was from her mother.
Victor,
I did what you asked.
I took the ledger.
I gave you the evidence.
But I will not give you my daughter.
Julian looked at Maya.
She swallowed.
"My mother stole the ledger."
"Yes."
"But why?"
The answer was in the next line.
You promised Daniel would live.
You promised Michael would be protected.
You lied.
Julian froze.
Maya whispered:
"Daniel knew."
"Yes."
"He knew about Michael."
"Yes."
"And my mother traded the ledger for their lives."
Julian nodded.
"That's why everyone wanted her dead."
Maya looked at the papers.
"She sacrificed everything."
Julian took her hand.
"She tried to save you."
Maya looked at him.
"What if she failed?"
Julian squeezed her fingers.
"She didn't."
"You don't know that."
"I do."
"How?"
"Because you're here."
Her eyes filled.
For a moment, the danger disappeared.
Then a sound came from the staircase.
Footsteps.
Derek raised his weapon.
"Someone's coming."
Julian pulled Maya behind him.
A figure appeared.
An old woman.
She carried a lantern.
She looked at Maya.
Then Julian.
And began to cry.
"Oh, God."
Maya stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The woman stared at her.
"You have Isabella's eyes."
Maya swallowed.
"Did you know my mother?"
The woman nodded.
"I was there the night she died."
Julian's entire body stiffened.
"What happened?"
The woman looked at him.
"Your father came."
Maya's breath caught.
"What did he do?"
"He demanded the ledger."
"Did she give it to him?"
"No."
"Then what happened?"
The woman closed her eyes.
"Isabella gave it to someone else."
"Who?"
"Daniel."
Julian's expression changed.
"My brother?"
"Yes."
"Where did he take it?"
"I don't know."
Maya stepped closer.
"What did my mother say?"
The woman looked at her.
"She said one thing."
"What?"
"Tell Maya her father didn't die."
Maya froze.
"Which father?"
The old woman shook her head.
"She didn't say."
Julian frowned.
"Then who was Maya's father?"
The woman looked at him.
"You really don't know?"
"No."
She stared at him for several seconds.
Then whispered:
"Your father."
Silence.
Maya's face went white.
Julian didn't move.
The woman continued.
"Victor Croft was Maya's biological father."
Maya shook her head.
"No."
"He loved Isabella."
"No."
"He had a child with her."
"No."
"My mother said Rafael was my father."
"Rafael protected you."
"That's not the same thing."
"No."
The old woman looked at Julian.
"Your father was Maya's father."
Julian's face was unreadable.
Maya stepped away.
"I can't."
Julian moved toward her.
"Maya."
She backed away.
"Don't."
"I know this is—"
"Don't."
Her voice broke.
"You said you chose me."
"I did."
"Then how?"
Julian froze.
"What?"
She looked at him.
"If I'm your father's daughter..."
Her voice trembled.
"What does that make me to you?"
Julian stared.
He understood immediately.
She thought she was his sister.
His expression changed.
"No."
"Julian—"
"No."
He stepped closer.
"My father wasn't your father."
"But she said—"
"She could be wrong."
"She knew my mother."
"That doesn't make her right."
Maya shook her head.
"You don't know."
"I know enough."
He took her face gently between his hands.
"Look at me."
She did.
"You are not my sister."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because my father never had a daughter."
"How do you know?"
"Because he was obsessed with bloodlines."
Julian's voice became steady.
"He would have told the world if you were his."
Maya whispered:
"Then why did he hide me?"
"That's what we're going to find out."
The old woman suddenly grabbed Maya's wrist.
"Wait."
Maya turned.
The woman stared at the necklace.
"That isn't yours."
Maya frowned.
"What?"
"Your mother didn't give you that."
"She did."
"No."
The old woman's hands trembled.
"She gave you another one."
Maya touched the pendant.
"This?"
The woman shook her head.
"That was the replacement."
Julian's eyes narrowed.
"Replacement for what?"
"The original necklace."
"Where is it?"
The woman looked toward the crypt.
"It was buried with Isabella."
Maya froze.
"My mother is buried?"
The woman nodded.
"At the old Moretti cemetery."
"When?"
"Twelve years ago."
Maya stared.
"Then why did everyone say she disappeared?"
The woman looked at Julian.
"Because Victor didn't want anyone to know she was dead."
Julian's jaw tightened.
"Why?"
"Because if the world knew Isabella Moretti was dead..."
She paused.
"...they would have started looking for her daughter."
Maya whispered:
"Me."
"Yes."
They left the church before dawn.
Snow had stopped.
Chicago was gray beneath the early morning sky.
Maya sat silently in the back of the car.
Julian sat beside her.
Neither spoke.
Derek drove.
After several minutes, Maya finally whispered:
"What if she's right?"
Julian looked at her.
"She's not."
"What if she is?"
"Then we'll get a DNA test."
Maya stared at him.
"And if it says..."
She couldn't finish.
Julian took her hand.
"Whatever it says, I won't abandon you."
She looked at him.
"Even if I'm connected to your family?"
"Yes."
"Even if your father was mine?"
"Yes."
"Even if that changes everything?"
Julian squeezed her hand.
"Nothing changes how I feel about you."
Maya looked down.
"Why?"
"Because I didn't fall in love with your blood."
She looked up.
"I fell in love with you."
Her eyes filled with tears.
Then the car stopped.
Derek turned around.
"We're here."
The cemetery gates stood ahead.
Old.
Rusting.
Covered in snow.
Julian stepped out.
Maya followed.
They walked toward the Moretti family crypt.
Inside, names were carved into stone.
Maya saw her mother's.
ISABELLA MORETTI.
Her knees nearly gave way.
She touched the stone.
"Mom."
Julian stood behind her.
Derek waited outside.
Maya cried silently.
Then she noticed something.
A small metal plate beneath the name.
She wiped away the snow.
There was a symbol.
Three circles.
And beneath it:
ISABELLA'S FINAL REQUEST.
Julian crouched beside her.
"What does it say?"
Maya read:
The truth lies where the first child was hidden.
Julian looked at her.
"The children's home."
Maya nodded.
"St. Matthew's."
Then another line became visible.
Do not trust the man who wears the snake.
Julian's expression changed.
Thomas Reed.
Maya remembered the ring.
The snake.
Then she noticed something else.
A tiny photograph had been placed inside the stone.
She pulled it out.
It showed Isabella.
Rafael Mendoza.
Victor Croft.
And one more man.
A younger Thomas Reed.
Standing behind them.
But Reed wasn't looking at the camera.
He was looking directly at a child.
Michael.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten sentence.
Reed did not protect Michael.
Julian's eyes narrowed.
"He took him."
Maya whispered:
"Where?"
A shadow moved behind the cemetery wall.
Julian turned.
Nothing.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message.
You are looking in the wrong place.
Another message appeared.
Michael Croft never lived at St. Matthew's.
Julian's jaw tightened.
Then the final message arrived.
He grew up with Maya.
Maya stared at the screen.
"What does that mean?"
Julian looked at her.
"I don't know."
Then another photograph arrived.
Julian opened it.
His heart stopped.
It showed Maya at nineteen.
Standing outside the bakery.
Beside her was a young man.
His face was partly turned away.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
Daniel's eyes.
Michael's eyes.
The caption underneath read:
HE HAS BEEN BESIDE HER FOR FOUR YEARS.
Maya stared at the photograph.
"I know him."
Julian's expression hardened.
"Who?"
She whispered:
"Someone who works at the bakery."
Then she remembered.
The quiet delivery driver.
The man who always carried the flour boxes.
The man who never spoke more than necessary.
The man who had watched her every night.
Maya's voice trembled.
"His name is Michael."
Julian's blood went cold.
At that exact moment, the bakery's security alarm began ringing on Derek's phone.
Derek looked at the screen.
His face changed.
"The bakery is on fire."
Maya turned toward him.
"What?"
Derek looked at Julian.
"And Michael is inside."
Julian didn't hesitate.
He ran toward the car.
Maya followed.
The cemetery disappeared behind them.
The past had finally caught up with the present.
And somewhere inside a burning bakery, a man who had spent four years standing quietly beside Maya was about to reveal the most dangerous secret of all.
He wasn't Michael Croft.
May you like
He was the man who had been protecting Michael.
And he knew exactly who Maya's real father was.
