Chapter 7 - THE BROTHER IN THE SHADOWS
The call lasted eleven seconds.
But it changed Aleric forever.
“Cassian?”
Silence.
Then:
“Don't trust anyone.”
The line ended.
Aleric immediately tried calling back.
Nothing.
I placed a hand on his shoulder.
“You'll find him.”
He looked at me.
“Why are you helping me?”
“I'm not helping you.”
He frowned.
“I'm protecting the truth.”
That answer seemed to hurt him.
Perhaps because he finally understood what he had lost.
His wife had once been someone who trusted him.
Now I was standing beside him only because an innocent child needed protection.
The investigation moved quickly.
Federal agents became involved.
The Sterling family accounts were frozen.
Eleanor gave a statement.
Graham was charged.
Rowan was reunited with records proving her son had been alive.
But Cassian remained missing.
Then a detective found a clue.
A rental property in Brooklyn had been paid for through a Sterling shell company.
We drove there with federal agents.
The apartment was empty.
Except for one thing.
A crib.
And a photograph.
Aleric picked it up.
It showed three children.
Julian.
Another baby.
And a teenage boy.
The teenage boy was Cassian.
On the back:
THE THREE STERLING HEIRS.
I stared at the photograph.
“Three?”
The detective nodded.
“Apparently.”
Aleric looked at me.
“Who's the third?”
Before anyone could answer, the door opened.
A young man stood there.
He looked exhausted.
But his eyes were unmistakable.
Sterling eyes.
He stared at Aleric.
Then whispered:
“You finally came.”
Aleric couldn't move.
“Cassian?”
The young man nodded.
Then looked at Julian.
“That baby is not your brother.”
Everyone froze.
May you like
Cassian stepped closer.
“He's mine.”
