Chapter 3 - THE BROTHER I BURIED EIGHT YEARS AGO
I dropped the photograph.
For several seconds, I could only stare at it lying on the kitchen floor.
Thomas Carter.
My older brother.
My best friend when we were children.
The person who taught me to ride a bicycle and defended me when other girls laughed at my braces.
Eight years earlier, his boat had been found drifting near Lake Michigan.
His wallet was recovered.
His jacket was discovered in the water.
But his body never was.
We held a memorial service.
I spent months waiting for a telephone call that never came.
Eventually, I forced myself to accept he was gone.
Now I was staring at a photograph apparently taken two years after his disappearance.
I picked it up.
Studied his face.
The scar above his eyebrow.
His crooked smile.
The silver watch our grandfather gave him.
It was Thomas.
Or someone who looked exactly like him.
My hands trembled as I called Vivian.
"Elena?"
"I need you to come over."
"What's wrong?"
I swallowed.
"I think my brother is alive."
Silence.
Then Vivian asked, "Thomas?"
"Yes."
She took a breath.
"Don't move the photograph unnecessarily. I'll arrange for it to be examined."
Thirty minutes later, Vivian arrived with an independent investigator named Daniel Foster.
He examined the image carefully.
"Do you recognize the location?"
I nodded.
"Adrien's private study."
"And the woman?"
"Victoria Hail."
Daniel looked toward Vivian.
"Can you identify the date from the image itself?"
I pointed to the handwritten notation.
"This says it was taken six years ago."
He nodded.
"But we'll need to verify that."
I appreciated his caution.
After years of living with a man who treated assumptions like facts, careful thinking felt almost luxurious.
Vivian sat beside me.
"Elena, tell me about Thomas's disappearance."
I took a breath.
"He was investigating irregularities in our grandfather's investment portfolio."
"What kind?"
"Missing funds. Unauthorized transfers."
Vivian's expression changed.
"Connected to Moretti Maritime?"
I shook my head.
"Before I married Adrien."
Daniel leaned forward.
"Who managed the investments?"
I thought carefully.
"An attorney named Harrison Hail."
My stomach dropped.
Hail.
Victoria's surname.
Vivian noticed.
"Are they related?"
I nodded slowly.
"Harrison is Victoria's father."
The kitchen fell silent.
Then memories returned.
Thomas arguing with Grandfather.
Thomas searching through financial records.
Thomas telling me to stay away from anyone connected to Harrison Hail.
I'd forgotten that warning.
Or perhaps I'd convinced myself it didn't matter.
Then I remembered the day I first met Adrien.
At a charity gala.
Victoria had been there.
She introduced us.
I froze.
"Vivian."
She looked up.
"What?"
"Victoria introduced me to Adrien."
Her expression darkened.
I continued.
"She told me he was the kind of man who could protect our family's investments."
For six years, I'd believed my marriage began with an unexpected romance.
Now I wondered whether someone had arranged our meeting.
Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
"Understood."
He hung up.
Then looked directly at me.
"We located a recent financial transaction connected to Thomas Carter's old accounts."
My heart hammered.
"Recent?"
He nodded.
"Yesterday."
I stood.
"Where?"
Daniel took a breath.
"A private medical facility outside Milwaukee."
I stared.
May you like
Then he added something that made the room spin.
"The account is still being used to pay for a patient registered as Thomas Carter."
