Thomas kept the phone on speaker, but nobody answered Samuel immediately.
I looked down at Matthew.
He was awake now, his dark eyes wandering across the unfamiliar room without any understanding of the request just made about him.
"Samuel," David said, "Emily is not bringing her infant son anywhere until we know where you are and whether the location is safe."
A faint breath came through the speaker.
"Good."
David frowned. "Good?"
"If you'd agreed immediately, I would have changed the location."
Thomas sat again. "Samuel, this isn't one of Charles's games."
"No. Charles is dead. Gregory learned the games better than any of us."
"Where are you?"
"I'll tell Emily."
Every face turned toward me.
I shifted Matthew against my shoulder.
"Why me?"
"Because you're the one person in this mess who isn't trying to inherit something."
The sentence landed strangely.
"I'm trying to protect my son."
"Exactly."
"That doesn't mean I trust you."
"You shouldn't."
His answer came without offense.
"You don't know me."
"I know you disappeared after Elvira told Gregory you had the codicil."
"That's why I disappeared."
"And you knew my name before we knew yours."
"Yes."
"How?"
Silence.
Then Samuel said, "Mark contacted me during your pregnancy."
Mark's head snapped toward the phone.
"What?"
Sarah stared at him.
"You contacted Samuel?"
Mark shook his head.
"No."
Samuel heard him.
"You're there."
"Yes."
"Then either you've forgotten or somebody used your name."
Mark stood.
"I never contacted you."
Samuel was quiet.
"When?"
Mark demanded.
"The first message came in April."
I calculated automatically.
I had been around fourteen weeks pregnant.
"How?"
"Email."
"What did it say?"
Samuel hesitated.
"It asked whether a biological grandchild of mine would have rights under Charles's trust."
Thomas closed his eyes.
"Gregory."
"That was my assumption."
Mark paced toward the window.
"From my account?"
"From an address bearing your name. I didn't inspect it closely enough then."
David leaned forward.
"Do you still have the emails?"
"Every one."
"How many?"
"Seven."
Thomas looked at Mark.
"What else did they ask?"
Samuel's voice became colder.
"Whether a developmental disability could alter succession rights."
My stomach turned.
Even before the twenty-week appointment, someone had been quietly researching ways to exclude Matthew.
"Did you answer?"
"Once."
"What did you say?"
"I said any man asking how to disinherit his unborn child should worry less about the trust and more about becoming someone the child would someday want to know."
Mark stopped pacing.
Samuel continued.
"I received no answer for almost a month."
"And then?" David asked.
"The next message asked whether I possessed documents concerning Mark's biological parentage."
Thomas muttered something under his breath.
"Did you reply?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because by then I understood somebody was looking for more than legal information."
I asked, "When did you learn my name?"
"From Elvira."
The room changed.
Mark stared at the phone.
"When?"
"Three months before Matthew was born."
Sarah whispered, "She was talking to you that long ago?"
"Occasionally."
Mark's face hardened.
"My mother told you about Emily?"
"She told me you had gotten a woman pregnant and Gregory was panicking."
"Did she tell you about Down syndrome?"
"Later."
I swallowed.
"What did she say?"
Samuel's voice softened.
"That the screening had changed Gregory's attitude from worried to ruthless."
I closed my eyes.
There it was again.
Not Matthew.
The screening.
A medical probability on a sheet of paper had been enough for Gregory to decide what kind of future my unborn son deserved.
Samuel continued.
"Elvira wanted to know whether the trust could exclude the child."
"What did you tell her?"
"That if Charles's original documents still governed, the opposite was more likely. Mark having a biological child would force review of Samuel's branch."
"You referred to yourself in the third person?"
Samuel gave a faint, tired laugh.
"I was trying to make her understand it legally rather than emotionally."
"Did she?"
"No."
I thought of Elvira's confession.
She had chosen the lie she had already spent thirty years protecting.
"Why didn't you contact me then?"
The question had been waiting since his letter.
Samuel took a long time to answer.
"Cowardice."
The honesty surprised me.
"I told myself you were a stranger. I told myself interfering might make things worse. I told myself Mark should be the one to stand against Gregory."
His voice roughened.
"Mostly, I told myself all the things people tell themselves when doing nothing is easier."
Mark stared at the floor.
Samuel said, "Then Matthew was born."
"How did you know?"
"Elvira sent me a photograph."
Mark looked stunned again.
His mother had apparently circulated more information about Matthew than she had ever admitted.
"What changed?" I asked.
"I saw him."
The answer was so quiet I almost missed it.
"I saw a baby who had inherited a war he didn't start."
My throat tightened.
Samuel continued.
"I spent my whole life telling myself leaving the Vales was how I defeated Charles. Then I saw Matthew and understood that leaving Mark behind had also given Charles exactly what he wanted."
Mark turned away.
No one rescued him from the sentence.
Samuel had abandoned him.
Gregory had raised him.
Both facts could be true.
"I can't change what I did to Mark," Samuel said. "But I can stop Gregory from repeating it."
David tapped his pen.
"Then give us the codicil."
"I will."
"Without requiring Emily to bring Matthew."
"No."
I bristled.
"He's not proof of anything."
"I know."
"Then why insist?"
"Because I want you to see me before you decide whether I can be trusted."
"You can meet me without Matthew."
Another pause.
"Fair."
The immediate concession surprised me.
"Bring him only if you decide the location is safe."
David nodded reluctantly.
"Better."
Samuel gave us an address.
Thomas recognized it.
"San Miguel Community Arts Center?"
"Yes."
"You taught there."
"For twenty-eight years."
"Why there?"
"Public building. Cameras. People who know me. Gregory has no influence over the board."
Samuel paused.
"And because there are three exits."
David wrote down the address.
"We'll notify local law enforcement."
"Please do."
"Samuel," Thomas said, "do not carry the original document openly."
"I'm not an idiot, Tom."
"I've known you long enough to dispute that."
For the first time, Samuel laughed.
It changed something in Mark's face.
Perhaps hearing his biological father's laughter for the first time was stranger than any document.
"We'll be there at three," Samuel said.
The call ended.
For a moment Mark stared at the silent phone.
Then he asked Thomas, "What was he like?"
Thomas knew what he meant.
"Stubborn."
Mark gave a bitter smile.
"Apparently genetic."
"Funny when he wanted to be. Difficult when he believed he was right."
"Did he ever ask about me?"
Thomas looked uncomfortable.
"Often."
Mark's jaw tightened.
"That's worse."
Sarah watched him.
"Why?"
"Because if he didn't care, leaving would make sense."
Nobody had an answer.
At one thirty, Deputy Alvarez met us outside the arts center.
The building occupied a converted adobe school with bright murals along the courtyard wall. Children carried instrument cases through the entrance. Parents waited beside parked cars.
It was almost aggressively ordinary.
That made me trust Samuel's judgment more.
David inspected the building with Alvarez.
Only then did I decide Matthew could come inside.
Mark offered to remain outside.
Samuel had not invited him.
I looked at him.
"Do you want to meet your father?"
Mark's face tightened.
"I don't know."
"That's not what I asked."
He looked toward the entrance.
"Yes."
"Then come."
Sarah heard but said nothing.
We entered together.
A woman at reception recognized Samuel's name immediately.
"He's in Studio Four."
That eased David's concern.
Samuel had not appeared from nowhere.
People here knew him.
We walked down a hallway covered with children's paintings.
Music drifted through one wall.
At the last door, Thomas stopped.
His hand hovered over the handle.
Thirty years of secrets seemed to gather in that pause.
Then he opened it.
Samuel Vale stood beside a piano.
He looked exactly like the motel footage, only more tired.
His white hair curled slightly at the collar. He wore jeans, a brown jacket and worn boots.
His eyes went first to Thomas.
Then Sarah.
Then me.
Then Matthew.
Finally they reached Mark.
Samuel stopped moving.
Mark did too.
The resemblance was more unsettling in person.
Not identical.
But undeniable.
Samuel's eyes filled.
"Mark."
Mark's face hardened instantly.
"Don't."
Samuel nodded.
"All right."
Nobody moved closer.
Matthew made a soft sound.
Samuel looked toward him.
I watched his hands.
They trembled.
"Emily?"
"Yes."
"I'm sorry."
"For which part?"
His mouth tightened.
"That's fair."
He remained several feet away.
"For knowing enough to warn you and deciding it wasn't my place."
"It became your place when your family started using my son to fight over money."
"Yes."
"Did you know Mark was having me followed?"
"No."
"Did you know about the secret medical test?"
Samuel's expression changed.
"No."
Mark looked at him sharply, perhaps searching for deception.
Samuel appeared genuinely horrified.
"They tested you without your consent?"
"Mark forged my signature."
Samuel slowly turned toward his son.
Mark held his gaze.
"I did."
Pain moved across Samuel's face.
Not outrage alone.
Recognition.
"You let Gregory convince you there was always a reason."
Mark's jaw tightened.
"You don't get to judge me."
"No."
Samuel nodded.
"You're right."
That stopped Mark more effectively than an argument would have.
Samuel looked back at me.
"May I see him?"
I stepped closer but did not hand Matthew over.
Samuel leaned slightly.
Matthew stared at his face.
Samuel smiled.
"Hello, little man."
His voice broke.
Matthew responded by yawning.
A strange laugh moved through the room.
Even Sarah smiled.
Samuel wiped beneath one eye.
"He doesn't care who any of us are."
"Not yet," I said.
"Probably the wisest person here."
He did not ask to hold him.
That restraint mattered.
David moved us back to the reason for the meeting.
"The codicil."
Samuel nodded.
"It isn't here."
Mark exhaled sharply.
"Of course."
Samuel looked at him.
"If Gregory followed you, would you rather he find it in my pocket?"
Mark said nothing.
"Where is it?" Thomas asked.
"Safe."
"Samuel."
"I'll take you to it."
David frowned.
"Where?"
"Bank."
"Safe-deposit box?"
"Not mine."
Thomas stared.
"Whose?"
Samuel looked toward Sarah.
"Yours."
Sarah blinked.
"What?"
"Not literally. It's held in a trust created in your name."
Her face went blank.
"I don't have a trust."
"You do."
Mark stepped forward.
"What are you talking about?"
Samuel walked to the piano and removed a folder from beneath a stack of music.
"After Sarah's second miscarriage, Elvira contacted me."
Sarah went pale.
Samuel continued.
"She was afraid Gregory was restructuring the company around the assumption that you would never have children."
Sarah's eyes filled.
"He was."
"Elvira knew."
"Of course she did."
"She also knew if Gregory ever discovered the original codicil still existed, he would destroy it."
"So she gave it to you."
"Years later."
Samuel handed Sarah the folder.
"But I couldn't keep it under my own name. Gregory monitored me intermittently."
Sarah opened the papers.
"What did you do?"
"I created a document trust with you as contingent beneficiary."
"Why me?"
"Because you were Mark's wife."
Sarah stared.
Samuel added, "And because Elvira believed you were the only person in Gregory's immediate circle who hadn't learned to fear him more than you feared doing the wrong thing."
Sarah looked away.
The compliment seemed to hurt.
Mark said quietly, "She was right."
Sarah did not acknowledge him.
David examined the paperwork.
"If Sarah is the beneficiary, can she access the box?"
"With Thomas."
Thomas frowned.
"Again?"
"I needed two people Gregory couldn't impersonate."
"Where?"
Samuel gave the bank name.
It had a branch less than four miles away.
David checked the time.
"We can go now."
Samuel shook his head.
"There's another issue."
Of course there was.
"What?"
"The codicil isn't the only thing in the box."
Thomas stared at him.
"What else?"
"Letters. Records. Copies of Charles's private ledgers."
Mark's expression changed.
"Company ledgers?"
"Some."
"What do they show?"
Samuel looked directly at him.
"Payments made after Charles's death to secure Gregory's voting control."
David went still.
"Bribes?"
"I can't prove motive."
"But?"
"Money went to trustees who later supported Gregory's interpretation of the succession documents."
Thomas whispered, "Jesus."
Samuel continued.
"There's also a recording."
Sarah asked, "Of whom?"
"Charles."
Thomas stared.
Samuel's voice became quieter.
"He recorded a statement shortly before he died explaining why he had restored my biological line in the codicil."
Mark looked almost afraid to ask.
"Why?"
Samuel's eyes moved toward him.
"Because he discovered Gregory had lied about you."
"Lied how?"
Samuel hesitated.
"He told Charles you had died."
No one spoke.
Mark's face emptied.
"What?"
"When you were an infant."
Samuel's voice shook.
"Gregory told my father the baby had not survived."
Mark stared at him.
"Why?"
"So Charles would stop asking me to return."
Samuel looked down.
"I believed it too."
Mark stepped backward.
"You thought I was dead?"
"For almost three years."
Sarah covered her mouth.
Samuel continued.
"Then I saw Elvira by chance. You were with her."
Mark's breathing changed.
"What did you do?"
"I confronted Gregory."
"And?"
"He told me if I tried to claim you, he would destroy Elvira, fight me in court and make sure I never saw you."
Mark laughed once, violently.
"So you left."
"Yes."
"You keep leaving."
Samuel absorbed it.
"Yes."
Mark turned away.
I saw his shoulders trembling.
Samuel did not approach him.
Maybe he finally understood that regret did not grant him the right to close the distance.
Deputy Alvarez appeared at the studio door.
"Mr. Reddick."
David looked up.
"What happened?"
She held her phone.
"The bank Samuel named just reported an attempted access to a restricted box."
Samuel's face changed.
"When?"
"Twenty minutes ago."
"By whom?"
Alvarez looked toward Sarah.
"A woman presented identification claiming to be Sarah Vale."
Sarah went white.
"I'm standing here."
"We know."
"Did they let her in?"
"No. The identification failed secondary verification."
Samuel exhaled.
Then Alvarez added, "But she wasn't alone."
"Who was with her?"
"A man carrying authorization papers naming him as replacement archival trustee."
Thomas's jaw tightened.
"Who?"
Alvarez checked the name.
"Daniel Vale."
Click here to continue reading: PART 14: Daniel’s Attempt to Reach the Codicil Failed, but His Private Deal With Gregory Showed Matthew Had Been Targeted Before Mark Ever Knew Why
The Message I Sent His Wife Was Supposed to End the Silence, but Her Reply Made Me Afraid to Open My Door
Part 13 of 28
