Chapter 1 - THE NAME THOMAS WHISPERED
“Who is it?”
Thomas Kane’s fingers tightened around Grace’s wrist.
Rainwater ran from his hair into his eyes.
Smoke from the burning SUV drifted through the trees behind them.
Baby Lily made a tiny sound inside the scorched blanket.
Thomas looked toward the embankment.
Then back at Grace.
“Marcus Reed.”
Grace stopped breathing.
“No.”
Thomas’s expression hardened.
“Listen to me.”
“He changed the route.”
“He replaced four men on Evelyn’s detail that morning.”
“He sent Adrian to the riverfront.”
Grace shook her head.
“That’s impossible.”
“Marcus is Mr. Vale’s brother in everything but blood.”
“That’s exactly why Adrian will never see him coming.”
A branch snapped somewhere above them.
Thomas immediately looked toward the road.
“Take the baby.”
Grace stared at him.
“What about you?”
“I’ll slow them down.”
“You can barely stand.”
“Grace.”
His voice turned sharp.
“Take Lily.”
She pulled the blanket against her chest.
The baby was warm.
Alive.
Terrified.
Thomas reached beneath his damaged jacket and removed a small brass key.
He pushed it into Grace’s palm.
“Union Station.”
“Locker 314.”
“What’s inside?”
“Enough to make Marcus afraid.”
Another sound came from the trees.
Closer this time.
Thomas grabbed Grace’s sleeve.
“Go.”
Grace backed away.
“Thomas—”
“If Adrian learns about Lily before Marcus is exposed, Marcus will finish what he started.”
Grace looked down at the child.
Lily’s tiny hand had slipped free from the blanket.
Her fingers curled around Grace’s thumb.
That was the moment Grace made her decision.
She ran.
Eight months later, Adrian sat behind the wheel of the sedan while Grace finished telling him what had happened.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
The rain filled the silence.
Marcus Reed.
The name did not fit inside Adrian’s mind.
Marcus had been there when Adrian’s father died.
Marcus had carried Adrian out of a warehouse after a deal went wrong twelve years earlier.
Marcus had stood beside him at Evelyn’s funeral.
Marcus had watched Adrian place Lily’s pink cap inside an empty coffin.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“What happened to Thomas?”
Grace stared through the windshield.
“I hid him at my cousin’s house.”
“For how long?”
“Three days.”
“And then?”
“He disappeared.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Disappeared?”
“He left before sunrise.”
“He said staying near us put Lily in danger.”
“Did he contact you again?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“Five months ago.”
Grace reached into her purse.
She removed an old envelope.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
Adrian recognized Thomas’s handwriting immediately.
KEEP THE CHILD HIDDEN.
THE WOLF STILL SITS AT HIS RIGHT HAND.
WHEN ADRIAN SEES THE FEAR, HE’LL BE READY.
Adrian read it twice.
Then he thought about the memorial.
Emma whispering.
Grace turning white.
Marcus standing behind him.
And that single flash of fear crossing Marcus’s face.
Thomas had been right.
Adrian had finally seen it.
Twenty minutes later, Grace directed him into a quiet neighborhood on the city’s northwest side.
The houses were small.
The lawns were narrow.
Nothing about the street belonged to Adrian Vale’s world.
Grace pointed toward a pale brick house with a yellow upstairs window.
“There.”
Adrian parked.
For the first time since leaving the memorial, his hands began to shake.
Grace noticed.
“She’s safe.”
Adrian did not move.
For eight months, he had imagined his daughter in a grave.
Now she was twenty feet away.
Alive.
He stepped from the car.
Grace carried Emma.
They crossed the wet sidewalk.
Grace unlocked the door.
A woman in her sixties appeared from the kitchen.
Her eyes widened when she saw Adrian.
“Grace?”
“It’s time, Aunt Helen.”
The older woman looked at Adrian.
Then slowly nodded.
“She’s upstairs.”
Adrian climbed the steps.
One at a time.
The yellow room was at the end of the hallway.
The door stood partly open.
He pushed it gently.
A crib sat near the window.
A white mobile turned slowly above it.
Inside, an eight-month-old baby was sitting upright beneath a soft blanket.
She had dark hair.
Gray-blue eyes.
And Evelyn’s mouth.
Adrian stopped in the doorway.
The baby stared at him.
He could not breathe.
Could not speak.
Could not move.
Then Lily smiled.
It was small.
Uncertain.
But it was Evelyn’s smile.
Adrian’s knees nearly gave out.
He crossed the room and knelt beside the crib.
Lily reached through the wooden bars.
Her fingers touched his face.
Adrian closed his eyes.
For eight months, he had refused to cry in front of anyone.
Not at the wreckage.
Not at the funeral.
Not beside Evelyn’s grave.
Now one tear slipped down his cheek.
Then another.
“Hi, Lily.”
His voice broke.
“I’m your dad.”
Behind him, Grace quietly turned away.
Emma peeked around her mother’s leg.
“I told you.”
Adrian laughed through his tears.
“Yes.”
“You did.”
Lily grabbed his finger.
Adrian lowered his forehead against the crib.
“I’m sorry.”
He whispered it again.
And again.
“I’m sorry I didn’t find you.”
Then Grace’s phone vibrated.
She looked at the screen.
Her face changed.
Adrian noticed immediately.
“What?”
Grace handed him the phone.
A security alert from her front door camera filled the screen.
Three black SUVs had just stopped outside.
Men were getting out.
All of them were wearing Vale Security jackets.
Adrian looked toward the window.
The first man reached inside his coat.
Adrian’s grief disappeared.
His voice became cold.
“Grace.”
“Take both children into the bathroom.”
“What are you going to do?”
Adrian lifted Lily from the crib.
Then handed his daughter carefully to Grace.
May you like
“I’m going to find out how Marcus knew where we were.”
And downstairs, the front door exploded inward.
