Chapter 6: The Man in the Photograph
Julian thought he had misheard her.
"The man with my face?""
Wren nodded.
Detective Hayes pulled a chair closer.
"Wren, can you tell us what you mean?""
The girl looked at Julian for permission.
He squeezed her hand.
"It's okay.""
Wren swallowed.
"He looks like Daddy.""
"Exactly like him?"" Hayes asked.
"No.""
"What's different?""
"His hair.""
Wren pointed toward Julian.
"Daddy has gray here.""
She touched her temple.
"The other man doesn't.""
Julian felt a chill.
"How many times have you seen him?""
"Three.""
"When?""
"At night.""
"Where?""
"In my room.""
Julian's voice cracked.
"And you never told me?""
"I thought I dreamed it the first time.""
"What happened the other times?""
Wren pulled the blanket higher.
"He asked questions.""
"What questions?""
"About you.""
Julian exchanged a glance with Hayes.
"What did he ask?""
"If you still keep Grandma's papers in the bank.""
Julian stopped breathing.
His mother had died twelve years earlier.
Almost nobody knew about her private estate documents.
"What else?""
"He asked if you ever talked about Uncle Adrian.""
The name hit Julian like a punch.
Hayes noticed.
"Who's Adrian?""
Julian didn't answer immediately.
Wren looked confused.
"You know him?""
Julian stood and walked toward the window.
"Adrian is my brother.""
Wren blinked.
"I have an uncle?""
"Had.""
Julian stared outside.
"He died nineteen years ago.""
At least that was what Julian had believed.
Adrian Ashcroft had been twenty-three when his car went through a barrier during a storm.
The vehicle burned.
The body had been identified through dental records.
Julian had attended the funeral.
He had watched the coffin disappear into the ground.
Hayes stood.
"Did you see the body?""
"No.""
"Who handled the identification?""
"My father.""
"Still alive?""
"No.""
"Anyone else?""
Julian thought.
"Our family attorney at the time.""
"Name?""
"Richard Vale.""
Hayes wrote it down.
Julian suddenly remembered the notebook.
C.A.
Caleb Ashcroft.
Another child.
A boy brought to Blackwood six years ago.
Nine years old then.
Julian calculated.
If Adrian had survived...
"No.""
Hayes looked up.
"What?""
"Caleb.""
Julian turned toward her.
"Six years ago, a boy named Caleb Ashcroft was admitted to Blackwood.""
"Relationship?""
"I don't know.""
"How old?""
"Nine.""
Hayes understood.
"He could be fifteen now.""
Julian nodded slowly.
"And if Adrian survived nineteen years ago...""
"Caleb could be his son.""
Wren suddenly spoke.
"The man had a necklace.""
Julian turned.
"What kind?""
"A silver bird.""
His knees almost weakened.
Adrian had worn a silver falcon pendant from the age of sixteen.
Their mother had given matching pendants to both sons.
Julian's remained locked in a safe.
Adrian's had supposedly been buried with him.
Detective Hayes saw Julian's expression.
"You recognize it.""
"Yes.""
His phone rang.
Marcus.
"Sir, the lab rushed the preliminary screening on the tea.""
Julian put him on speaker.
"And?""
"It contains a prescription sedative.""
Wren looked frightened.
"How much?""
"Enough that repeated doses could cause confusion, memory problems, and severe drowsiness.""
Julian remembered Lydia's recorded words.
Without the girl, there won't be anyone questioning his condition.
They weren't merely trying to remove Wren.
They were building a picture of Julian as impaired.
"Anything else?""
Marcus hesitated.
"The hospital may confirm more, but there's another problem.""
"What?""
"We searched Mrs. Ashcroft's bathroom.""
"And?""
"We found prescription bottles.""
"In whose name?""
"Yours.""
Julian stared at the phone.
"I have no prescriptions.""
"We know.""
"What medication?""
"The same sedative.""
Detective Hayes held out her hand.
"Let me speak to him.""
She began coordinating evidence collection.
Julian returned to Wren.
"I'm sorry.""
She frowned.
"For what?""
"For not seeing it.""
Wren touched his hand.
"You were working.""
That somehow made it worse.
"I should have seen you.""
"You see me now.""
Julian looked away before she could see his eyes fill.
His phone buzzed again.
This time it was David.
"Julian, I found Richard Vale.""
"The attorney who identified Adrian?""
"Yes.""
"Where is he?""
"That's complicated.""
"Everything today is complicated.""
"He disappeared from professional records seventeen years ago.""
"Dead?""
"No death certificate.""
"Then find him.""
"I already started. But I found something else.""
Julian waited.
"Your father's estate records contain a sealed amendment.""
"Concerning Adrian?""
"Yes.""
"What does it say?""
"I can't access the full document remotely. The original is stored in a private Ashcroft vault.""
Julian knew the vault.
Beneath the old family bank downtown.
"What can you see?""
"One line from the index.""
"Read it.""
David hesitated.
"Provision concerning surviving issue of Adrian Thomas Ashcroft.""
Julian's mouth went dry.
Surviving issue.
A legal phrase.
Children.
His father had known Adrian might have a child.
"David, meet me at the vault.""
"Julian, the hospital—"
"I'm not leaving Wren alone.""
Detective Hayes overheard.
"You're not taking her to a bank while whoever sent that message is still out there.""
Julian knew she was right.
He called Marcus.
"Bring six security officers here. Nobody enters this floor without Hayes approving it.""
"Daddy?""
Wren caught his sleeve.
"Don't go.""
Julian crouched.
"I'll be back.""
"What if he comes?""
"He won't get near you.""
Wren's eyes filled with fear.
"That's what Corinne always said about you.""
Julian stopped.
"What?""
"She said you wouldn't get near me when she was finished.""
The room became silent.
Julian gently touched Wren's cheek.
"I'm coming back.""
An hour later, Julian, David, and Detective Hayes entered the Ashcroft private vault.
The bank manager unlocked a steel archive drawer.
Inside sat a sealed envelope dated nineteen years earlier.
Julian broke the seal.
The first page contained his father's handwriting.
Julian read silently.
Then again.
David leaned closer.
"What does it say?""
Julian couldn't answer.
Attached to the amendment was a photograph.
Adrian.
Alive.
Holding a baby.
On the back, someone had written:
CALEB ASHCROFT — 2005.
But beneath the photograph was something even worse.
A signed statement from Julian's father.
Adrian Ashcroft is alive.
His death was staged for his protection.
Julian felt the floor shift beneath him.
Hayes took the next page.
"Julian.""
Her voice changed.
He looked up.
She turned the document toward him.
It was an inheritance provision.
If Julian died without a legally recognized child in his custody, controlling shares of the Ashcroft family trust could pass to Adrian's surviving heir.
Caleb.
Julian finally understood why Wren had to disappear.
But one question remained.
"Why would Corinne help Adrian?""
Hayes examined the photograph.
Then her eyes narrowed.
"What?""
She pointed to the edge of the picture.
A young woman stood partly out of frame beside Adrian.
Only half her face was visible.
But it was enough.
Julian recognized her.
Not Corinne.
Lydia Crane.
David whispered, "They knew each other nineteen years ago.""
Julian's phone rang.
Marcus.
He answered instantly.
"Is Wren okay?""
No response.
"Marcus?""
Then he heard heavy breathing.
"Sir...""
Julian's heart stopped.
"What happened?""
"Someone triggered the hospital fire alarm. We evacuated exactly according to protocol.""
"Where is Wren?""
Silence.
"Marcus, where is my daughter?""
A voice answered.
But it wasn't Marcus.
It was a man's voice.
Calm.
Familiar.
Almost disturbingly similar to Julian's own.
"Hello, little brother.""
Julian froze.
May you like
Then the man said:
"If you want Wren back, bring me Father's original amendment.""
