Chương 11
Julian continued.
“She made you necessary.”
“That does not make me feel better.”
“It shouldn’t.”
His phone rang again.
This time it was Nathan.
Julian answered.
“What?”
Nathan sounded breathless.
“I need you to listen.”
“You first.”
“No.”
A car horn blared near Nathan.
He was outside now.
“You asked Adrian who died at Mercer.”
Julian’s eyes sharpened.
“How do you know that?”
“Because Adrian called me.”
Grace stood.
Julian said, “When?”
“Five minutes ago.”
“What did he want?”
“To know what I told you.”
“And?”
“I lied.”
Julian almost smiled.
“At least somebody is consistent.”
Nathan ignored that.
“Julian, Peter Salazar is alive.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Nathan’s voice broke.
“You know he survived.”
Julian went still.
Nathan continued.
“You don’t know who he became.”
Grace stared at Julian.
“What does that mean?”
Nathan breathed hard.
“I found him eighteen months ago.”
“Where?”
“At Claire’s storage unit.”
Julian’s heart slammed once.
“What storage unit?”
“She rented it under Caroline Reed.”
Grace covered her mouth.
Nathan said, “I followed him.”
“To where?”
“A house in Pennsylvania.”
Julian’s voice dropped.
“What did you see?”
Nathan went silent.
Julian heard traffic rushing past him.
“Nathan.”
“There was a little girl there.”
Julian’s face emptied.
Grace stopped breathing.
Nathan whispered, “And she looked exactly like Lily.”
Julian did not move.
The garage seemed to lose all sound except the faint ticking of cooling metal from the damaged SUV.
Grace stared at the phone in his hand.
Nathan said, “Julian?”
His voice sounded far away.
Julian swallowed once.
“How old?”
Nathan did not answer.
Julian’s voice sharpened.
“How old was the girl?”
“Five, maybe six.”
Grace lowered herself slowly onto the edge of the workbench.
Julian looked toward her, then away.
Lily would have been five eighteen months ago.
The arithmetic hit before anything else could.
“No.”
Nathan breathed out.
“I know.”
“No.”
“I know what it looked like.”
“You saw a child.”
“Yes.”
“You saw a child with dark hair.”
“She had Claire’s eyes.”
Julian gripped the phone harder.
“You saw her from a distance.”
“I saw her close enough.”
“How close?”
“Twenty feet.”
“Did she see you?”
“No.”
“Did Peter?”
Nathan hesitated.
“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t think.”
“I left.”
Julian gave a short, incredulous laugh.
“You found a girl you believed might be my daughter and you left.”
Grace flinched.
Nathan’s voice rose.
“I did not know what I was looking at.”
“You knew enough to remember her face for eighteen months.”
“I thought it was impossible.”
“So you decided for me.”
“I decided not to destroy you with a guess.”
Julian stepped away from Grace and toward the garage opening.
Outside, security lights washed the drive in pale white.
“Where is the house?”
Nathan said nothing.
“Nathan.”
“I’ll take you.”
“Give me the address.”
“No.”
Julian’s expression hardened.
Nathan continued before he could speak.
“Because if I give it to you, you’ll send ten men through the door before sunrise.”
“I might.”
“That is exactly why.”
“If Lily is alive—”
“We do not know that.”
Julian’s voice cracked with sudden force.
“Then what the hell do we know?”
Grace looked toward the stairs, afraid the shouting might wake Amara.
Julian saw it and lowered his voice.
Nathan said, “We know Peter Salazar lived.”
“We know he was near Claire’s storage unit.”
“Yes.”
“We know he was using my father’s resources after Mercer.”
“Yes.”
“And we know he had a child in his house who looked like Lily.”
Nathan went quiet.
Julian said, “That is enough.”
“No.”
“It is for me.”
“It shouldn’t be.”
Julian shut his eyes.
His chest felt too tight for the room.
For two years, grief had been final because finality was the only way he had survived it.
A body had been identified.
A funeral had been held.
A small white casket had been lowered into the ground while Julian stood beside Claire’s mother and felt nothing because feeling anything would have made him collapse.
He had touched the lid before they closed it.
He had not asked to see Lily’s face.
The hospital had advised against it.
There had been fire damage after the crash.
Claire had been identified separately.
Julian had trusted paperwork because paperwork was easier than flesh.
Now every official sentence from those days felt contaminated.
“Did you ever go back?” Julian asked.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I planned to.”
“Eighteen months is a long plan.”
Nathan swore under his breath.
“You think I don’t know that?”
“What stopped you?”
“Peter disappeared.”
Julian opened his eyes.
“When?”
“Three days later.”
“With the girl?”
“Yes.”
“You searched?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Privately.”
“Who helped you?”
“No one.”
“That’s a lie.”
Nathan went silent.
Julian’s eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
“Adrian.”
Grace looked up sharply.
Julian’s face became still.
“He knew about the girl.”
“He knew I saw someone.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Nathan sighed.
“Yes.”
The word landed softly and did more damage than a shout would have.
Julian turned away from Grace.
“What did Adrian say?”
“That it couldn’t be Lily.”
“Why?”
“Because he had seen the medical identification.”
Julian’s stomach tightened.
“Had he?”
“He said he had.”
“You never checked.”
“I checked the report.”
“The report.”
Julian laughed without humor.
“The same kind of report that said Peter Salazar died at Mercer.”
Nathan said nothing.
Julian’s phone buzzed against his ear with another incoming call.
Marcus.
Julian ignored it.
“Send me the address.”
“No.”
“Nathan.”
“I’m coming to you.”
“You said that before.”
“I’m serious now.”
“Then tell me where you are.”
Nathan gave him the name of an intersection twenty minutes away.
Julian said, “Drive to the Briar office.”
Grace looked at him.
Nathan paused.
“The old medical property?”
“Yes.”
“Why there?”
“Because I’m leaving this house.”
“Good.”
Nathan sounded relieved.
Julian hated the relief.
“Come alone.”
“I am alone.”
“If I see anyone following you, keep driving.”
“Understood.”
Julian ended the call.
Grace stared at him.
“Was that really about Lily?”
May you like
He did not answer immediately.
Grace’s face softened despite the fear.
