Chapter 13 - THE WOMAN IN THE RED COAT
Julian disappeared before police could question him.
His apartment was empty.
His phone remained behind.
His passport was missing.
For the first time, even Adrian struggled to defend him.
“He asked me to meet on Route 18.”
“Why?” Marcus asked.
“I don’t remember all of it.”
“Try.”
Adrian paced.
“He called from an unknown number.”
“What did he say?”
“He knew who killed Richard.”
Eleanor watched silently.
“He said not to bring security.”
Marcus frowned.
“That matches Celeste’s story.”
“Yes.”
“Why would you trust Julian enough to go alone?”
Adrian stopped.
“Because he said our father’s killer was his mother.”
Everyone froze.
Julian’s mother, Helena Shaw, had died fifteen years earlier.
Or so everyone believed.
Daniel looked sick.
“That isn’t possible.”
“Why?”
“I attended her funeral.”
“Did you see her body?”
Daniel said nothing.
Eleanor suddenly sat.
“What?” I asked.
She looked toward Adrian.
“Helena Shaw was Vincent’s sister.”
The entire structure shifted.
Vincent Shaw.
Julian’s uncle.
Helena’s brother.
The trust.
The parentage.
The stolen money.
This was not simply business.
It was family.
Eleanor explained.
Years earlier, Helena had worked with Richard.
She became his mistress.
But Julian was not Richard’s biological son.
His father was believed to be another executive.
Richard discovered the truth after Julian was born.
Rather than expose the scandal, he kept Julian inside the family while privately excluding him from inheritance rights.
“He punished a child for his mother’s choices,” Eleanor said.
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Sounds like him.”
Helena later died in what was described as a boating accident abroad.
Body recovered after several days.
Closed casket.
Daniel had never questioned it.
We did.
Investigators checked records.
Dental identification did not match original medical files.
The woman buried under Helena Shaw’s name might not have been Helena.
That afternoon, Eleanor asked to speak with me privately.
We walked through the garden.
“You love him.”
I nearly stopped.
“I’m his nurse.”
“That wasn’t my observation.”
“He is engaged.”
“To a woman who was introduced to him as part of Vincent’s plan.”
“That still counts as engaged.”
Eleanor smiled.
“You remind me of myself.”
“That seems dangerous.”
“It was.”
We sat beside the lake.
“I loved Richard once.”
I looked at her.
“You did?”
“Enough to mistake ambition for character.”
She watched the water.
“He was not always the man he became.”
“Do you forgive him?”
“No.”
The answer came easily.
“But I stopped arranging my life around hating him.”
That distinction stayed with me.
Eleanor continued.
“Adrian has spent his life believing responsibility means carrying every debt his father left.”
“He feels guilty.”
“That can become another form of ego.”
I frowned.
“How?”
“If every tragedy is somehow his responsibility, then he still gets to believe everything revolves around him.”
I laughed softly.
“I should tell him that.”
“Please do.”
By evening, investigators traced Julian.
He had used a company aircraft.
Destination:
Montreal.
From there, surveillance disappeared.
Adrian’s phone rang at 9:16 p.m.
Unknown number.
Julian.
“Where are you?”
“Safe.”
“Police want to speak with you.”
“I know.”
“Did you sabotage my car?”
“No.”
“Did you ask me to meet on Route 18?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Helena contacted me.”
Adrian gripped the phone.
“Our father said she was dead.”
“So did everyone.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Julian.”
“She disappeared again.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“Because she told me Vincent killed Richard.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“She had proof?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“A recording.”
“Where is it?”
“I gave it to you.”
“When?”
“The night of your crash.”
Silence.
Adrian looked toward the watch.
The memory returned.
Route 18.
Rain.
Julian standing beside another vehicle.
A flash drive.
An argument.
Adrian leaving.
Then dizziness.
The car failing.
“Julian.”
“Yes?”
“You were there.”
“I left before you.”
“Why?”
“You told me you no longer trusted me.”
Adrian’s voice broke.
“I’m sorry.”
“You were right not to.”
“What does that mean?”
Julian began crying.
“I knew Vincent was moving money.”
Everyone listened.
“I knew for years.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“I didn’t help him.”
“You stayed silent.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he promised he could prove Richard wasn’t my father and free me from the trust.”
“You already knew.”
“I wanted the world to know.”
Adrian looked devastated.
Julian continued.
“I never wanted you dead.”
“Then come back.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Vincent wasn’t the one who ordered your crash.”
Adrian froze.
“Who did?”
May you like
Julian whispered:
“My mother.”
