Chapter 6 - Midnight at the River
Alexander forbade Lena from going alone. She went anyway, with Marcus following at a distance.
The river pier was empty except for a single figure in a dark coat. The woman stood beneath a broken lamp, her hair tucked beneath a wool cap.
“Lena?”
Lena stopped breathing.
The woman lifted her face.
She was older, thinner, and marked by a pale scar along her jaw. But the eyes were the same.
“Mom?”
Margaret took one step forward, then another. Lena ran to her.
For several seconds neither could speak. Margaret held her daughter as if the years might steal her away again.
“I thought you were dead,” Lena sobbed.
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you come back?”
Margaret’s face crumpled. “Because every time I tried, someone got close enough to hurt you.”
Alexander appeared at the far end of the pier. Margaret saw him and pulled Lena behind her.
“Stay away from her.”
“I’m not here to hurt you,” he said.
“You were there that night.”
“I tried to get you out.”
“You helped your father keep me there.”
Alexander lowered his eyes.
Margaret turned to Lena. “The music is a key. The full ledger is hidden in the original score. I split it into three pieces. One is in Room 19. One is with Richard. The last is inside the Blake estate.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because your father was being watched. Because the people who arranged the fire had police officers on their payroll. Because I was afraid they’d use you to get to me.”
A car rolled onto the pier.
Margaret stiffened. “We have to go.”
Two men stepped out. One raised a gun.
Marcus fired at the ground beside the car, forcing them behind the doors. Alexander pulled Lena and Margaret behind a concrete support.
“Who are they?” Lena asked.
Margaret’s voice shook. “The men who kept me hidden.”
One attacker shouted, “Margaret! You were supposed to stay gone!”
Margaret looked at Lena. “There’s something else. Victoria wasn’t the one who ordered the fire.”
“Then who?”
May you like
Margaret stared at Alexander.
“His mother.”
