He knelt and brushed away the dirt.
A narrow seam ran around the base.
“Help me move this.”
Hank and Pete joined him.
Together, they shifted the block several inches.
Beneath it was a steel container secured by two rusted bolts.
Russell removed them with a wrench.
Mack lifted the lid.
Inside were several sealed folders, a bundle of photographs, and a small black notebook.
Sarah picked up the first folder.
Her hands trembled as she opened it.
The original adoption documents were inside.
Her name appeared on the first page.
Mara Ellis.
Beneath it was a date, a hospital name, and a signature.
The signature belonged to Thomas Turner.
Sarah frowned.
“Thomas was my grandfather’s brother.”
Mack looked at her.
“You knew him?”
“I met him once when I was little. Walter told me he had died years ago.”
She examined the document.
“He signed my adoption papers.”
Victor shook his head.
“Thomas Turner wasn’t authorized to arrange an adoption.”
Sarah’s eyes filled with tears.
“Then why did he do it?”
Mack opened another folder.
Inside was a photograph of three children standing beside a woman in a white dress.
The children were toddlers.
One girl had dark hair and a small birthmark beneath her left eye.
Sarah touched her own face.
She had the same birthmark.
On the back of the photograph, Walter had written three names.
MARA.
ELLA.
JONAH.
Below them was a message.
They were separated to keep the trust intact. Find the other two before the people responsible discover the truth.
Eli looked at the photograph.
“Those are Mom’s brother and sister?”
Sarah nodded slowly.
“Maybe.”
She looked at Mack.
“How do we find them?”
Mack opened the black notebook.
The first page contained two addresses.
One belonged to a woman living in another state.
The other belonged to a man whose last known address was only thirty miles away.
But beneath the addresses was another line.
If either child is missing, look for the person who signed the transfers.
Mack turned toward Victor.
“Who signed them?”
Victor’s face had gone completely white.
“My employer.”
“Name?”
Victor swallowed.
“Richard Turner.”
Sarah stared at him.
“Who is Richard Turner?”
Mack looked at the notebook again.
Then he recognized the name.
Richard Turner was Walter’s older brother.
The man who had supposedly died twenty years earlier.
The man whose funeral Walter had attended alone.
And the man Walter had never allowed anyone to mention again.
The Brother Who Died Twice
Mack read the name again.
Richard Turner.
For a moment, he thought the years had confused his memory.
But he remembered Richard clearly.
He had met him twice during the bridge project.
Richard was a quiet, sharply dressed man who seemed uncomfortable around workers. He had managed several property transactions for the family and often spoke about investments.
Then, twenty years earlier, Walter had announced that Richard had died in a car accident.
Mack had sent flowers.
He had never seen a death certificate.
Now the notebook suggested that Richard had not only survived but had been involved in the missing trust funds.
Sarah looked at Victor.
“Where is he?”
Victor hesitated.
“I don’t know his current location.”
Mack grabbed the edge of the container.
“Don’t lie to us.”
“I’m not lying. Richard Turner used several identities. He controlled the company through other people.”
“Then give us one of those identities.”
Victor looked down.
Finally, he spoke.
“Richard has been using the name Richard Vale.”
Russell took out his phone.
“That should be easy enough to check.”
Before he could begin, Sarah noticed another document at the bottom of the container.
It was a hospital record.
The patient’s name had been blacked out.
Only the date and a handwritten note remained visible.
TRANSFER APPROVED BY R. TURNER.
Sarah studied it.
“This is from the hospital where I was born.”
Mack nodded.
“And it may tell us where the other children went.”
Eli leaned against his mother.
“Are we going to find them?”
Sarah looked down at him.
“I hope so.”
Mack placed the papers into a waterproof bag.
“We’ll start with the addresses.”
Victor shook his head.
“You can’t just walk into those places. If Richard finds out you have the ledger, he’ll disappear again.”
Mack turned toward him.
“Then we’d better move quickly.”
A sudden engine noise interrupted them.
The dark sedan had returned.
It raced along the gravel road toward the abandoned bridge.
Mack shouted for everyone to move.
The car skidded to a stop near the gate.
A man stepped out.
He was tall, with neatly combed gray hair and a dark coat.
His face looked older than Mack remembered, but the eyes were unmistakable.
Richard Turner.
Walter’s supposedly dead brother.
Richard surveyed the group.
Then his gaze settled on Eli.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Finally, he smiled.
“So,” he said, “Walter’s little grandson has inherited the family trouble.”
Mack stepped between Richard and the boy.
“You should have stayed dead.”
Richard’s smile disappeared.
“Perhaps. But then who would have kept this family from destroying itself?”
Sarah clutched Eli’s hand.
Richard looked at her.
“Mara.”
She stiffened.
“Don’t call me that.”
Richard’s expression softened with something that looked almost like regret.
“You have no idea what Walter did to you.”
Sarah raised her chin.
“Then tell me the truth.”
Richard looked at the ledger.
“I will.”
He paused.
“But not here.”
Part 12:The Truth Walter Left Behind
Richard offered to explain everything at a nearby farmhouse.
Mack refused.
“You can talk here.”
Richard looked at the four bikers.
“You still think you’re protecting people by standing together.”
“We are,” Mack replied.
Richard gave a humorless laugh.
“Then listen carefully.”
He pointed toward the ledger.
“The Ellis family trust was created to protect three children. Their parents died in a suspicious house fire, and the estate was supposed to pass to the children when they came of age.”
Sarah stared at him.
“Who were my parents?”
“Your mother was Evelyn Ellis. Your father was Daniel Ellis.”
Mack felt a chill.
The names matched the entries in Walter’s old records.
Richard continued.
“After their deaths, the trust should have been managed by an independent trustee. Instead, Arthur Ellis arranged for the money to be moved through several companies.”
“And you helped him,” Sarah said.
“Yes.”
The admission stunned everyone.
Richard looked toward the unfinished bridge.
“I believed the arrangement would protect the children. Arthur claimed that people were trying to steal the estate. He said the money had to be hidden until the danger passed.”
“Was that true?” Mack asked.
“Some of it.”
Richard lowered his eyes.
“But once the transfers began, the people involved discovered how much money could be taken without anyone noticing. The children became obstacles.”
Sarah’s voice trembled.
“So you separated us.”
Richard nodded.
“I signed the papers. I told myself that placing each child with a different family would keep them safe.”
“Why didn’t you tell me who I was?”
“Because I was afraid you’d come looking for your inheritance.”
Sarah stared at him in disbelief.
“You stole my childhood because you were afraid I’d ask for money?”
Richard flinched.