Chapter 13 The Lighthouse
Emma didn't tell anyone about the note.
Not Detective Collins.
Not Mason.
Not even Daniel.
For the first time since everything had begun, she chose to keep a secret of her own.
She folded the note and slipped it into the inside pocket of her coat.
Ask Arthur about the lighthouse.
She had only one memory of a lighthouse.
When she was eight years old, Frank had taken her and Lily to the coast every summer. They would spend hours collecting shells while their father pointed toward an old stone lighthouse standing alone on the cliffs.
He had always said the same thing.
"Every lighthouse has two jobs."
"To warn people away..."
"And to guide them home."
At the time, she had thought it was just another one of his life lessons.
Now...
She wasn't so sure.
The next morning, Emma drove to Arthur Holloway's estate alone.
Daniel discovered she was gone only after arriving at her house.
Noah was already at preschool.
Emma's phone went straight to voicemail.
Daniel immediately called Mason.
"She's gone."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Mason's expression darkened.
"I think I do."
Arthur's estate overlooked the ocean.
A sprawling stone mansion surrounded by manicured gardens and iron gates.
Security guards checked Emma's identification before escorting her inside.
Arthur waited in the library.
He was standing beside a large window overlooking the cliffs.
Without turning around, he said,
"I wondered how long it would take."
Emma stopped several feet behind him.
"You knew I'd come."
"I knew Frank."
Arthur turned and smiled sadly.
"He always left clues."
Emma took the folded note from her pocket and placed it on the desk.
"Someone left this."
Arthur looked at it only briefly.
Then nodded.
"So..."
"He finally trusted you."
Emma frowned.
"Who?"
Arthur ignored the question.
Instead, he walked toward a painting hanging above the fireplace.
It showed the old lighthouse.
Exactly as Emma remembered it.
"The lighthouse belonged to Catherine."
Emma blinked.
"She owned it?"
Arthur nodded.
"Our grandfather built it."
Emma stared at the painting.
"My father used to take us there."
"I know."
"You knew?"
Arthur smiled.
"I watched from a distance."
Emma's heart skipped.
"You watched us?"
"Only to make sure no one else did."
Emma folded her arms.
"I don't know whether to thank you or call the police."
Arthur laughed quietly.
"That's fair."
His smile quickly faded.
"You deserve the truth."
Emma waited.
Arthur took a deep breath.
"Catherine never died."
"I know."
"She didn't disappear because she feared me."
Emma frowned.
"Then why?"
Arthur looked toward the ocean.
"Because she was pregnant."
Emma felt every muscle in her body tense.
"What?"
"Victor discovered the pregnancy."
"And?"
"He believed the child would inherit Catherine's shares."
Emma slowly shook her head.
"I don't understand."
Arthur looked directly into her eyes.
"He wanted those shares."
Emma whispered,
"So he came after her."
Arthur nodded.
"I helped her escape."
Emma looked down at the photograph she had brought with her.
"My father thought you betrayed him."
Arthur's voice cracked.
"He never let me explain."
"You tried?"
"For years."
Emma studied him.
His grief didn't look rehearsed.
It looked old.
Very old.
At that exact moment...
Daniel and Mason arrived at the estate.
The security guard pointed toward the library.
"They're inside."
Both men hurried through the hallway.
Back inside...
Emma asked the question she had feared most.
"What happened to the baby?"
Arthur closed his eyes.
"I don't know."
Emma frowned.
"You don't?"
"Catherine disappeared before giving birth."
"You never saw her again?"
Arthur slowly shook his head.
"No."
The room became silent.
Then Arthur walked toward an antique globe standing in the corner.
He gently turned it.
A hidden compartment clicked open.
Inside rested a yellowed envelope.
He handed it to Emma.
"I've kept this for forty years."
She looked at the handwriting.
It wasn't Frank's.
It wasn't Arthur's.
It simply read:
For My Child.
Emma looked up.
"From Catherine?"
Arthur nodded.
"I promised never to open it."
Emma carefully broke the seal.
Inside was a single handwritten letter.
The first line stole her breath.
"If you are reading this..."
"...then you have finally found your family."
Emma's hands began to tremble.
She continued reading.
"My precious daughter..."
Daughter.
Emma froze.
Arthur frowned.
"What?"
She slowly looked up.
"It says..."
Her voice broke.
"...daughter."
Arthur's face drained of color.
"No..."
He had always believed Catherine had given birth to a son.
Emma continued reading.
"Frank will protect you better than I ever could."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Arthur whispered,
"Frank..."
He took an unsteady step backward.
"He found her."
Emma looked from the letter to Arthur.
Then to the old photograph.
Then back again.
A terrifying possibility formed in her mind.
"No..."
Arthur stared at her.
"What?"
Emma's voice was barely audible.
"My father..."
"...raised Catherine's daughter."
The library door burst open.
Daniel and Mason rushed inside.
"What happened?"
Emma slowly turned toward them.
Her face was white.
She held up the letter with shaking hands.
Daniel read only the first two lines.
Then he looked at Emma.
Neither of them spoke.
Neither of them needed to.
Because they had both reached the same impossible conclusion.
If Frank had secretly raised Catherine's daughter...
May you like
Then someone in the Brooks family...
Had never been told who they really were.
