by Ritter Ames
“My DNA doesn’t match the hair sample in the comparison.” I scratched my forehead. My emotions were so torn in that moment.
Jack stayed quiet for several minutes, then said, “You have options now.”
“Yes. I’ve been thinking that I may take my mother’s maiden name, regardless of the outcome. I was thinking it could distance me from more Beacham scandal when he’s prosecuted for her murder. Now, I can do so since I don’t have Beacham blood.”
“Will any of that matter for the foundation?”
I took a deep breath and considered the same question I’d asked myself time and again. I knew I’d earned my position. I knew I did it better than anyone else was capable of accomplishing—especially given all the daily challenges my team and I handled that Max and the board knew nothing about. But if I changed my name, what would that do to my standing with the board? Or my standing in the art community?
“I don’t know. But if they find out Colle murdered my mother, my keeping his name would look like I identified with a murderer. I can’t imagine they would be happy with that either. For that matter, I have no idea how angry they’ll be when they find I initiated things to get him arrested on every level I could find. No way they’ll be happy with me about that either.”
“So, we’ll just take things as they come,” Jack suggested, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
“After the foundation’s board recovers from learning he’s actually been alive all this time.”
“It will be interesting to see if any of them appears less shocked than the rest,” he mused.
At that moment, my phone rang. It was Cassie. “Can you take it please?” I asked him.
“Sure.” He answered the phone. “Hi, Cassie, what’s up?” When she responded, he said, “She’s right here, but she’s not—okay, I see. Yes, I’ll get her.”
He covered the phone and said, “She said she must talk to you.”
Since it was about six in the morning Greenwich time, I wasn’t concerned at first at getting the middle of the night call in New York when I saw Caller ID, but Jack’s reaction alarmed me. “I’m here, Cass. What is it?”
“Laurel, you need to get back here as soon as you can.”
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s someone here you need to meet.”
“Cassie, have you been taken hostage?”
Jack grabbed my phone and put it on speaker.
“No, nothing security wise.” Her voice echoed in the small space. “It’s just… Laurel, there’s a boy here. About ten years old. He says he’s your brother, and he has a birth certificate to prove it.”
About the Author
Ritter Ames is a USA Today bestselling author who lives atop a high green hill in the country with her husband and Labrador retriever, and spends each day globe-trotting the art world from her laptop with Pandora blasting into her earbuds. Often with the dog snoring at her feet. Much like her Bodies of Art Mysteries, Ritter’s favorite vacations start in London, then spiral out in every direction. She’s been known to plan trips after researching new books and keeps a list of “can’t miss” foods to taste along the way. Visit her at www.ritterames.com where she blogs about all the crazy things that interest her.
The Bodies of Art Mystery Series
by Ritter Ames
COUNTERFEIT CONSPIRACIES (#1)
MARKED MASTERS (#2)
ABSTRACT ALIASES (#3)
FATAL FORGERIES (#4)
BRONZED BETRAYALS (#5)
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