Page 70 of The Heiress

We sat in the living room. Jace made us coffee before heading up to his office to work and give us privacy. Riddick had come with us and was standing guard outside.

Agent Abram’s partner, Dolores Hathaway, poured herself another cup. “The county where your parents lived, Calos County, is missing all birth records for the six months surrounding your birth date. That’s a bizarre coincidence.”

I pretended I had no idea what they were talking about. “What do you meanmissing?I have a birth certificate. Granted it’s probably forged.”

“No,” Agent Hathaway said. “You have arealbirth certificate. It was reissued by the county when they realized they lost the records. It isn’t forged. It’s legal in the sense that, based on the hospital records thatwereforged, they issued you a birth certificate.”

Well, that was really quite brilliant. This was the kind of stuff no one would be able to pull off anymore, thanks to digital records.

“We’re working this case over from a different angle now,” Agent Suarez said.

Meaning this was an open case. Not something they were going to close today with a neat little pin. Missing girl found. Case closed. “And what angle is that?”

“We’re starting over. Right now we know your DNA matches. You are Victoria Roark. We know Victoria was born in San Francisco and have an established record of her first eleven months. What we don’t know is exactly what happened the day you were kidnapped or how you came to be adopted by the Rossis.”

“Is it even possible after all these years?”

Agent Hathaway sat in front of me with her coffee. “What we want to do with you today is reconstruct your life with the Rossis. We want to hear everything you know about your adoptive parents and the life you led on this island.”

“You want to work from the outside in, to the day of the kidnapping.” That’s exactly what I’d do.

“Yes. We’re hoping if we start over with a clean slate something obvious will jump out.”

I spent the next two hours going over every document I had from my parents. They made note of places we vacationed and the places they enjoyed hiking. I gave all of it freely because I still believed it was important for someone—anyone—to figure out what happened that day.

“So what I’m hearing from you,” I said, exhausted from the intensity, “and correct me if I’m wrong, is that you had two working theories that never panned out.”

Agent Hathaway traded a look with her partner. “Yes. The first theory was that it was a ransom gone wrong. You were snatched to extort money from your parents, but because something went wrong on their end, the ransom note never came. The other theory was that the kidnappers were running an adoption scam. Snatch a baby and sell it. They had no idea they’d snatched the third wealthiest heiress in America.”

“But the birth certificate issue puts an entirely different light on things,” Agent Suarez said. “That’s bigger in scope than any other kidnapping case we’ve ever worked. Someone would have to have a lot of resources and knowledge of the process in each state. Someone who’d know Calos County was in the middle of relocating records and could exploit the opportunity to cover up what they’d done.”

“But why would someone do that?” I kept arranging and rearranging the pieces but this one simply wouldn’t fit.

“Well,” Agent Hathaway cleared her throat, “we think your kidnapping was intentional. Someone wanted to hide you.”

Hide me? From my parents? Or the Feyereisens? My mind swirled. My father originally accused my mother. Or was it the other way around? Or did someone else see danger coming for me and remove me from my family?

“And that brings us to our third theory. The one that never went anywhere before now.” The way Agent Hathaway refused to look at me set alarm bells ringing in my head. “We believe someone wanted you dead. You were supposed to be murdered that day.”

25

After the interview I called Georgia over a secure video line to give her the update on the investigation…and to make a request.

“Is there a way, any way at all, that I can get a look at what my life might look like as a Roark?”

“You’re accomplished in your own right, Samantha. You already have a good job that you excel at. I think it’s only natural you would start there, at Stroman. It’s more managerial than you’re used to, but analyzing your companies and strategizing their future is a natural next step from where you are now.”

That...didn’t sound horrible. “And Roark?”

For a second that other Georgia I saw the night of the break-in appeared. Angry, in command, brilliant. But then she tucked her back away under the smoothly practiced blanket. “You have a seat on the board, an important vote. Focus on that and keep the fuck away from the Feyereisens.”

“When will you clue me in on why they’re so bad?” I mean...it was fairly obvious on the exterior, but that was circumstantial. I wanted details.

“When you grow up,” she said with a smile. It wasn’t meant to be an insult. More of an example of how new and green I was at living at this level of wealth. “All the shit I’m sure Excel has on them is most likely true. And just the surface. They’re dangerous and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to control this company. I’m working around the clock to keep them from ousting me or killing me. I don’t need to add you to my list of worries more than I already have. Sit on the board. It will piss them off but you’ll be too high profile to do anything about for a long time.”

Which brought me to my question. “Without telling the whole world who I am, would it be possible to get a look at this potential job?”

Georgia frowned, then tilted her head to the side. “Actually, I have the perfect idea. How do you feel about California?”

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