Page 8 of The Heiress

I never turned down Yara’s lasagna. “I’ll be there.”

“Bring wine.”

As if I’d ever arrive at Hazel and Yara’s without at least one bottle. “Hey, you did some research on Roark Corp a couple of years ago didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Why? You need it?”

A client had problems with Roark Aerospace and had hired us to do all the research for it. That involved digging into the history. Hazel was in charge of that project and I remembered how crazy it got.

“Do you have anything not on the Blue Horizon server?” Every server had a different name so we could keep them straight.

“Yes,” Hazel stepped inside and closed my door. “I actually made a whole action file for them and the Feyereisen brothers that I’ve gone in and periodically kept updated. It’s locked on the Cobra Tornado server. Tony and I are the only two with access.”

The hair on the back of my neck rose up. “Why?”

“They’re evil,” she shrugged. “That company is into every kind of shit you can think of. Overseas factory conditions are deplorable, but always located in countries where no one can do a thing about it, only fifteen percent of their management team is female, and only ten percent is of color, they have shitty benefits. Hell, even their family members disappear.”

It was an offhand assessment but it made the blood in my veins run cold. “What do you mean?”

“Alexis and Leticia Roark died in a freak boating accident. The current CEO of Roark is Georgia Roark. Her father died in a freak helicopter crash. Her only brother-in-law died in a plane crash.”

“That’s...unfortunate.” But could be a really bad run of luck, not intentionally murdering people. That was a big leap, wasn’t it?

“Not unfortunate,” Hazel shook her head. “Eerily opportunistic. Members of the Roark and Stroman families have a way of meeting untimely demises at the most unfortunate of times ever since the Feyereisens became part owners. You remember Baby Victoria? She was a Roark too. She was taken from her stroller and never seen again.”

I found it really hard to swallow past the lump in my throat. Even my hands started shaking so I shoved them into my lap. “Why would they murder a baby?” The hum in my ears became deafening and my heart started to pound so hard I worried Hazel would be able to see it thumping under my blouse.

“Rumor has it that the Feyereisen brothers have been trying to wrestle control of the company away from the Roarks for decades. When Baby Victoria was born, she became the sole heir to the Roark fortune. The way the company is structured she isn’t just an heiress with a trust fund, but when her parents die, the only controlling member of the entire empire. The conspiracy theorists believe that the Feyereisens saw the baby as the final obstacle in their takeover of the Roark empire, so they had her killed.”

* * *

I was still feelingunsettled from Hazel’s description of the Feyereisen brothers and the Roark family when I arrived at her house for dinner. My ears hadn’t stopped buzzing, which was probably a sign my blood pressure was through the roof, but I couldn’t simply ignore the possibility I might be this missing child. If only for the fact that my life might, possibly, be in danger if anyone found out. I was glad for the distraction of Hazel and Yara’s chatter.

“Do you want to take your time or would you rather it go faster so you can move on?” Yara asked as she tossed a salad in a large wooden bowl. She was a tall, slim woman with long, stick-straight hair, a piercing through her eyebrow, and the best makeup I’d ever seen on anyone.

“No, I’m looking forward to going through everything myself. I don’t want to rush and miss something important.” Like my adoption papers or baby photos. The more I thought about it the more I was convinced there had to be more answers hidden in my parents’ house than the letter. I just had to look carefully.

“Well we can help any time,” Yara said as she set the bowl aside and reached for the platter of tomatoes and mozzarella, “actually, why don’t you go with her this weekend, honey? I’ll be at that festival.”

Hazel frowned. “You’re leaving me again?”

Yara rolled her eyes. “It’s on the calendar and it’s just a two-day festival. It’s the last one for a couple of months.”

“Fine,” Hazel grumbled, “but you’re giving me extra snuggles every morning until then.” She turned to me. “Want company this weekend?”

3

Over the years my visits to Calusa Key became fewer and farther between. I had my own life, my own home, and my parents were always happy to come visit me. On the occasions when I did visit…well let’s just say I went straight to the house and avoided unnecessary trips to the market. I felt Jace around every corner, our ghosts haunted my memories.

Part of me was ashamed of the way we left things.

The wayIleft things. I didn’t mean to cut him out of my life, didn’t intend for it to be all or nothing. But somehow, that’s exactly what happened.

“I can send your photos out to be digitized,” Hazel offered. She sat in the living room surrounded by the boxes I’d pulled out of storage. “Then you can keep the ones that are special and have the rest available and easily accessible.”

And having them digitized would mean I could quickly scan them for clues—if there were any clues to be found in my parents’ boxes. “That would be great. Thanks.”

I was glad she came with me because once we started moving the boxes inside I realized just how enormous and overwhelming the task ahead was. Just getting my parents' affairs in order was monumental, but adding my own personal mystery and betrayal on top magnified everything tenfold. I sat staring at the wall for a good five minutes before Hazel coaxed me into tackling a box.

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