Chapter 5 - Tessa Learned Why Eda Chose Her—and Why Her Own Childhood Was Part of the Conspiracy
Tessa stared at the note until sunrise.
Ronan arrived before she finished making coffee.
"You look terrible."
"Thank you."
"I meant worried."
"That isn't better."
She handed him the note.
He read it.
His expression remained calm.
But Tessa had learned enough about him to know that calm meant danger.
"Who has access to your apartment?"
"Nobody."
"Family?"
"My father."
"Anyone else?"
"Eda used to have a key."
Ronan looked at her.
"Eda died."
"I know."
"Then who has it now?"
Tessa suddenly understood.
She ran to the kitchen drawer.
The spare key was gone.
Ronan called security.
Then he asked, "What else did Eda leave you?"
"Nothing."
"Think."
"The notebook."
"Anything else?"
Tessa remembered.
A wooden box.
She had kept it beneath her bed.
Inside was an old cassette tape.
She had never owned a cassette player.
Ronan's men found one within an hour.
They played it.
Static.
Then Eda's voice.
Older.
Tired.
Terrified.
"If you're hearing this, I'm already dead."
Tessa covered her mouth.
Eda continued.
"Tessa, I'm sorry."
The tape crackled.
"I chose you because you were the only child I could trust."
Tessa looked at Ronan.
"Child?"
Eda continued.
"Your father was innocent."
Tessa's breath caught.
"Who?"
Eda said the name.
"Thomas Rowe."
Tessa's father.
Ronan stared at her.
Eda continued.
"Thomas worked for Margaret Callahan."
Tessa whispered, "My father?"
"He helped her investigate the thefts."
Ronan looked stunned.
Eda explained.
"Margaret discovered someone inside the organization was selling shipping routes to competitors."
"The man was protected."
"Every witness disappeared."
"Thomas found proof."
"Margaret found the same proof."
"Daniel Vale found them."
Tessa's hands shook.
Eda's voice became quieter.
"On the night Margaret died, Thomas was supposed to meet her."
"He arrived too late."
"Daniel was already there."
Tessa looked at Ronan.
"Your mother knew my father."
"Yes."
"And Eda knew both of them."
"Yes."
The tape continued.
"But the most dangerous secret was not the stolen routes."
Eda paused.
"It was the child."
Tessa stopped breathing.
"What child?"
Ronan looked at her.
Eda answered.
"Margaret had discovered that Daniel had a daughter."
Silence.
Then the tape clicked.
A second recording began.
Eda's voice again.
"The girl was hidden because Daniel intended to use her against Margaret."
Tessa frowned.
"What does that have to do with me?"
Ronan's expression changed.
He looked at her.
"Eda chose you because..."
He stopped.
Tessa whispered.
"Because what?"
The tape answered.
"The girl was Tessa."
Everything stopped.
Tessa stared.
"No."
Ronan didn't speak.
"That's impossible."
Eda continued.
"Your mother died when you were three."
Tessa shook her head.
"My mother died when I was five."
"That is the story your father gave you."
The tape crackled.
"Your father raised you after your mother was killed."
"Daniel believed you were his daughter."
"But you were not."
Tessa couldn't breathe.
Eda whispered.
"You were Margaret Callahan's granddaughter."
Ronan stood.
"What?"
Tessa stared at him.
"Granddaughter?"
Eda continued.
"Margaret's daughter disappeared before the fire."
"She had a baby."
"That baby was you."
Tessa dropped the tape.
Ronan caught her.
"You were raised under the Rowe name."
"Why?"
"To keep Daniel from finding you."
Tessa began crying.
"My whole life..."
Ronan pulled her into his arms.
"You didn't know."
"My father knew."
"He was protecting you."
"But he lied."
"Sometimes lies are how people keep someone alive."
Tessa looked at him.
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
Ronan's eyes were full of something she'd never seen there before.
Tenderness.
"You don't have to do anything."
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
A security officer spoke.
"Boss, Daniel Vale just entered Beaumont House."
Ronan's face hardened.
Tessa stood.
"He's here?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Ronan looked at her.
"Because he knows we found the tape."
They returned to Beaumont House.
Daniel was sitting in the private dining room.
He looked completely calm.
"Ronan."
Ronan entered.
Tessa followed.
Daniel looked at her.
His face changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Fear.
For one second, the polished mask disappeared.
Then it returned.
"You."
Tessa whispered, "You know me."
Daniel stood.
"I knew your mother."
"Which one?"
Daniel froze.
Ronan stepped forward.
"You've lied to me for fourteen years."
Daniel's eyes hardened.
"You don't know what you're talking about."
Ronan placed the notebook on the table.
Daniel looked at it.
Then he smiled.
"You finally found it."
Tessa's blood ran cold.
Daniel looked directly at her.
"You should have stayed a waitress."
Ronan raised his weapon.
Daniel laughed.
"Go ahead."
Then he said something that stopped Ronan.
"Before you kill me, ask your father why he never told you who your real mother was."
Ronan froze.
Tessa turned toward him.
"What does he mean?"
Daniel smiled.
"That's the part Eda never recorded."
Then the restaurant doors exploded open.
Men stormed inside.
Daniel disappeared through a hidden passage.
Ronan grabbed Tessa.
"Move!"
But before they escaped, Tessa saw something on the table.
A photograph.
Her mother.
May you like
And beside her...
Ronan's father.
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