Page 37 of Let It Burn (The Barrington Billionaires 4)
Still holding her hand, Andrew added, “The truth is ugly, but you deserve to hear it.”
“My uncle told us to stay quiet because he was afraid. The advice of a coward is simply that.” She looked up at Andrew with a teary smile. “We won’t be held hostage by the lies of others.”
Her mother rushed to her side. “Oh, Lenny.”
Art followed his wife and the four stood together. “I’m proud of you.”
Helene gave Andrew one last look then said, “My uncle is Clarence Stiles, and according to him, the death of your youngest son, Kent, was not an accident. I don’t know how, but my uncle was involved in whatever happened.”
“What?” Sophie asked, looking confused. Her mouth opened and closed a few times but no further words came out.
“What do you mean not an accident?” Asher stormed.
“Involved how?” Dale asked hoarsely.
Andrew raised a hand and said, “The most important thing you need to know is that neither Helene nor her parents had anything to do with it.”
“I don’t understand,” Kenzi said slowly. “Are you suggesting Kent didn’t die at childbirth?” Dax put a support arm around her.
When Andrew spoke next it was with calm authority. “Not according to what we were told by her uncle.”
“I’m sure you misunderstood,” Ian said firmly, looking over at his mother. “This isn’t something we should discuss now.”
Sophie walked over to stand in front of Helene and Andrew. “No. I need to know. Kent was alive when he was born, wasn’t he?” She gripped Helene’s arm.
Helene looked at Andrew before answering. “It sounded that way. My uncle only said that his death wasn’t an accident. It was deliberate.”
Grant strode over. “This doesn’t make any sense. Why would anyone do such a thing? It’s pure evil.”
Sophie swayed on her feet. “I think I know.” She steadied herself by holding onto Helene’s arm. “But no. She wouldn’t go that far.”
Andrew laid his hand over his mother’s. In the past he would have spared her the full reality, but the truth might be what she needed. “She knew about it. It was her journal that led us to Aruba. It is full of phone numbers and names of people who were there when Kent died. I wish I could tell you that she had nothing to do with it, but I believe she did.”
Sophie brought a hand to her mouth. Dale went to her side in support. “Your sister was crazy, Sophie. She might have written all of that down after the fact. You know how obsessed she was with you.”
Sophie released Helene’s arm and sat down heavily. “I knew it. I knew the clinic lied to us about when Kent died. I remembered holding him in my arms, but they said I had imagined it. They said I was crazy.” Dale sat beside her. “Kent wasn’t born dead. He was alive.” She looked around blindly, lost in memories. “I didn’t have a breakdown; I knew the truth. I knew someone had taken my baby and I was right. All that time I wasn’t crazy; I was right.”
Kenzi went to her mother and took both of her hands in hers, nodding and looking her mother in the eye. “You’re not crazy, Mom. I’ve always felt him with me.”
Andrew’s father swayed beside his wife. “The doctors said . . . Oh, my God.” His voice faded off.
With tears pouring down her cheeks, Sophie said, “Kent is still alive. Someone has him.”
Andrew exchanged a look with Helene. They both shook their heads. Andrew said, “I’m sorry, Mom.”
Sophie looked to Helene’s parents. “You have to know something else. Where is my son?”
Rose started crying right along with Sophie. “I’m so sorry, Sophie. I would tell you if I knew anything. My brother never spoke to me about it.”
Sophie wiped her tears away and took several deep breaths. She stood and faced Helene. “You said your uncle was involved? Where is he? I want to talk to him.”
Although it was heartbreaking to see his mother so upset, she was handling it better than he thought. Shock had put her into denial, but that would pass. “When we uncovered the truth he bolted, and we don’t know where he is.”
Sophie looked around at everyone and said, “We need to find Kent.”
Ian went to her side. “Mom, we know where he is. We buried him.”
“That is not my son,” Sophie said angrily. “My son is not dead.”
There was a steel in her tone that he hadn’t heard before. It made him want her to be right. This was ugly. It was dark, uncharted territory . . . territory where his family usually failed. Would it destroy them or could they do what Helene’s family did and pull together rather than apart? It would have been easy enough to tell his mother she was wrong and she would have to come to accept that Kent was dead, but wasn’t that what everyone had done when it happened? Wasn’t that how his family had gotten to this place? Change would require someone being brave enough to believe. Andrew looked down at Helene and knew he could be that man. “If Mom thinks Kent is alive, then we look for him.”
Helene hugged Andrew’s side and smiled through tears. “I’m in.”
Ever the voice of reason, Grant said, “If the man who was responsible said Kent is dead, the chance that he’s not is miniscule.”
Andrew threw both of his hands up in the air. “I don’t need a fucking statistical probability of success. If Mom says he’s alive, he is.” He looked across to his father. “Did you run a blood test on the baby you buried?”
Dale shook his head. His expression was blank from shock. “I don’t think so. It’s not something you ask for when you’re picking out your baby’s casket.”
Sophie grabbed one of Andrew’s hands and one of Kenzi’s. “Thank you for believing me.” She looked around to each of her other children and Dale. “Kent is alive. Find him.”
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Helene glanced at Andrew. “Do you still have that card? The black one you said that woman gave you? Didn’t you say she sounded like she knew things?”
Andrew hunted through his wallet for the card then took it out and frowned. “I’ve called it several times, but she doesn’t answer. I don’t know who she is.”
Lance stepped forward. “I had a black card like that. A woman gave it to me after telling me to read Patrice’s journal.”
Asher walked over and pulled out a matching card. “Her name is Alethea Niacharos. I hired her to help me solve the cause of the fire at Emily’s museum. Dominic warned me that if I invited her she would dig around, but no one else can do what she does. Did she say she thought Kent was alive?”
“She said she’s one step ahead of us on this. But I’ve called that number and no one answered,” Andrew said impatiently.
Sophie took the card out of Andrew’s hand. “She’ll answer me.”
Helene slipped beneath Andrew’s arm. She laid a hand across his chest. “I hope telling her was the right thing to do.”
“It was.” Andrew held her to him and kissed her forehead. His mother strode out of the room with the card in hand. Kenzi went with her. Dale raced after both of them, leaving the rest standing in stunned silence.
Asher took out his phone.
Ian nodded at it. “Who are you calling?”
“Dominic Corisi. Alethea will answer Mom’s call.”
“Do you think that’s wise?” Grant asked. “Maybe we should talk to her first.”
“Who? Mom or the Niacharos woman?” Ian asked.
Asher paused before dialing. “This whole situation is batshit crazy to me, but Andrew is right. This isn’t about Kent as much as it is about Mom. If someone told me that Joseph was dead and I thought he wasn’t—” His voice broke.
Emily hugged his side. “Dead or alive, I would need to know. I would need to see the proof.”
