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Leaning against the door, she waited a few minutes. To her relief, she heard Flynn’s voice on the other side. “Birdie, can you hear me?” he whispered.
“Yes,” she croaked, lightly resting her cheek and shaking fingertips on the paneled door.
“Hold tight. I’ll be right back.”
“No,” she whisper-hissed. “Go to Lucas. They’re calling Hillsboro.” She listened, waiting for a response, her heart racing. “Flynn!”
But he didn’t respond so she backed away from the door, running her hands over her arms, her trembling body growing into a full body tremor.
What had Lucas done? What had he been thinking?
She had things under control. Errol under control.
Then he had to overreact and barge into the room like a crazed maniac.
Like a hero.
How many times did she tell him to stay away?
Sitting on the bed, she wrapped her arms around her stomach and began to rock back and forth.
Her head whipped toward the door as she heard what sounded like a key inserting into the lock.
The door opened. She stood with her heart about to beat out of her chest, and instantly felt a wave of relief upon seeing Flynn step inside, shutting the door quietly behind him.
The man stood awkwardly before her. Never one to hug or touch, even under the most platonic of circumstances. “Are you okay, Birdie? Did he hurt you?”
“I’m fine,” she said, forcing herself to get up and move toward the door. “But we have to go to Lucas. They took him to that medical room. Can you take me there? Errol mentioned making Lucas sleep for a very long time. Just like your friend Tati—”
“Birdie,” Flynn interrupted. “If we go to Lucas now, we’ll end up tethered to an I.V. and in a coma, as well. Now’s not the time for rash decisions, but calm and collected problem-solving.” His eyes moved to stare at something behind her, and he cleared his throat. “Besides, I don’t think you’re dressed appropriately for a search and rescue.”
Glancing down at the wadded robe she still held to her chest, her peep cut-outs showing more than she realized, she quickly donned the robe, pulled the sides of her gown together, and held them tight around her waist.
Marching toward her walk-in closet, she glanced over her shoulder saying, “Just give me a minute.” She began sifting through her hidden jeans and T-shirt collection, behind a row of formal dresses where Ariana couldn’t find them and purge the contraband clothing.
Hidden from view, she put on undergarments that were actually meant to cover things and grabbed a pair of jeans. “I think Errol and Ariana are, like, a real couple. When she saw me in his room, without her, she became a green-eyed monster.” Shoving her feet in each pant leg, she bounced up and down. “Errol called her ‘darling.’” She threw a long-sleeved T-shirt over her head.
Hopping on one leg, she exited the closet as she slipped one tennis shoe on and then the other.
Flynn was sitting on the bed. “That’s because she’s not our biological mother.”
“What?” she asked, dressed and her hands on her hips. “You knew this?”
He shook his head. “Not until tonight. I was able to hack into Errol’s personal laptop and found a file titled “Ariana.” I found a series of documents, including our birth certificates and legal name change forms. Apparently, Marshall had a wife prior to Ariana who gave birth to fraternal twins. Namely, me and Errol. Our mother died while giving birth. Six months later, Ariana married Marshall and raised us as her own.”
“Why would she do that?” Birdie asked. “She doesn’t come off as someone who’d be so…benevolent.”
“I’m thinking greed likely the motivating factor,” he said. “My father had just won some of his first contracts and was making a name for himself. She had come from a poor family, and he had just lost his wife and needed a mother for his two children.”
“Marshall never told me he’d been married before.” Then again, there were a lot of things her husband never told her.
Birdie shook her head in shock and gingerly reached out to touch Flynn’s arm. “I know this is big news for you. Earth-shattering. But honestly, all I can think about is getting to Lucas before he suffers the same fate as Marshall.”
“I’m fine. Although our parentage and how we were raised would prove a study on the ongoing controversy between nature and nurture. Genetics as opposed to environment. As for my employer, Hillsboro will likely force him into a coma. The same as Tati.” Always the pragmatist, Flynn.
“We can’t be sure of that. Errol could just as easily instruct him to do something much worse. Like he did with Marshall. We have to get to Lucas before Hillsboro does.”
“Maybe we can call for a backup of sorts to detain Hillsboro? Lucas has been staying in contact with his brother, Grant.”
