Chapter 6 - THE PHOTOGRAPH IN HIS MOTHER'S BIBLE
Julian Vescari's mother had been dead for eleven years.
Her name was Isabella.
She was a schoolteacher's daughter who married into a powerful family and spent most of her life pretending she didn't understand the darkness surrounding it.
According to Julian, she understood far more than anyone realized.
Emma learned this when Julian called her from a protected medical facility where he had finally received an independent surgical evaluation.
He sounded tired.
But stronger.
"I need you to see something," he said.
Emma looked at the clock.
"You're supposed to be resting."
"I am."
"Then why are you calling?"
"Because I found Noah's name in my mother's records."
Her breath stopped.
The meeting occurred two days later under arrangements approved by the relevant investigators.
Julian sat beside a window wearing a plain navy sweater.
There was a healing cut near his jaw and a medical dressing beneath his shirt.
Without the expensive suit and armed entourage, he looked almost ordinary.
Emma hated noticing how handsome he was.
It felt disloyal to everything she knew about him.
"You're pale," she said.
He raised an eyebrow.
"Is that your professional assessment?"
"It's my assessment of a man who apparently thinks recovering from abdominal surgery is optional."
He smiled.
Then opened a worn Bible.
The cover was cracked.
Several pages contained handwritten notes.
Julian turned to the back.
Inside was a photograph.
His mother stood beside a teenage boy.
Emma's breath caught.
Noah.
The photograph was taken before he disappeared.
"Where did she meet him?"
Julian shook his head.
"I didn't know they knew each other."
Emma studied the image.
Isabella had one hand resting on Noah's shoulder.
Both were smiling.
On the back, in faded blue ink, were the words:
NOAH RICHARDSON — THE BOY WHO REFUSED TO LOOK AWAY.
Emma closed her eyes.
That was Noah.
Always asking questions.
Always noticing injustice.
When they were children, he once spent an entire afternoon arguing with a grocery-store manager because an elderly customer had been charged twice for milk.
He was the kind of boy who believed rules mattered most when they protected people without power.
Emma touched the photograph.
"Why did she keep this?"
Julian looked down.
"My mother funded a legal-aid program for vulnerable patients. She was concerned about abuses in private medical facilities."
"Did your family know?"
"Some did."
He hesitated.
"She died after a long illness. I found out only later that she'd been gathering information about Aster."
Emma looked at him.
"Why didn't you investigate?"
His expression changed.
"I was twenty-four. My father had just died. The family businesses were collapsing, and everyone wanted me to become the next head of the organization."
"That's not an answer."
Julian met her eyes.
"You're right."
He took a breath.
"I ignored things because I didn't want to know how deeply my family was involved."
Emma was silent.
Then he continued.
"Your brother paid for that."
Emma wanted to hate him.
It would have been easier.
But Julian wasn't making excuses.
He wasn't demanding forgiveness.
He was admitting something terrible.
That he had benefited from systems he chose not to examine.
"You have information that belongs with investigators," she said.
"I know."
"Then give it to them."
"I already have."
She looked surprised.
"When?"
"Yesterday."
Emma stared.
Julian smiled faintly.
"You're not the only person who can give orders."
She almost laughed.
Almost.
Later that afternoon, Emma asked about the shooting.
"Who attacked you?"
Julian looked toward the window.
"I went to meet somebody who claimed to have evidence about Aster's current operations."
"Who?"
"An attorney named Michael Rowan."
Emma nodded.
"And?"
"Rowan never appeared. Someone fired at me when I left the meeting place."
"Did you see the shooter?"
"No."
"Then why did your men bring you to Saint Agnes?"
Julian hesitated.
"Because Rowan's message mentioned a nurse who could be trusted."
Emma frowned.
"What nurse?"
Julian looked at her.
"You."
The room went silent.
Emma stared at him.
"That's impossible."
He shook his head.
"Rowan told me that if anything went wrong, I should get to Saint Agnes and ask for Emma Richardson."
Her heart began pounding.
"Why?"
Julian reached inside the Bible.
He removed a folded letter.
The handwriting belonged to Noah.
Emma recognized it instantly.
If somebody finally believes what I've been trying to expose, find my sister.
Emma won't accept money for doing the right thing.
She'll be angry.
She'll ask questions.
But she won't look away.
Emma read the letter through tears.
For seven years, she had wondered whether Noah believed she had stopped searching.
Now she knew.
Somewhere in the darkness, her brother had been thinking about her.
Waiting.
May you like
Trusting her to finish what he started.
And somebody had tried to kill Julian before he could bring that message to her.
