Chapter 17 - THE TWELFTH NAME
Noah was alive.
That was the only sentence Caitlyn allowed herself to believe for the next fourteen minutes.
Alive.
Marco traced the call.
Vincent contacted the NYPD liaison.
Damian personally directed three security teams toward Noah’s apartment.
Caitlyn rode beside him in the back seat of the SUV.
Neither spoke.
Rain struck the windows.
The city moved around them in streaks of red and white.
Finally Caitlyn said, “You gave your father twelve names.”
Damian stared ahead.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was twenty-four.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“My father suspected someone inside his organization was giving information to federal investigators. He ordered me to identify everyone with access to the financial records.”
“And you did.”
“I gave him twelve people who had access.”
“You knew he would kill them?”
Damian’s jaw tightened.
“I knew what he was capable of.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“No.”
Caitlyn waited.
Damian looked away.
“I thought he would interrogate them.”
Caitlyn let out a short, bitter laugh.
“You believed your father would interrogate twelve suspected informants and send them home?”
“I was still trying to believe there were lines he wouldn’t cross.”
“And Rebecca survived.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
The SUV stopped hard.
Marco’s voice came over the radio.
“Apartment secured.”
Caitlyn opened the door before the vehicle fully stopped.
Damian caught her wrist.
“Wait.”
“My brother is upstairs.”
“Caitlyn.”
She turned.
Something in Damian’s face made her stop.
“If Rebecca wants you frightened, running into an unsecured building gives her exactly what she wants.”
Marco appeared at the entrance.
“We’re clear.”
Caitlyn ran.
Noah was sitting on the kitchen floor when she entered.
A broken lamp lay beside him.
His cane was across the room.
He had blood at his temple.
Caitlyn dropped beside him.
“Oh God.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“I have a head. Heads bleed.”
She grabbed his face.
“Noah.”
He smiled weakly.
“Still annoying.”
She hugged him.
Over his shoulder she saw Damian enter.
Noah’s expression changed.
“She knew him.”
Caitlyn pulled back.
“What?”
“The woman.”
Noah pointed toward the dining table.
“She left something.”
A small digital recorder sat beside an envelope.
Damian didn’t move.
Marco inspected it.
Then pressed play.
Rebecca’s voice filled the apartment.
“Hello, Dominic.”
Damian closed his eyes.
“You’ve spent years turning yourself into a respectable man. Husband. Philanthropist. Chairman. The monster who learned table manners.”
Caitlyn glanced at him.
Rebecca continued.
“But respectable men tell the truth.”
A pause.
“You never told your wife about Pier Forty-One.”
Damian’s face remained blank.
“You never told her why your father changed your name.”
Another pause.
“And you certainly never told her who the twelfth name belonged to.”
The recording ended.
Noah looked between them.
“What does that mean?”
Nobody answered.
Caitlyn picked up the envelope.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Dominic Alexander Vale.
Mother: Helena Vale.
Father: Unknown.
Date of birth: the same as Damian’s.
Beneath it was another document.
A death certificate.
Helena Vale.
Cause of death: gunshot wound.
Caitlyn’s fingers went cold.
“Your mother wasn’t Evelyn?”
“No.”
Noah stared.
“What?”
Damian sat down slowly.
“Evelyn raised me.”
Caitlyn looked at him.
“You told me your mother died when you were young.”
“She did.”
“But you let me believe Evelyn was your biological mother.”
“I never corrected the assumption.”
“That’s called lying.”
“Yes.”
Caitlyn stood.
Damian did too.
“Caitlyn—”
“Don’t.”
Noah looked uncomfortable.
“I’m going to pretend I need stitches.”
“You do need stitches,” Caitlyn said.
“Perfect.”
Marco helped him toward the door.
Caitlyn waited until they were alone.
“Who was Helena Vale?”
“My father’s bookkeeper.”
Caitlyn stared.
“Your mother worked for your father?”
“Yes.”
“And he changed your identity after she died?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Damian looked at the document.
“Because she was trying to leave him.”
Caitlyn’s chest tightened.
“And he killed her.”
“I don’t know.”
“You think he did.”
“Yes.”
The room seemed smaller.
Caitlyn picked up the birth certificate again.
“Rebecca has your mother’s last name.”
“She was Helena’s younger sister.”
Caitlyn looked up.
“Rebecca is your aunt.”
“Yes.”
“Not his accountant.”
“She became his accountant later.”
Caitlyn’s voice rose.
“You knew exactly who she was!”
“Yes.”
“And you stood in my office and gave me pieces.”
“I was trying to understand why she was alive.”
“No. You were controlling the information.”
His expression hardened.
“I was protecting you.”
“There it is.”
Caitlyn laughed without humor.
“The sentence that almost destroyed us the first time.”
Damian’s face changed.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
She stepped closer.
“You promised me truth because you knew what secrecy did to both our families.”
“I remember.”
“Then why am I holding your real birth certificate three years into our marriage?”
Damian had no answer.
Caitlyn looked down.
There was something written on the back.
One sentence.
ASK HIM WHO NAME TWELVE WAS.
She held it up.
“Who was the twelfth name?”
Damian stared at it.
For the first time that night, fear appeared plainly on his face.
“Caitlyn.”
“Who?”
“My mother.”
Caitlyn stopped breathing.
“Helena?”
“Yes.”
“You gave your father your own mother’s name?”
Damian’s eyes closed.
“I didn’t know she was my mother.”
Silence.
“He told me she was an employee.”
Caitlyn stared at him.
Damian’s voice broke slightly.
“I found out the truth after she was dead.”
And suddenly Caitlyn understood.
Rebecca had not returned for money.
She had not returned to destroy Hamilton Holdings.
She had returned for Damian.
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Because twenty years ago, a frightened young man had unknowingly handed a monster the name of the woman who gave him life.
And Rebecca Vale had apparently spent every day since deciding what that mistake should cost him.
