The Lost Heiress

Two Questions

The wind swept across the harbour.

Maria-May stood silently for several seconds, staring at Roger Thomson-Morse.

Marcus Tate.

Torrino.

Roger's missing man.

Something wasn't adding up.

Actually, several things weren't adding up.

Maria-May narrowed her eyes.

"Wait."

Jonathan recognised that expression immediately.

"What?"

Maria-May held up one finger.

"No. I've got two questions."

Roger looked at her.

"Go ahead."

Maria-May stepped closer.

"First—you just said you knew I was a Quinet before my family found me."

Roger nodded.

"I suspected very strongly."

"No."

Maria-May shook her head.

"You told Ricky I was a Quinet."

Roger's expression changed slightly.

Maria-May continued.

"So if you knew who I was back then, why didn't you tell my grandfather?"

Jonathan slowly turned towards Roger.

Maria-May pointed towards him.

"You knew Don Jonathan Quinet."

Roger remained silent.

"You knew his family had a missing granddaughter."

Still nothing.

"And then your son meets me, you apparently take one look at the information Ricky gives you and decide I'm that missing granddaughter."

Maria-May's voice became firmer.

"So why didn't you pick up a phone?"

Jonathan's expression hardened.

"That's a very good question."

Roger sighed.

Maria-May folded her arms.

"I'm waiting."

Roger looked towards Jonathan.

"I didn't know for certain."

"You were certain enough to warn Ricky," Maria-May replied.

Roger looked back at her.

"Because I recognised things about you."

"Like what?"

"Your age."

Maria-May waited.

"Your appearance."

She continued staring.

"Your name wasn't enough by itself, but Ricky told me things about you. Where you'd grown up. That you didn't know your biological family."

Jonathan stepped forward.

"And you never thought to mention this to me?"

Roger looked uncomfortable.

"I considered it."

Maria-May stared at him.

"You considered telling my grandfather his missing granddaughter might be alive?"

Roger sighed.

"It wasn't that simple."

Maria-May laughed once.

"It sounds extremely simple."

Donte stood quietly beside her, watching Roger.

Keegan spoke.

"She's right, Roger."

Roger looked towards him.

"You weren't involved."

"No," Keegan replied. "But if I'd thought I'd found Jonathan's missing granddaughter, Jonathan would have known that day."

Jonathan nodded once.

Roger rubbed his jaw.

"At the time, the relationship between our families wasn't exactly friendly."

Maria-May stared at him.

"So?"

"I didn't know whether bringing you into this world would put you in more danger."

Maria-May's expression changed.

"You decided for me."

Roger didn't answer.

"You decided that leaving me without my family was somehow protecting me."

"I believed there were people who would have reacted badly if Jonathan's granddaughter suddenly reappeared."

Jonathan stepped closer.

"That wasn't your decision to make."

"No."

Roger finally looked at him.

"It wasn't."

Maria-May swallowed.

For twenty-two years she'd had no idea who she was.

How much sooner could everything have changed if Roger had spoken?

A month?

Six months?

A year?

She didn't know.

And perhaps that was the most frustrating part.

Maria-May took a breath.

"Fine."

Roger raised an eyebrow.

"Fine?"

"Not actually fine."

Noah almost smiled.

Maria-May held up her second finger.

"Because I've got another question."

Roger sighed.

"I suspected you might."

"This one bothers me even more."

Maria-May pointed towards Roger.

"You sent Grandad a letter."

"Yes."

"You asked him to meet you here at the harbour."

"Correct."

"Because apparently you wanted to discuss the Knights."

"Yes."

Maria-May nodded slowly.

"Then we tell you about the T.M. on the gravestone..."

Roger's expression changed.

"...and suddenly you know about Marcus Tate."

The harbour went quiet.

Maria-May stepped closer.

"How?"

Roger didn't answer.

Jonathan's attention sharpened.

Alessandro moved nearer.

Maria-May continued.

"If you didn't leave T.M. on that gravestone, how did you know it had anything to do with Marcus?"

Roger's jaw tightened.

"You said T.M."

"Yes."

"Marcus Tate has those initials."

"So does Thomson-Morse."

Roger said nothing.

Maria-May pointed towards him.

"Exactly."

Noah frowned.

"She's right."

Norman nodded.

"We spent hours thinking T.M. meant Thomson-Morse."

Maria-May looked directly at Roger.

"And apparently your own family doesn't even use T.M. as its signature."

"No."

"So why did you immediately jump to one missing employee?"

Roger stared at her.

Maria-May's voice lowered.

"Unless you already knew something happened."

Jonathan stepped beside his granddaughter.

"Answer her."

Roger looked towards Jonathan.

"Careful."

Jonathan's expression became cold.

"Don't tell me to be careful when we're discussing my granddaughter."

Keegan stepped forward.

"Roger, you invited us here."

Roger looked towards him.

Keegan continued.

"You wanted to talk. So talk."

---

Roger turned towards the water.

For several moments, he said nothing.

Then he sighed.

"I knew Marcus was connected to Gabriel."

Maria-May's stomach dropped.

"Before today?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Several weeks."

Jonathan frowned.

"And you didn't mention that in your letter."

"No."

Maria-May threw her hands up.

"Does anybody in this world ever tell the entire truth the first time?"

Donte murmured,

"Apparently not."

Maria-May glanced at him.

"Thank you."

Then she looked back at Roger.

"What was the connection?"

Roger hesitated.

"Marcus had been watching Gabriel."

"On your orders?"

"Initially."

Maria-May's eyes narrowed.

"Initially?"

"After Ricky and Gabriel started having problems, I wanted to know what Gabriel was doing."

"So you sent Marcus."

"Yes."

"And then?"

"Marcus became..."

Roger searched for the word.

"Obsessed."

Jonathan frowned.

"With Gabriel?"

"With the Knights."

That answer changed everything.

Roger continued.

"Marcus hated them."

"Why?" Maria-May asked.

"I don't know."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I knew Marcus had history. I didn't know all of it."

Maria-May shook her head.

"And then Gabriel dies."

"Yes."

"Marcus disappears."

"Yes."

"And T.M. appears on a gravestone."

Roger nodded.

"Yes."

Maria-May folded her arms.

"That's why you think Marcus did it."

Roger looked at her.

"I think Marcus knows what happened."

"That's different."

"Yes."

Maria-May glanced towards Jonathan.

At least Roger was finally being careful about what he claimed.

---

Jonathan stepped forward.

"Why the harbour?"

Roger looked towards him.

"What?"

"Maria-May asked another important question."

Jonathan gestured around them.

"You sent a letter asking us here before you knew we'd noticed T.M."

Roger nodded.

"So what were you originally planning to tell me?"

Roger went silent again.

Maria-May groaned.

"Oh, here we go."

Roger ignored her.

Jonathan waited.

Finally Roger reached inside his coat.

Several Quinet security guards immediately moved.

Roger stopped.

"Paper."

Jonathan raised a hand.

His guards stayed back.

Roger slowly removed a folded document.

He held it towards Jonathan.

"This."

Jonathan took it.

Maria-May moved beside him.

"What is it?"

Jonathan unfolded the paper.

His expression changed.

Alessandro looked over his shoulder.

"What?"

Jonathan turned the document around.

It was a photocopy of an old photograph.

Maria-May frowned.

Four young men stood together beside what looked like the same harbour.

One was clearly a much younger Roger Thomson-Morse.

Another—

Maria-May looked at Jonathan.

"Grandad?"

Jonathan was staring at the photograph.

"That's me."

Maria-May looked again.

A young Jonathan Quinet.

Roger Thomson-Morse.

A younger Keegan Montenegro.

And a fourth man Maria-May didn't recognise.

Donte moved beside her.

"That's my dad."

Keegan nodded.

Maria-May pointed towards the fourth man.

"Who's he?"

Nobody answered.

Roger looked towards Jonathan.

"You know."

Jonathan's expression had become completely still.

"No."

Roger sighed.

"Jonathan."

"I said no."

Maria-May looked between them.

"Who is he?"

Keegan took the photograph.

His face changed too.

"I haven't seen this photograph in years."

Maria-May was becoming impatient.

"Can somebody please answer me?"

Keegan looked towards her.

"Thomas Torrino."

Maria-May froze.

"Torrino."

Roger nodded.

"The last recognised Don of the Torrino family."

Maria-May looked back at the picture.

"And what does this have to do with Marcus?"

Roger's eyes remained on the fourth man.

"Thomas had a son."

Jonathan slowly closed his eyes.

Maria-May looked at him.

"Grandad?"

Roger continued.

"After the Torrino family collapsed, the boy disappeared."

Maria-May already knew what was coming.

She looked towards Roger.

"Marcus."

Roger nodded.

"Marcus Tate."

Silence.

Maria-May looked down at the photograph.

"Marcus is Thomas Torrino's son?"

"Yes."

"And you knew?"

"I discovered it three weeks ago."

Maria-May's head snapped up.

"Three weeks?"

Roger nodded.

"That's why I started trying to contact Jonathan."

Jonathan looked furious.

"You could have put that in the letter."

Roger raised an eyebrow.

"Would you have believed a letter saying a Torrino heir had resurfaced?"

Maria-May answered before Jonathan could.

"At this point, I'd believe a letter saying Grandad secretly owns the moon."

Noah laughed.

Jonathan glared at him.

"Don't."

---

Maria-May looked at Roger again.

"So let me get this straight."

She began counting on her fingers.

"You suspected who I was before my family found me and said nothing."

Roger winced.

"Yes."

"You discovered Marcus Tate was actually Marcus Torrino three weeks ago."

"Yes."

"Marcus had been watching Gabriel."

"Yes."

"Gabriel dies."

"Yes."

"Marcus disappears."

"Yes."

"T.M. appears at the churchyard."

"Yes."

"And instead of putting any of that in your letter, you wrote, 'Let's meet at the harbour.'"

Roger considered it.

"When you say it like that—"

"It sounds ridiculous."

Donte turned away, clearly trying not to laugh.

Even Keegan's mouth twitched.

Roger sighed.

"Perhaps my letter could have contained more detail."

Maria-May stared at him.

"Perhaps?"

Jonathan took the photograph.

"There's still something wrong."

Everyone looked at him.

Jonathan pointed towards the four men.

"Thomas Torrino died twenty-five years ago."

Roger nodded.

"That's what we believed."

Jonathan's eyes narrowed.

Maria-May caught the wording immediately.

"Believed?"

Roger looked towards her.

Maria-May groaned.

"No."

Roger reached back into his coat.

Maria-May pointed at him.

"If you pull out another photograph, I'm going home."

Roger almost smiled.

It wasn't a photograph.

It was an envelope.

He handed it to Jonathan.

"This arrived at my home yesterday."

Jonathan opened it.

Inside was a single sheet of paper.

He read it.

Then went completely still.

Maria-May stepped beside him.

"What does it say?"

Jonathan handed her the paper.

There were only two lines.

YOU BURIED THE TORRINO NAME TOO EARLY.

And beneath it:

T.M. WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

Maria-May stared at the message.

Then at Roger.

Then at the old photograph of four young men standing at the very harbour where they were now gathered.

Her voice was quieter when she spoke again.

"Grandad..."

Jonathan looked at her.

"What happened here twenty-five years ago?"

For the first time since arriving at the harbour, Jonathan didn't try to change the subject.

He looked towards Roger.

Then Keegan.

Both men knew the answer.

Jonathan folded the old photograph.

"Something we should have told our children a very long time ago."

Maria-May swallowed.

"And?"

Jonathan looked towards the dark water.

"We thought we ended a war."

He paused.

"We were wrong."