“Indeed not. Now…”

“Your pardon, Lillian. I only bring up your ties to Mitch Yeager because I know that he never forgives anything he perceives to be an injury or an insult.”

“I’m fully aware of Mitch’s ability to hold a grudge.”

For a moment, Warren saw what he thought was another small change in her composure-as if she had briefly reminisced and found the reminiscence unpleasant.

Then she looked directly at Warren and said, “Auburn is right, Mitch doesn’t forgive easily. Mitch had a high school crush on me. I don’t think I meant much to him at all-certainly not enough to bring him to murder anyone or kidnap a child decades after our little teenage romance had soured. Your accusations, however, were they to become known, would displease him to a degree that might lead him to respond in ways…well, in ways I don’t like to contemplate.”

“By the time he learns of my plans,” Warren said, “I’ll be beyond his reach.”

She studied him for a moment, then said, “And so your plans include leaving me here to deal with his wrath? He’s very touchy about his reputation these days.”

“No. I’m not asking you to be involved in this in any way. I just wanted you to know… in advance. I didn’t want my plans to come as a shock to you.”

“Exactly what are your plans, Warren?”

But before he could answer, the intercom in the conference room buzzed. Zeke Brennan answered it and said, “Yes, please show Mr. Yeager in.”

22

A UBURN SHEFFIELD HEARD THE SOFT, SUDDEN INTAKE OF LILLIAN’S BREATH as a young man wearing a suit and tie entered the room. Her reaction to Kyle Yeager was unhidden for only the briefest moment, as (knowing Lillian) Auburn had anticipated it would be. He looked down at the stack of papers on the table before him to hide a smile while the introductions were made.

When he looked up again, Kyle was saying, “Yes, of course we’ve met. Good afternoon, Mr. Sheffield.”

He was tall and had an almost military bearing, shoulders and back straight. Equally unusual in young men of his age, his dark hair was cut short. His brown eyes reminded Auburn of Katy, although he could not imagine that hers were ever so solemn. He could not say that the rest of his features strongly resembled those of either parent-or as Auburn reminded himself, of the people he assumed were Kyle’s parents-but he had not known Todd well. Warren believed Kyle’s smile was nearly identical to Todd’s. Auburn wondered if Warren had seen that smile since Kyle was five.

Kyle waited politely for Lillian to be seated before he took a seat himself.

Zeke Brennan spoke first. He thanked Kyle for coming and asked if he had been able to find the time to read the photocopied newspaper articles he had been given when Auburn visited him in Hanover.

“Yes, sir.” He glanced uneasily at Lillian and Warren. “I’m sorry,” he said. “That must have been a horrible time for both of you.”

Warren looked away, but Lillian said, “Thank you. Yes, it was terrible.”

“About sixteen years ago,” Zeke said, “Mr. Ducane set up a trust. The trust came about in a rather unusual way, and its conditions are also unusual.” Zeke paused. “At that time, Mr. Ducane met a young boy whom he believed to be his nephew, Max Ducane.”

“Sixteen years ago? Oh.” He looked hopefully toward Lillian. “So-the kidnapper was caught?”

“It’s not quite so simple, I’m afraid,” Lillian said kindly.

Warren started to speak, but Zeke intervened, motioning to him to wait. “At the time he saw the boy, it was, for various reasons, impossible for him to prove his belief that the boy was his missing nephew. But he made arrangements so that when the boy reached adulthood, he would be eligible to receive a substantial sum of money. There would be two conditions that the boy- now a young man-would need to meet. He would be required to sever ties with his adopted family and to legally change his name to Maxwell Ducane.”

Auburn watched Lillian and saw her surprise. Kyle, however, seemed no more than politely interested, and waited for Zeke to go on. But it was Warren who broke the silence.

“The boy I met was you, Kyle,” he said.

“Me?” He laughed uneasily. “No…”

“Yes. You are my nephew.” He said it with sureness.

“Mr. Ducane, I…I’m sorry, I don’t mean to upset you, but I don’t really understand how that can be possible. My adoptive father and mother told me many times that…” He lowered his head, then murmured, “They both told me many times that my mother was a prostitute. My father was one of her customers. So unless your brother…” He glanced up at Lillian, blushed, and turned to Zeke as he said, “No, I’m sure he didn’t. There are adoption papers. I have always felt grateful, because if I hadn’t been adopted by the Yeagers, I probably wouldn’t have survived. My birth mother died two months after I was born, and I probably would have died with her. Instead, I was raised by a wealthy couple, had the love of my adoptive mother, and received privileges no person of my birth could have dreamed of having.”

“Are you fond of Mitch Yeager?” Auburn asked.

Kyle gave him a fierce look, then answered, “What does that have to do with anything? He took me in. Fed and clothed me. Paid for my education.”

“My God,” Lillian said softly.

“I don’t claim that there is any affection between us,” Kyle said. “I am sure I was adopted because my mother-Estelle, I mean-wanted a child so badly. I loved her, and I have no doubt that she loved me.”

“Mitch Yeager abused her,” Auburn said. “And before Estelle had been dead a month, he married a woman thirty years his junior and soon fathered three children with his new wife. He did all he could to forget your existence. You don’t owe anything to Mitch, not on your own behalf, and certainly not on Estelle’s.”

Kyle looked as if he would object, then seemed to change his mind. His fists clenched, then opened. He said, “Whatever you may know or not know about my mother-I respect her memory, so I’m not going to share gossip about her or her husband with you.”

“I meant no disrespect to her,” Auburn said. “But I do know that she felt trapped in her marriage. She didn’t believe she had the means to escape it, but I think she might have been pleased to know that someone offered you a chance to separate yourself from Mitch Yeager. And twenty million dollars ought to allow you to cut the ties.”

“Twenty million!”

“That’s part of it,” Warren said. “Twenty million, as well as some real property worth-”

But he had recovered his composure. “As…as tempting as that offer is… and as sorry as I am that your nephew was taken from you, I’m afraid I’ll say no.”

“Kyle…”

“No, Mr. Ducane,” he said angrily. “My birth mother may have been for sale, but I’m not.” He stood up and said to Lillian, “If you’ll excuse me, ma’am-”

“Kyle,” she said, “are you in a hurry to return to Hanover?”

“No, but…”

“I take it you aren’t staying with Mitch?”

“No. Mr. Brennan arranged a hotel room for me here in town.”

“I wonder if you might have dinner with me this evening, at my home.”

“If you’re trying to convince me-”

“No, I knew no more about any of this than you did. But I am planning a small dinner party-nothing fancy, mind you-and would love to get to know you a little better before you head back home again. And I have a few photographs of Estelle that I would like to give to you. But if you have other plans…”

“No, I don’t.”He studied her for a moment, then said, “Forgive me for asking, but do you really have photos of her?”

“Yes. We went to school together.”

He looked around the room. “Are these gentlemen invited as well?”

“Only if they promise not to say a word to you about Warren’s offer.”

Warren raised a hand as if taking an oath. “Not a word.”