Chapter 9 - The Son No One KnewMaxwell Rourke had been erased from his own family
Samuel collapsed onto the concrete.
My mother screamed.
Maxwell dragged me behind a column and fired toward Victor.
Victor disappeared behind the shelves.
“Is Samuel alive?”
“Later.”
“There may not be a later!”
Maxwell pulled me toward a rear passage.
My mother followed.
We ran through the underground corridors.
“What did Victor mean?” I asked.
Maxwell didn't answer.
“You owe me the truth.”
“I know.”
“My mother said your father wasn't Richard.”
“He was.”
“Then who was your real mother?”
He stopped.
For several seconds he said nothing.
“My mother was a woman named Anya.”
“Where is she?”
“Dead.”
“When?”
“Fourteen years ago.”
“How?”
“Richard killed her.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because she knew I existed.”
I didn't understand.
Maxwell continued walking.
“Richard had one legitimate son.”
“The real Maxwell.”
“Yes.”
“And you were his second son.”
“An illegitimate one.”
“Then why use his name?”
“Because Richard gave it to me.”
I frowned.
“He took his own son's name?”
“He gave me the name after the real Maxwell died.”
I stopped.
“Wait.”
“You're saying the man I've been calling Maxwell Rourke is not the original Maxwell Rourke.”
“No.”
“Then who is he?”
“He died in the fire.”
My pulse raced.
“Then why did Richard keep you alive?”
“Because I looked like him.”
“Like who?”
“The dead Maxwell.”
I stared at his face.
The cold gray eyes.
The sharp jaw.
The resemblance suddenly made horrible sense.
Richard had replaced one son with another.
A living disguise.
A controlled heir.
A weapon.
“And everyone believes you're the original.”
“Yes.”
“Your men?”
“Yes.”
“Your sister?”
“She knows.”
“Then why doesn't she expose you?”
“Because she's afraid.”
“Of Richard?”
“Of what happens if the truth comes out.”
A car engine roared somewhere outside.
Maxwell pulled open a door.
A tunnel led toward the river.
“We're leaving Providence.”
“Where?”
“Canada.”
“What?”
“Richard has people across the coast.”
“Why Canada?”
“My mother left something there.”
We reached a small boat.
Maxwell started the engine.
As we moved into the dark water, my mother stared at him.
“You have to tell her.”
“I will.”
“Tonight.”
He nodded.
Then she looked at me.
“There is one thing I never told you.”
“What?”
“Your father is alive.”
I stared.
“You said he died.”
“I said your father wasn't Richard.”
“Who was he?”
She hesitated.
Then whispered a name.
“Thomas Vale.”
Maxwell went rigid.
I looked at him.
“Who is Thomas Vale?”
He didn't answer.
My mother did.
“Gideon's father.”
I remembered Gideon's body.
My chest tightened.
“Does he know?”
“He knows everything.”
“Where is he?”
She looked at Maxwell.
“Working for Richard.”
The boat suddenly jolted.
Maxwell grabbed the wheel.
Something had struck the hull.
Then another impact.
A voice shouted from the darkness.
“Kill the Rourke boy!”
Maxwell looked at me.
“Stay down.”
Gunfire erupted across the river.
Our engine died.
We drifted in darkness.
Then a second boat appeared.
A man stood at the front.
I couldn't see his face.
But Maxwell could.
He whispered:
“Thomas.”
May you like
The man raised a rifle.
And he called my name.
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