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  “It’s sad, but I think justice finally prevailed.”

  I tugged on Bernie’s leash, and we moved on. “It’s just too bad that it sometimes takes a long time to sort out all the pieces of the puzzle.”

  “I heard Bronson’s calling a news conference for tomorrow afternoon to take credit for everything.”

  “That sounds familiar.”

  After telling Olivia that I’d see her in the morning, I saw that Jessica was still at her desk. I went over, took a seat across from her, and asked about her date with Richard.

  “It’s probably the oddest date I’ve ever had,” she said.

  “Why is that?”

  She glanced around the station and lowered her voice. “He brought another woman with him.”

  “What?”

  She nodded. “He claimed she was his talent agent and was scouting the Grunting Maggots.”

  “The what?”

  “It’s the musical group we went to see. They’re a cross between rap and country music, the worst thing I’ve ever heard.”

  I laughed. “And Richard has a talent agent?”

  She nodded. “He thinks he can sing, and even let loose with a couple of bars on the way to the concert.” She lowered her voice even further. “He sounded like a squirrel with his tail caught in a fan.”

  I chuckled again and stood. “I’m sorry. I take it that was your last date.”

  She nodded. “I’m not having much luck with the opposite sex. Let me know if you hear of anyone else that’s available.”

  Natalie and Mo’s plans to hook me up with Freddy, their actor friend, came to mind. I took a moment and told her about him. “We’re planning to invite him over for drinks if you’d like to join us and meet him.”

  She shrugged. “What have I got to lose? Let me know when, and I’ll be there.”

  After leaving work, Bernie and I drove to Long Beach. Because of my work schedule, it was the first chance I had to try to talk to Daniel’s mother, Ann Reston, or Anabelle Wakefield, as she was now calling herself. I was determined to find out what, if anything, she knew about my long-lost brother’s whereabouts.

  The neighborhood where the Wakefields lived was an exclusive enclave of million dollars homes. After showing my credentials at a guarded gate, I pulled up in front of her home, a sprawling Tudor estate on a large lot with an ocean view.

  Bernie stood at my side as I rang the bell and waited. The house was dark, and no one came to the door. I was about to leave, when the garage door went up, and I saw a car pulling into the driveway. A woman got out of her car and came over to Bernie and me, where I introduced myself.

  “I’m here about Daniel,” I explained, seeing her expression suddenly grow serious. She was a tall woman, probably in her late fifties, with short dark hair and pleasant features.

  “Daniel told me about you,” she said, taking my hand as her gaze moved down to my furry partner. “Why don’t you and...”

  “Bernie.”

  She bent over and ran a hand through my dog’s fur. “Please come in.”

  Ann, as she asked me to call her, set out some water for Bernie before we took seats in her spacious living room.

  “Your home is beautiful,” I said.

  She smiled. “Thank you.” Her brown eyes fixed on me. “May I ask how you found out about Daniel?”

  “My adoptive father, his bio-dad, left some money in a safe deposit box. I did some research, and...” I smiled, deciding not to go into too many details. “It’s only been a few weeks since I learned about the money and Daniel.”

  “I see. Do you know what happened to...to the money?”

  “A woman named Harlee Ryland, and...”

  “I knew it,” she said, interrupting me and shaking her head. “Daniel wouldn’t tell me exactly what happened, but I suspected as much.”

  I gave her a moment, seeing that she was obviously upset. “I don’t want to pry, and I certainly want to respect your privacy, but if you feel comfortable talking about it, I’d love to know how you came to adopt Daniel.”

  “Of course, and, just so you know, I’m glad you’re here. I would have tried to find you when Daniel was younger, but I didn’t know about you until he said something a couple of years ago.”

  She took a break from our discussion as Bernie came over. She told me that she and her husband had lost a lab a few years back and they missed him terribly.

  She then got back to the topic at hand. “My husband and I tried to have a child of our own for years. When it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen, we worked through an adoption agency. Daniel was only three months old when he came to us.”

  “Were you told anything about his father during the adoption process?”

  “Just some general information. We were told that he was in law enforcement, and Daniel’s biological mother had moved to Northern California shortly after giving birth. It was only when Daniel was older and I did some research that I found out what happened to her.”

  I sensed the sadness in her tone and said, “Was she in some kind of accident?”

  She shook her head. “Daniel’s biological mother was murdered.”

  SEVENTY-THREE

  “Murdered?” What she’d said was like a punch to the gut. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sorry, I just assumed you knew.”

  I shook my head. “This is the first I’ve heard of it. How did it happen?”

  “She was shot in the back in her own driveway. The crime was never solved, but, if you want my opinion, it was the work of Harlee or her grandfather.”

  I sat there stunned for a moment, still trying to come to terms with everything. “But why...why would they murder Daniel’s mother?”

  She shrugged. “I can only assume that it had something to do with his biological father. I’ve heard that...John...and the Rylands were at odds.”

  I nodded, the depth of the depravity and persistence of the Rylands once again hitting me. I took a moment and filled her in on what I knew about my adoptive father’s murder. “I don’t know if I’ll ever have all the details, but my father may have been involved in the drug trade with the Rylands. When they thought he crossed them, they murdered him.”

  “And the money in the offshore account?”

  “It was probably the proceeds from drugs. Harlee recently told me that my father stole it from them. That’s why she took it away from Daniel.”

  Her tone became bitter. “The Rylands are monsters. They’re the reason I changed my name and live behind gates. I wouldn’t put it past them to also come after me and my husband.”

  “And Daniel? I understand he might be homeless.”

  “You could call it that. You could also say that he’s on the run from the Rylands, constantly looking over his shoulder.”

  “Did they threaten him?”

  “Harlee made an attempt to kill him right after she stole his money. He’s been on the streets since.”

  I spent another hour with Daniel’s mother, hearing a story of heartbreak and loss over losing the child they adopted because of fear the Rylands would murder him. After assuring her that I’d make every effort to find her son, Ann excused herself for a moment, then returned with a package.

  “This is from Daniel,” she said, handing over a small parcel wrapped in brown paper. “It was left with the gate guard yesterday, along with a note. It said if you ever found us to give the package to you.”

  “Do you know what it is?”

  She shook her head. “I have no idea. All I can tell you is that Daniel was...is...very creative and intelligent. Hopefully, whatever it is will have some meaning to you.”

  ***

  I told Ann Wakefield that I would be in touch and secured Bernie in my car. I then took a moment and unwrapped the package the brother I’d never met had left me. I realized that it was one of those older VHS tapes that were popular a couple decades ago. There were no markings on the tape, so I decided to take it home, hoping I could locate a VCR.
/>   After Bernie and I got home, I chatted with my friends over dinner. They told me they were still planning to invite their friend Freddy over for drinks, and I mentioned that Jessica would be joining us. They acted like I’d lost my mind, but finally relented, agreeing that Jessica was welcome.

  After dinner, Otto managed to locate a VCR in a closet. I took it and the tape up to my room, deciding to watch it alone. When the images began playing, they were disjointed and broken at first, like someone was carrying a video camera through a park that caught fleeting images of the trees and the grass and the sky as he walked. The images finally stabilized, and I realized someone had placed the camera on a table and walked away from it.

  Then I saw a man appear. Even though I’d never met him, the photograph my friends had shown me of Daniel made him instantly recognizable. My heart thundered in my chest, on the verge of exploding, as he spoke.

  “Hi, it’s me, Daniel.” There was a smile, his eyes locking in on the camera. “Yes, Kate, it really is me, the long-lost brother you never knew.”

  I blinked back tears as his gaze moved off for a moment, and he swept a hand through hair that was the same color as mine. Blue eyes that reminded me of photographs I’d seen of our father focused on the camera again.

  “I hope you can watch these tapes in a comfortable place, because I want you to settle in and listen carefully. I’m about to tell you the story of my life.” He paused, this time his eyes filling with tears. “Or, maybe what I mean to say, is that I’m about to tell you the story of our lives.”

  “Our lives?” I said, taking a ragged breath and finding a tissue on my nightstand to try to stem the flow of tears as he went on.

  “You see, despite never having met, you and I are inexorably linked together.” He chuckled. “Ancient Buddhist teachings say that everything in the world is interconnected. Modern science speaks to the same reality, that, on the most fundamental level, if the electrons in one atom are changed, they effect everything else in the universe.” Another smile. “Sorry, I digress. The important thing to realize is that everything that has happened to you, has, in another form, also happened to me.” His smile grew wider, his eyes becoming brighter. “So, this is our story, Kate. And like all great stories, it has all the elements anyone could ever imagine. It’s full of love and loss, hope and despair, suffering and acceptance, and, yes, there’s even an element of murder and deception because, truth be told, that’s where our story begins.”

  Daniel took a step closer to the camera as he continued. “Along the way, you’re going to hear about some people who are common to us, including our father, my mother and yours, your friend Pearl, the Rylands, and, yes, the man you have spent your life searching for. I’m going to tell you about your biological father, Kate. So, brace yourself, it’s going to be a journey that we take together. The next tape you receive will begin to tell our story.”

  He paused as I tried, and failed, to regain some composure. He then dragged a hand across his cheek and went on. “I should probably take a moment and explain why you’re getting these tapes. And, yes, there will be a series of tapes. Each of them will be left in a place where you’re sure to find them.”

  He folded his arms and looked down for a moment, gathering his thoughts before continuing. “I wanted to be a filmmaker at one time. There was even a period in my life when I thought of myself as the next Scorsese or Kubrick. Maybe even Spielberg.” He looked back at the camera. “Those days have passed, but, the more I thought about you, the more I decided that film was the perfect medium to tell you what I have to say.”

  He rose and began walking toward the camera. My anxiety level spiked as I realized he was about to turn it off. Then he bent down close to the lens and smiled. “This is going to be the story of our lives, Kate. So hold on tight, and brace yourself. It’s going to be a wild ride.” He reached over to the camera again, but paused, his smile returning. “There’s something I need to tell you. I’ve waited a lifetime to say it.” I realized his eyes were filling as he said, “I love you.”

  My emotions took over, tears flooding from my eyes. I went over and touched the TV screen, wishing there was a way to be physically closer to him.

  Daniel moved closer to the camera, but once again hesitated and said, “There’s one more thing you should know.” His expression changed, becoming more solemn, as his gaze moved off and he again brushed his tears.

  The final words he spoke were full of emotion and broke my heart, shattering it into a million pieces. Just before the screen faded to black, the brother I’d never known looked back at me and said, “If you’re receiving this recording, it means I’m dead.”

  THE END

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  More by This Author:

  The Hollywood Alphabet Series, with Detective Kate Sexton and her canine partner, Bernie:

  •Hollywood Assassin

  •Hollywood Blood

  •Hollywood Crazy

  •Hollywood Dirty

  •Hollywood Enemy

  •Hollywood Forbidden

  •Hollywood Games

  •Hollywood Homicide

  •Hollywood Intrigue

  •Hollywood Jury

  •Hollywood Killer

  •Hollywood Lust

  •Hollywood Murder

  •Hollywood Notorious

  •Hollywood Outlaw

  •Hollywood Prisoner

  •Hollywood Quest

  •Hollywood Rage

  COMING SOON: Hollywood Taken

  Copyright © 2017 by MZ Kelly

  Published by Kingston Roads Press, L.L.C.

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