The telephone stopped ringing.
Luke remained at the top of the stairs, staring down at it. No one moved.
Then it rang again.
Patterson started down. "I'll get it."
Luke followed.
Miss Clara remained on the stairs. "Don't," she called.
Patterson stopped. "Why?"
"Because whoever is calling already knows we're here."
The telephone rang again.
Luke looked at Miss Clara. "Then how do we find out what they want?"
She shook her head. "We don't."
Luke walked to the telephone.
Patterson caught his arm. "Luke."
He looked at him. "We've come too far."
Patterson slowly released him.
Luke picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
Silence.
Then a man's voice. "Did you find the certificate?"
Luke's eyes narrowed. "Who is this?"
"You know who I am."
"No, I don't."
"You know my father."
Luke's heart began pounding. "William Garrison?"
The voice laughed softly. "No."
A pause.
"You know him as William Garrison."
Luke looked at Patterson. "But that isn't the name he used when he came to Belle Rive."
The line went dead.
Luke slowly lowered the receiver.
Patterson's expression had changed. "What did he say?"
Luke repeated the words.
Patterson went pale.
Miss Clara came down the stairs. "Tell him."
Patterson looked at her. "Tell him what?"
"The truth."
Patterson shook his head. "Clara..."
"He deserves to know."
Luke stepped between them. "Know what?"
Miss Clara looked at him.
"William Garrison wasn't his real name."
The room went silent.
Luke felt as though the floor had shifted beneath him. "What?"
Patterson spoke quietly. "My father was born William Mercer."
Luke stared at him. "Mercer?"
Patterson nodded. "Evelyn Mercer was his sister."
Luke looked at the birth certificate.
Then at Patterson.
"You're telling me Evelyn Mercer was your aunt?"
"Yes."
"And William Garrison was..."
"My father."
Luke's mind raced.
The photograph. The initials. The Night Landing. The child.
Everything was suddenly tangled together.
"Then who was the child?"
Patterson didn't answer.
Miss Clara did. "You both know him. He has been in and around Belle Rive for years."
Luke stared at him.
Patterson closed his eyes.
"Did my mother know about him?”
"Yes, she did but she never wanted you to meet him."
“She often thought about telling you that you had a brother because she knew that you would eventually find out.”
Luke asked Patterson, "Did you know about the landing?" "No."
"Or the river company?" "No."
"Or the box?" Patterson looked at it. "No."
Luke stared at him.
"Then why did someone tell me to ask about the woman?"
Patterson's voice was barely audible. "Because they want me to remember."
"Remember what?"
Patterson looked toward the window. "The night Evelyn disappeared."
Miss Clara sat down. She looked exhausted. "She didn't disappear," she whispered.
Patterson turned. "What?"
"She left."
"With Sam," Luke said.
Miss Clara nodded. "Your father helped her escape."
Patterson looked at Luke.
"Why?"
"Because William was going to kill her."
Patterson's face tightened. "Why?"
Miss Clara hesitated. "Because she knew what happened at the Night Landing."
Luke felt the pieces beginning to align.
"What happened?"
Miss Clara looked at him. "Someone was killed."
"Who?"
"Elias McCrory."
Patterson went still. "My father killed him?"
"No."
Miss Clara's eyes moved toward Luke.
"Your father witnessed it."
Luke's heart sank.
"Sam?"
"Yes."
"And he kept silent?"
"At first."
"Why?"
"Because the person who killed McCrory threatened to kill Evelyn's baby."
Luke looked at Patterson.
Miss Clara nodded. "Your mother begged Sam to protect you."
Patterson sat down.
Luke finally understood.
Sam hadn't simply stumbled into a secret.
He had been entrusted with a life.
Patterson looked at Luke. "Your father saved me, as well as this child.”
Miss Clara nodded. "He did."
Luke looked down at the birth certificate.
"Then why did Evelyn come back?"
Miss Clara's eyes filled. "Because she wanted to see her son."
"When?" "Years later."
"Did she find him?"
Miss Clara looked at Patterson. "Yes."
Patterson stood. "Where?"
Miss Clara whispered: "At the McCall farm."
Luke's breath caught. "My father knew?"
"He did more than know.
"He watched him from across the road."
Patterson's face crumpled. "I never knew the little boy I grew up playing with and called my friend was actually my half brother"
"Your mother believed you were safer not knowing who he was."
"Why?"
"Because William was still looking for him and you as well."
Patterson closed his eyes.
Luke put a hand on his shoulder.
For a moment, neither man spoke.
Then Patterson whispered: "Where did she go?"
Miss Clara shook her head. "I don't know."
Luke looked at the certificate again.
Something caught his eye. A small notation at the bottom. Almost invisible.
He moved closer. "What is this?"
Miss Clara leaned forward.
Luke read it.
Transferred October 17, 1931.
Beneath it was an address.
Luke stared. "This isn't Belle Rive."
Patterson took the paper. "No."
"Where is it?"
Patterson looked at him. "Vicksburg."
Luke's pulse quickened. "Then that's where we go."
Patterson folded the certificate. "Tomorrow."
Luke shook his head. "Tonight."
Patterson almost smiled. "You sound like your father."
Luke looked toward the river. "Maybe that's why I'm here."
Neither man noticed the shadow moving past the window. Neither saw the hand slip beneath the sill. And neither heard the whisper outside. "Then go to Vicksburg."
The shadow disappeared into the darkness. But the window remained open. And on the floor beneath it lay a single photograph.Luke found it moments later.
He picked it up. His hands began to tremble. It showed Sam McCall. Young. Barely seventeen. Standing beside a woman. Evelyn Mercer. And between them...was a baby.
On the back, written in Sam's handwriting, were four words:
I promised to protect him.
Luke stared at the photograph. Then he turned it over again.
There was something else written beneath the first sentence.
Something that made his blood run cold.
But I could not protect her.
Outside, the river moved silently through the darkness.
And somewhere far beyond Belle Rive...a woman who had been missing for decades was still waiting for someone to tell her son the truth.