She Knelt in the Rain and Called Him Raymond

CHAPTER 2 - A BROTHER BURIED ALIVE

"My brother died three years ago, and you helped bury him."

The alley seemed to tilt.

Amelia turned toward the man by the car. Victor Hale stepped out carefully, his polished shoes avoiding the deepest puddles. His coat was dark cashmere. His face was handsome in the way polished knives were handsome.

Controlled.

Cold.

Only tonight, he was losing control.

Raymond had gone silent. His breathing was ragged. One hand pressed to his temple. The other still gripped the crest so hard the edges marked his skin.

Victor looked at him, then at Amelia. "You don't understand what you're doing."

"No," Amelia said. "I understand very well. You told me Raymond drowned off the Maine coast. You had me identify a watch. You had a funeral."

Victor's jaw tightened. "There was an accident. He was gone."

Raymond lifted his head. His eyes moved between them. "Maine," he said weakly, as if testing the word. "Water. A boat."

Amelia took one step toward him.

Victor's men appeared at the corner. Not bodyguards in neat rows, but men with the loose, dangerous stillness of people used to forcing outcomes.

Amelia's own guards shifted in front of her.

"You were engaged to me tonight," Victor said, his voice low now. "There are guests waiting. Reporters. Donors. People who matter. Walk away from this street, and I will explain everything privately."

"That is exactly what I will never do again," Amelia said.

Raymond looked down at the crest. Rainwater ran over his knuckles. "Why can't I remember her?" he asked.

Victor answered too fast. "Because she's lying."

Amelia flinched, but did not look away. "Tell him about St. Bartholomew's."

For the first time, Victor hesitated.

Raymond frowned. "Hospital," he murmured. "White hall. Smell of bleach."

Amelia's pulse jumped. "Yes. After the accident. I was there."

Victor stepped forward. "Enough."

Then an older woman pushed past the open car door from the back seat, her silver hair damp from the rain, one gloved hand gripping the frame.

She looked straight at Raymond and began to cry.

"Oh God," she said. "They told me I was too late again."

Amelia stared.

Because the woman was Eleanor Hale.

Victor and Raymond's mother.

And she whispered the one thing Victor had forbidden everyone to say.

"Your wife has been looking for you for years."