A Secret Uncovered

by Edward Kendrick

  “I’ve noticed. They should be ready. I’m having a beer. Do you want one?”

  Ric did, and got two bottles from the fridge while Theo put dinner on the table.

  Once they were seated and had made inroads into their meal, Ric asked, “How did it go with your mom?”

  “Let’s put it this way. She knew almost before I said anything that we spent the night together. She said I had—” he rolled his eyes, “—an afterglow.”

  Ric laughed. “Moms are good at reading things like that.”

  “Her words, almost exactly. That’s when I knew for certain that I’m not going to tell her anything. She’s my mother in all the ways that count. I’m not going to ruin what we have.” He sighed. “I just pray some reporter doesn’t decide to go digging for a story and discovers my link to my uncle or grandfather.”

  “If that was going to happen, I think it would have already. The Chicago news outlets have mentioned that Franklin had a daughter who disappeared years ago, although they haven’t said why. Probably because they don’t know.”

  “Thank God.”

  Ric paused to finish his meal before saying, “Kane told me several women have come forward, claiming to be Lilliana. The lawyers, or I guess the one handling Franklin’s will, is requiring that they to submit to DNA tests.”

  “That should eliminate ninety percent of them because they know they aren’t her. I wonder if one of them really is though. I almost hope not.”

  “I get that,” Ric replied, patting his arm. “Which brings up another thing. Kane says you have to get in touch with the lawyer. You are Franklin’s heir, or more to the point, your great-grandfather’s heir.”

  “I know. I guess I’d better. I don’t want him hiring someone to find me.” Theo smiled wryly. “He probably has a raft of detectives on his payroll who are good at that. If one of them is as good as you…”

  “No one is,” Ric replied with a grin.

  Theo laughed. “No ego there. Still, it would be better if I made the first move. I do not want them finding Mom.”

  “Agreed. Kane sent me the information on the lawyers, with the one handling the will highlighted.” Ric took the list from his pocket, handing it to Theo.

  “Thanks, I think.” He tapped the highlighted name. “I’ll email him tonight. Hell, I’ll beat him to the punch and tell him I’ll get a DNA test and have my doctor send him the results.”

  “A good idea. Tell you what, you do that now, the email, while I clear the table and do the dishes.”

  “You don’t have to,” Theo protested.

  “You cooked, I clean up. I think it’s an unwritten rule or something.”

  “Right…not. But thanks.” Theo leaned in to kiss him before going to get his laptop.

  After a few minutes, during which he debated what to say to the lawyer, Theo went for the basics.

  ‘Dear Sir: My name is Theodore James Speer, and I’m adopted. According to the adoption certificate, my birth name was Thomas Jeffery something. The last name was blacked out, as was any information which could lead to my birth mother other than that her first and middle names were Lilliana Nichole. I believe, from what I’ve learned, that her surname was Chadwick and that she was the daughter of Franklin Chadwick.’ He stopped to read it over, wondering if the lawyer would think he was trying to work a scam of some sort.

  He jumped when Ric said from behind him, “Tell him you’re willing to submit to a DNA test. Also, don’t let him know your last name. Not until you’re able to talk to him in person.”

  “Why?” Then Theo got it. “Because he might do his due diligence and then get in contact with Mom.”

  “Exactly.” Ric came around, resting his butt on the edge of the desk. “Tell him you hired Moore Investigations to find your birth mother and give him my name as the person to contact if he has any questions.”

  “All right.” He added, and deleted, what Ric suggested. “I should give him at least my phone number so he can contact me.”

  “I’m sure he’ll email back. Probably not until tomorrow. We have a couple of disposable phones at the agency we use in emergencies.” When Theo looked at him in question, Ric said, “Don’t ask. Anyway, I’ll get one of them in the morning and you can give the number to the lawyer when he replies to your email. That way he won’t be able to trace you. Then, you can set up a meeting, either in person if he’s willing to come out here or pay for you to go out there, or Skype with him. You can do that on my computer at work.”

  “That’ll let him know I live here,” Theo pointed out.

  “Since you want to keep him from getting in touch with your mom to confirm what we tell him, you let him know there are dozens, no hundreds of lawyers who would love to help you deal with your inheritance, and make a small fortune in fees in the process if he communicates with anyone other than you or me.”

  Theo smiled dryly. “That should work.”

  * * * *

  It did work. The lawyer, Ira Varnham, replied to Theo’s email on Friday morning. It was long, filled with legalese, but when it came down to it, the man insisted that Theo get a DNA test, immediately, and have the doctor or lab send the sample to the lab Varnham used, where it would be analyzed and compared with Fredrick Chadwick’s. If the results proved that Theo was indeed Chadwick’s grandson, then the lawyer would set up a meeting with him.

  At Ric’s prompting, Theo got in touch with a lab in the city, stressed the importance of his request, and was able to go in over his lunch hour for them to take swabs from the inside of his mouth. They promised to overnight them to Varnham’s lab, for an additional fee.

  “I’d better get some money out of this,” Theo grumbled Friday evening, soon after he arrived at Ric’s house. “They charged me an arm and a leg.”

  Ric hugged him, laughing. “You will. And then you can support me in the style I’d like to become accustomed to.”

  “Gold digger,” Theo muttered. “And do not say you were teasing. I know you were.”

  Theo didn’t hear from Varnham until Tuesday. In the interim, he and Ric spent time with Ethan, who had been released from the hospital, under strict instructions that he was to take things easy until his checkup the following Monday.

  “Susan barely lets me walk from the bedroom to living room without hovering to make sure I don’t overdo it,” he told them in feigned disgust. He also offered Theo some advice. “Once the lawyer is certain you are who you say you are, he’s going to want to help you handle your inheritance.”

  “I figured as much.”

  “I know you said you plan on donating it to various charities, which is a wonderful idea, but keep say five percent. Find an investment counselor; I’m sure the lawyer can recommend one or two. Have them invest the monies in something that will give you a steady second income if you want or use it as cushion for retirement or emergencies.”

  Theo glanced at Ric, getting a nod from him. “I suppose you’re right,” he replied to Ethan. “It’s…After all the trouble the money caused, two deaths, almost three if my uncle had succeeded in killing you, I’m not so sure I want anything to do with it.”

  “You have to be practical,” Ric said. “You don’t have to touch it if you don’t want to, but knowing it’s there if you need it? I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

  “All right, I’ll take your advice, both of yours.” He squeezed Ric’s thigh. “If nothing else, we can take a fantastic vacation. I know this travel planner who’s damned good at his job.”

  “I like that idea, a lot.”

  “You would,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “Anything to get out of doing background checks.”

  Ric grinned. “You know me well.”

  * * * *

  “He replied,” Theo announced Tuesday morning after checking his email while Ric fixed breakfast. “He accepts that my DNA proves I am Franklin’s grandson—”

  “Big of him,” Ric said, coming into the living room to see the email.

  “I know,”
Theo replied with a bark of laughter. “He wants me to come to Chicago to meet with him. I’m supposed to let him know when.”

  “That may present a problem. What will you tell your mom?”

  “Nothing. One of our new clients is having a destination wedding in Antigua, so of course Mom’s going to be there to make certain everything goes according to plan. She leaves tomorrow morning.” He chuckled. “I made certain she has everything she needs, including two copies of the itinerary, one stored in our cloud program. That way she can’t leave it behind, like she did the last time.” Theo leaned back, looking at Ric. “One ditzy moment on her part and look what happened.”

  “A hell of a lot more than you expected,” Ric replied.

  Theo nodded. “Mostly bad—and something wonderful. I met you. I wouldn’t change that, no matter what.”

  Rather than reply verbally, Ric kissed him. Not that Theo was in the least bit surprised. If it had been an hour earlier, he would have suggested they return to bed. As it was, they had to get to work.

  “Make your reservations,” Ric suggested. “Then let him know when you’ll arrive.”

  Theo did, eating with one hand when Ric brought him a plate of scrambled eggs and sausage. “The best I could do was one that leaves at nine-thirty tomorrow morning and gets in at one, which actually works well since Mom leaves at eight-fifteen. I promised to take her to the airport.”

  Ric grinned. “Meaning you have to get up in the middle of the night?”

  “Don’t even go there,” Theo grumbled in reply. “At least she leaves from Concourse A, and I go out from B, so I won’t run into her once she’s through security.”

  “I was going to offer to drive you to the airport, but I guess not.”

  “Nope. You get to sleep in, you lucky bastard.”

  “That would be me. What time will you be home?”

  “I figure the meeting can’t take all afternoon, but just in case, I booked a flight leaving at nine-ten tomorrow night. It arrives here about a quarter to eleven so with luck I’ll be home by midnight, and in bed by twelve-fifteen.” He emailed Mr. Varnham his itinerary; surprised to get an immediate reply that the lawyer would have someone pick him up at the airport. “Money talks,” he said wryly.

  “Always. Let me have your spare key, please,” Ric said.

  “Sure, why?” Theo replied at he took it out of his wallet.

  Ric winked. “So I can keep the bed warm for you.”

  Theo laughed, “Only you,” and then sobered. “I mean that. You and only you.”

  “I know,” Ric replied softly.

  Theo glanced at the clock after giving him a kiss. “We’d better get a move on.”

  “My place or here, tonight?” Ric asked as they got ready to leave.

  “Dinner out, then we’ll decide.”

  “Works for me.”

  They ended up back at Theo’s after dinner, only because he had to leave so early the next morning to pick up his mother. After a languid bout of making love, they were asleep by nine, with the alarm set for what Ric said was “The ungodly” hour of four in the morning.

  * * * *

  Theo unlocked the door to his apartment and quietly opened it, not wanting to wake Ric if he had, as he’d said he would, spent the evening there instead of his own place. The living room was dark, which wasn’t a problem since he knew his apartment by heart. Dropping his messenger bag on the sofa, he tiptoed to the bedroom, silently opening the door.

  “You’re back,” Ric said sleepily as he turned on the bedside light.

  “Why are you awake? It’s well after midnight, thanks to my flight being delayed.” He sat down on the edge of the bed, trying not to yawn.

  “You’re not as sneaky as you think you are,” Ric replied with a smile. “So tell all. How did it go?”

  Theo rolled his eyes. “Fine, I guess, once I got there. I had a small panic attack before that happened. I swear, do flights ever leave on time?”

  “Um, sometimes. Why?”

  “I got Mom to the airport with plenty of time to spare; only to find out her flight wasn’t going to leave until half an hour after it was scheduled. So of course she decided we should grab something to eat before she went through the check point. I’m sitting there, trying to enjoy my breakfast, so antsy I was afraid she’d wonder what was going on. Thankfully, she didn’t. I took her down to the check-in line, which moved pretty fast, said ‘good-bye’, blah, blah, then found a place where I could watch while they did their thing. The second she was through, I got at the end of the line, fingers crossed she didn’t look back.”

  “Oh boy. She didn’t, I hope.”

  “Nope. When I was through I made a mad dash for the train, and from there to my gate. Made it with minutes to spare.”

  “Poor you.” Ric gave him a hug. “Did things go smoothly with the lawyer?”

  Theo snickered. “Once he got that I meant it when I said I didn’t want the money. Well, I did say I’d take five percent like Ethan suggested. Damn, Ric, that’s still a hell of a lot of money. Do you have a clue how much five percent of a billion is?”

  “Not really, so tell me.”

  “Fifty million,” Theo whispered.

  “Holy shit!”

  “Yeah, I know. So I told Mr. Varnham I’d settle for a million. He thought I was fucking out of my mind. Okay, he didn’t say that in so many words but his expression did.”

  “Still a hell of a lot of money,” Ric replied, grinning. “Are you going to set us up in the life-style that would give us?”

  “Come on, Ric, get real. How would I explain that to Mom, for starters? I’m going to stash it away for emergencies.”

  “With the help of a financial planner?”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Theo sighed. “One the lawyer recommended. Who knew money could be such a problem?”

  “Not me, that’s for sure. Is Varnham handling the distribution of the rest to whatever charities you decided on?”

  “Yes. Once he got past the fact he thought I was insane, we chose several and he suggested that he funnel the money into them at so much per year. That way it doesn’t become a big news story, which for sure as hell I don’t want.”

  “I bet. He’s probably happy you accepted his idea. It means he’ll make a nice little bundle handling everything.”

  “Like I care? I’m quite happy to be out from under, as it were. Dealing with a million’s bad enough, and it will be a million. He explained what all was involved, which flew right over my head.” Theo held his hand a couple of inched over his head, laughing. “Anyway, he’ll have his financial people set everything up, and any taxes I owe will come out of my inheritance, I guess. From the number of papers I had to sign, they’d better.”

  Ric frowned. “Did you read them?”

  “I scanned, to be certain none of them turned everything over to him, which they didn’t. I know, I should have had a lawyer with me, but…” Theo shrugged. “It’s done with. He, or someone, will deposit a million in my bank account sometime soon, and that’s that.” He yawned again, prompting Ric to tell him to get undressed and come to bed, which he did.

  “You know,” Ric said when Theo curled next to him, “I love you, and it has nothing to do with you being rich as Croesus.”

  “Better not,” Theo murmured before he realized what Ric had said. “You do?”

  “Yep. I know I never said it in so many words, but I do.”

  “Good, because I love you, even though you’re—” he grinned, “—as poor as a church mouse.”

  “Brat,” Ric grumbled before they kissed. Things might have progressed from there if it hadn’t been so late, and Theo hadn’t been exhausted. So much so, in fact, that he fell asleep seconds after the kiss ended, much to Ric’s amusement, and some frustration.

  They made up for it the following morning and then spent the weekend making plans for their immediate future. That involved Theo convincing Ric that they should consider living together. Not that it took all that much p
rodding. By the time Theo’s mom returned to the city, they were happily ensconced in Ric’s house.

  “You think I’m in the least bit surprised?” Donna asked when he told her, her first day back at work. “I’m your mother; I can read you like a book.”

  Theo rolled his eyes. “Well, no, but you could have acted as if you were.”

  “Oh, my God,” she retorted, clapping her hand to her chest. “My only child, living in sin with an older man. How will I explain it to everyone?”

  After he stopped laughing, Theo hugged her hard. “I love you, Mom. As crazy as you are, I do.”

  “I love you,” she replied. “And Ric, even though I’m still getting to know him. He makes you happy. That’s enough for me.”

  “He does. I think I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have both of you in my life.”

  “No,” she said, cupping his face with her hands. “I’m the lucky one to have a son like you.” She kissed his cheek and then said, “Now, about your house-warming party. Who should we invite?”

  “Mother,” Theo growled. “No one. It’s Ric’s house. It’s already been warmed.”

  Grinning, she replied, “I’m sure it has. Okay, back to work, and the Grangers. Have they settled on a destination, yet?”

  “I wish.” Theo shook his head in exasperation and they got down to the business of running their business.

  * * * *

  In a house in small English town, a man turned from his computer, saying, “Anna, you might want to look at this.”

  Getting up from the sofa, she crossed the room to look over his shoulder. When she finished reading the news story she sighed. “I can’t say I’m unhappy about their deaths, because it would be a lie. I’m also not terribly surprised at how they died. They were horrible men.” She smiled ruefully. “I shouldn’t say that because they are my family, but they were.”

  Spinning his chair around, he pulled her into his lap. “The story mentions you, but there’s nothing about your son.”

  “Well, there wouldn’t be as no one who counts knows about him except you and me.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Now that it’s safe…”