The Locket Around Her Neck
Chapter 02 - The Locket Around Her Neck
Beatrice stood so quickly that the pear bowl fell into her lap.
“Mr. Blackwood. You were not expected until Friday.”
“That was not my question.”
Emma stepped backward, holding the mop between them like a shield.
Adrian lowered his voice.
“What is your name?”
“Emma Reed.”
“Who brought you here?”
Emma looked toward Beatrice.
Beatrice answered for her.
“Her mother worked in the laundry department. After the woman passed away, I arranged temporary residence through the Blackwood Children’s Fund.”
Adrian’s eyes moved to the locket.
“May I see that?”
Emma closed her hand around it.
“My mother said never to give it away.”
“What was her name?”
“Lily Reed.”
Adrian stopped.
His missing sister’s full name was Lillian Rose Blackwood.
Lily Reed could have been an alias.
Beatrice laughed nervously.
“There must be thousands of Lily Reeds.”
Adrian asked Emma where her mother died.
“She didn’t,” Emma said. “Mrs. Voss says she ran away.”
Beatrice’s face tightened.
Adrian knelt several feet from the child.
“Can you open the locket?”
Emma pressed a small catch.
Inside was a photograph of Lillian Blackwood holding a newborn baby.
On the other side was a handwritten date.
Emma’s birthday.
Adrian looked up at Beatrice.
“You knew who she was.”
“I knew only what the foundation paperwork stated.”
Security chief Marcus Hale entered with a tablet.
“There is no Emma Reed in the Children’s Fund database.”
Beatrice reached for the telephone.
Marcus blocked her.
Adrian asked Emma when she last attended school.
“Before Christmas.”
It was June.
He asked where she slept.
Emma pointed toward the service corridor.
Beatrice insisted the child preferred the small room.
Adrian did not raise his voice.
“Marcus, secure every office, computer, and staff record. No one leaves the estate.”
Beatrice’s calm disappeared.
“You cannot detain your employees.”
“I can preserve evidence inside my own property.”
Emma looked at Adrian.
“Am I in trouble?”
“No.”
“Then why does everyone look afraid?”
May you like
Adrian glanced at Beatrice.
“Because someone expected you to remain invisible.”
