THE SON THEY BURIED WAS THEIR ONLY HEIR

Chapter Sixty Seven: The Names They Buried

The underground door shook again.

Samuel stepped away from the table.

“They're here.”

Damian looked at the narrow passage behind them.

“Is there another exit?”

Samuel nodded.

“But it won't take all of us.”

Benedict looked at the document in his hand.

“Then we'll make one.”

Daniel glanced at him.

“With what?”

Benedict looked toward the stone wall.

“The same thing they used to hide this place.”

Samuel's expression changed.

“You understand.”

“Not completely.”

Benedict placed his hand against the wall.

“But I'm starting to.”

A faint click sounded beneath his fingers.

A section of stone moved.

Behind it was a narrow opening.

Damian stared.

“You found another passage?”

Samuel smiled faintly.

“Your mother would have been proud.”

The underground door shook again.

This time, a crack appeared across its center.

Samuel gathered the remaining papers.

“Go.”

Benedict looked at him.

“You're coming.”

“I have to.”

“Then move.”

They entered the passage.

Samuel closed the stone panel behind them.

A few seconds later, the underground door burst open.

Men rushed inside.

But the chamber was empty.

The hidden passage led them beneath the old gardens.

They emerged inside a small abandoned greenhouse.

Rain struck the glass roof.

Damian looked around.

“We're outside the manor.”

Samuel nodded.

“Far enough from the attackers.”

Benedict removed the document from his coat.

Then he looked at the second file Samuel had given him.

“The names.”

Samuel's face became serious.

“Yes.”

Daniel stood beside Benedict.

“Who is first?”

Samuel hesitated.

“The first name is the reason your family survived this long.”

Benedict opened the file.

The first page contained a single name.

Victor Ashcroft.

Damian froze.

“My father?”

Samuel nodded.

“He helped your grandfather.”

Benedict looked at him.

“How?”

“He signed the altered succession documents.”

Damian's expression hardened.

“But he also protected us.”

“He did both.”

Benedict stared at the name.

“Why?”

“Fear.”

Daniel looked at Samuel.

“Fear of what?”

“Your grandfather.”

Samuel paused.

“And fear of losing you.”

Daniel's eyes narrowed.

“So Victor wasn't the architect of this.”

“No.”

“He was a participant.”

“Yes.”

Benedict closed the file.

“What about Eleanor?”

Samuel didn't answer.

Damian looked at him.

“What did my mother do?”

Samuel's expression softened.

“She made one terrible decision.”

“What decision?”

“She signed the second succession.”

Damian looked stunned.

“We already knew that.”

“You know she signed it.”

Samuel looked at him.

“You don't know why.”

Damian waited.

“She believed it would protect both children.”

Benedict's eyes narrowed.

“And did it?”

“No.”

Samuel's voice became quiet.

“It gave your grandfather another reason to hunt them.”

Daniel looked away.

Benedict turned another page.

The next name appeared.

Magnus Hale.

His expression hardened.

Samuel pointed to the file.

“Magnus wasn't part of the original succession.”

“Then why is his name here?”

“Because he discovered it.”

Daniel frowned.

“When?”

“Years later.”

“And he decided to use it.”

“Yes.”

Benedict looked at the final page.

There was another name.

But it had been covered by black ink.

“Who is that?”

Samuel shook his head.

“Not yet.”

Benedict looked at him.

“You just gave us a list of names and now you're telling me one is off limits?”

“Because that person is still inside your family.”

Damian's expression changed.

“You know who it is.”

“Yes.”

“Then tell us.”

Samuel shook his head.

“Not until you understand what the name means.”

Benedict closed the file.

“What does it mean?”

Samuel looked at both brothers.

“It is the person who inherited the authority your grandfather believed he had destroyed.”

Daniel frowned.

“The second succession?”

“No.”

Samuel's voice dropped.

“The original authority.”

Silence.

Benedict looked at the sealed name again.

“Is this person the Architect?”

Samuel didn't answer.

Daniel looked at him.

“Then who are they?”

Samuel turned toward the rain-covered glass.

“Someone who has been waiting for the two of you to return.”

A phone suddenly rang.

Everyone froze.

Damian reached into his pocket.

His screen showed an unknown number.

He answered.

“Hello?”

Nothing.

Then a voice spoke.

“Damian.”

He recognized it immediately.

His face changed.

“Father?”

Victor's voice came through weakly.

“Listen to me.”

Damian stepped away from the others.

“What happened?”

“I don't have much time.”

“Where are you?”

“Don't come back to the manor.”

Damian's eyes narrowed.

“Why?”

Victor took a breath.

“Because they have Eleanor.”

Damian froze.

“What?”

“The attackers took her.”

Benedict immediately looked up.

Damian put the phone on speaker.

Victor continued.

“Magnus sent a message.”

“What does he want?”

Silence.

Then Victor said,

“He wants the original succession.”

Benedict's expression hardened.

“We have it.”

Victor's voice changed.

“No.”

Everyone stared at the phone.

“You have a copy.”

Benedict looked at Samuel.

Samuel's face had gone pale.

Victor continued.

“The original was never in the manor.”

Benedict's eyes narrowed.

“Then where is it?”

Victor's answer came quietly.

“With the person your mother trusted most.”

Samuel closed his eyes.

Benedict stared at him.

“You know who that is.”

Samuel didn't respond.

Damian's voice became urgent.

“Father, where are you?”

Victor whispered,

“Find the person before Magnus does.”

The call ended.

Damian stared at the screen.

Then Samuel finally spoke.

“The original succession is not the most dangerous thing anymore.”

Benedict looked at him.

“What is?”

Samuel looked toward the manor.

“The person holding it.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Damian lowered the phone.

“My mother has been taken.”

Benedict looked at Samuel.

“You know where the original succession is.”

Samuel nodded.

“Yes.”

“Who has it?”

“I cannot tell you.”

Benedict's expression hardened.

“Then we're out of time for secrets.”

Samuel met his eyes.

“You're right.”

He reached into his coat and removed an old photograph.

He handed it to Benedict.

The photograph showed Evelyn standing beside a woman.

Damian recognized her immediately.

“That's Grace.”

Samuel nodded.

“But she wasn't the person Evelyn trusted most.”

Benedict studied the photograph.

Behind Evelyn and Grace stood another figure.

An older man.

His face was partly hidden.

Daniel pointed.

“Who is that?”

Samuel's voice dropped.

“The original Witness.”

Benedict looked at him.

“Then Grace wasn't the first?”

“No.”

“She was the second.”

Samuel nodded.

“And the man in this photograph was the first.”

Damian stared.

“You said the first Witness was still alive.”

Samuel shook his head.

“No.”

Benedict looked at him.

“Then where is he?”

Samuel turned the photograph over.

Three words had been written on the back.

He never left.

Benedict frowned.

“What does that mean?”

Samuel looked at the manor.

“He became part of the family.”

Silence.

Daniel's expression changed.

“You mean…”

“Yes.”

Samuel nodded.

“The original Witness is an Ashcroft.”

Damian's face went pale.

“Which one?”

Samuel didn't answer.

Instead, he pointed toward the photograph.

“Look at Evelyn's hand.”

Benedict examined it.

She was holding a small ring.

A dark stone surrounded by silver.

Benedict recognized it.

“My grandfather wore that.”

Samuel nodded.

“He wasn't the Witness.”

“Then who?”

“The man beside him.”

Benedict looked again.

Then froze.

The face was clearer now.

Not because the photograph had changed.

Because Benedict suddenly recognized him.

“I've seen him.”

Daniel frowned.

“Where?”

Benedict looked at Samuel.

“In the old family portraits.”

Samuel nodded.

“Exactly.”

Damian's eyes widened.

“Who is he?”

Samuel finally answered.

“Edmund Ashcroft.”

Benedict's expression changed.

“Grandfather's younger brother.”

“Yes.”

Daniel stared at the photograph.

“He's supposed to have died before we were born.”

Samuel nodded.

“That is the lie.”

Benedict folded the photograph.

“Where is he now?”

Samuel looked toward the manor.

“I don't know.”

Damian shook his head.

“You said he never left.”

“I said the Witness never left.”

Samuel's expression became grim.

“Edmund disappeared from the records.”

Benedict understood.

“Like us.”

“Yes.”

A distant siren sounded.

Jonathan looked toward the road.

“We can't stay here.”

Benedict nodded.

“Then we find Eleanor first.”

Samuel stopped him.

“Not yet.”

Benedict turned.

“Why?”

“Because Magnus expects you to go after her.”

“She's my mother.”

“And that's exactly why you're vulnerable.”

Benedict's jaw tightened.

Daniel stepped beside him.

“We're not leaving her.”

Samuel looked at the brothers.

“Then don't go to Magnus.”

“Where do we go?”

Samuel pointed toward the old road leading away from the manor.

“The place where your mother hid the first clue.”

Damian frowned.

“Where?”

“The Ashcroft cemetery.”

Benedict stared at him.

“The cemetery?”

Samuel nodded.

“Your grandfather buried more than people there.”

Daniel looked at Benedict.

“Another secret.”

Benedict gave a faint, humorless smile.

“Apparently, that's all this family knows how to do.”

They started toward the car.

Then Benedict stopped.

He looked back at the manor.

Smoke still rose above the roof.

Somewhere inside that house, Eleanor was being held.

And somewhere beyond it, Magnus was waiting.

Benedict tightened his grip around the photograph.

“We find my mother.”

Daniel nodded.

“And then?”

Benedict looked at him.

“Then we find the original succession.”

Samuel followed them.

“And after that?”

Benedict's eyes hardened.

“We find out why our family spent twenty-five years trying to bury the truth.”

They drove into the rain.

Behind them, Ashcroft Manor disappeared into the darkness.

But inside the east wing, a single room remained untouched.

On its wall hung an old portrait of Edmund Ashcroft.

Beneath it was a fresh message.

THE TWO HEIRS HAVE RETURNED.

And beneath that, another line appeared.

NOW THE WITNESS MUST CHOOSE.