Chapter 14 - The Siege of Raven HillRonan broke every speed limit between Virginia and Ashport.
Sadie did not tell him to slow down.
Raven Hill appeared shortly before dawn.
The white crown painted across the iron gate was visible from the road.
But the estate had not been attacked.
That was worse.
Someone had walked close enough to leave the symbol and disappeared.
Eleanor met them inside.
Poppy launched herself at Sadie.
“You took forever.”
“It was six hours.”
“Forever.”
Sadie hugged her.
Ronan checked every security report.
No breach.
No unidentified vehicle.
No camera failure.
The crown had appeared between 2:11 and 2:14 a.m.
Three minutes.
Someone inside had helped.
Again.
Ronan gathered the remaining staff.
Twenty-three people.
Phones on the table.
Doors locked.
Poppy sat upstairs with Eleanor.
Sadie stood beside Ronan.
A year earlier, she would have felt like an intruder.
Now every person in the room knew exactly who she was.
Mrs. Cain.
More importantly, Ronan's equal.
Security discovered the answer before noon.
The paint matched maintenance supplies stored on the estate.
Someone had not brought the crown inside.
They had made it there.
Wesley found the missing stencil behind a furnace.
Beside it lay a phone.
June's.
Sadie stared.
June had returned from witness protection two months earlier.
She was now helping Eleanor manage the foundation.
Ronan found her in the greenhouse.
He placed the phone on the table.
June went pale.
“That isn't mine.”
“It has your fingerprints.”
“I lost it three days ago.”
“You didn't report it.”
“I thought Poppy took it.”
From behind a rosebush came a tiny voice.
“I only take Grandma's.”
Everyone turned.
Poppy emerged.
Sadie closed her eyes.
“What are you doing here?”
“Hiding.”
“Why?”
“You said stay upstairs.”
“That does not answer the question.”
“I didn't want to.”
Ronan rubbed his forehead.
The Cain family had survived organized crime.
Parenting might destroy him.
Poppy pointed at June's phone.
“I saw Mr. Wesley with that.”
Wesley was brought in.
He looked horrified.
“I found it in the pantry.”
“Why didn't you return it?” June demanded.
“I forgot.”
June stared.
“How do you forget a phone?”
“I lose my own phone while I'm holding it.”
“That is unfortunately believable,” Sadie muttered.
The phone contained one photograph.
Poppy.
Taken outside school.
Three days earlier.
Sadie's blood froze.
The Crown had been watching her daughter.
Ronan immediately withdrew Poppy from school.
Sadie objected.
“She needs a life.”
“She needs to be alive.”
“And locking her inside Raven Hill is not living.”
Ronan's voice hardened.
“This isn't negotiable.”
Sadie went still.
Everyone else became interested in the floor.
“Excuse me?”
Ronan realized too late.
“Sadie—”
“Our daughter is absolutely negotiable when the other person discussing her is her mother.”
“I meant—”
“I know what you meant.”
She walked away.
Poppy whispered to Eleanor:
“Daddy's in trouble.”
It was the first time she had called him Dad without correcting herself.
Ronan heard it.
He stood completely still.
Sadie heard it too.
She turned.
Poppy apparently realized what she had said.
Her face reddened.
Ronan crouched.
“You don't have to call me that.”
Poppy looked at her shoes.
“I know.”
“You can call me Ronan. Uncle Ronan. Terrible Pancake Man.”
Poppy smiled.
“Grandma calls you something worse.”
Eleanor suddenly became fascinated by a rose.
Ronan continued.
“You choose.”
Poppy looked up.
“Can I choose Dad sometimes?”
Something in Ronan broke open.
“Yes.”
His voice failed.
He tried again.
“Anytime.”
Poppy hugged him.
Sadie's anger disappeared for exactly twelve seconds.
Then she said:
“You're still sleeping on the sofa if you think you're making parenting decisions alone.”
Poppy pulled back.
“Dad's sleeping on the sofa?”
Ronan sighed.
“Apparently.”
“Can I build a fort?”
Sadie crossed her arms.
“No.”
Ronan looked at Poppy.
“Absolutely.”
Sadie stared at him.
“Wrong answer.”
For one evening, Raven Hill became almost normal again.
Then at 2:07 a.m., the phone recovered near the furnace activated by itself.
A video began playing.
Charles Hawthorne appeared.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Hello, Ronan.”
Ronan's face hardened.
Charles smiled.
“Your brother stole something from my family.”
May you like
He leaned closer.
“And I believe the little girl knows where it is.”
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