She asked no questions in front of Lily.
Instead, she simply opened her arms.
“Come here, sweetheart,” she said, and Lily ran into her grandmother’s embrace and held on.
Marcus waited until Lily had settled into the guest room, occupied with drawing at the little desk, before walking into the kitchen with Evelyn.
“I need you to hear something.”
He placed his phone on the counter and played the recording.
Evelyn listened without interrupting.
Marcus watched her expression move from confusion, to horror, and finally into a cold stillness that reminded him of Hannah whenever someone she loved was threatened.
“Who is Julian?” Evelyn asked when the recording ended.
Marcus had spent part of the drive searching through his own emails.
He unlocked his phone and showed her.
Julian Vance-Montague.
Senior real estate consultant and managing director at Blue Horizon Asset Management.
The same firm Sarah had recommended to Marcus four months earlier, presenting it as the ideal solution for the costly, mostly empty Vineyard estate.
