LOST AND FOUND - PART I

THE TRUTH

Chapter 2

At a quarter to three Joe was starting to panic; he couldn't find his father or his brother and time was almost up. He was standing in the lobby of the Eden House when he caught the aroma of the food being served in the restaurant to his right. That's when he realized he hadn't looked for Hoss there. Slapping a hand to his forehead, he ran in and spotted Hoss immediately. Darting past the host, he walked as quickly as he could up to his brother and grabbed him by the arm. Hoss looked up at him with a frown that quickly changed to a smile as he recognized Joe.

"Come on," Joe said, "we have to go."

"What?"

"We have to go," Joe repeated and started tugging on Hoss's arm. "I don't have time to explain, we just have to go right now if you ever want to have Adam back." At the mention of their older brother's name, Hoss stood and followed Joe willingly, but then stopped saying something about not having paid his bill.

"Don't worry about it, we're related to the owner."

"What?" Hoss said again.

Joe sighed, "Look, all I can tell you is Adam owns this hotel and he goes by the last name of Eden."

"You aren't makin' any sense, Joe," Hoss said as they stopped at the front desk.

His younger brother looked at the clock and was relieved to see it wasn't quite three yet. "Excuse me," he said to the clerk, "we have an appointment with Mr. Eden."

The man behind the desk turned to him with a cool, but correct smile and said, "Mr. Joseph Cartwright?"

At Joe's nod he motioned for them to follow. He went to a door behind the desk and unlocked it. He opened the door and stood to the side as they went in, came in himself, then closed the door and locked it behind them. They now faced two doors in the wall directly ahead of them. The clerk unlocked the one to the right and opened it to reveal a flight of stairs.

He stepped back and motioned Joe and Hoss through before he spoke again. "Please knock when you reach the top sir," he said quietly then stepped back and closed the door. Joe and Hoss had started up the stairs when they heard the lock click behind them.

"This whole thing is just too peculiar Joe."

"I know, you should have been there when I talked to him this morning. I have no doubt at all that he is Adam, but it was like he was wearing a mask. I could see the old Adam behind it, but he wouldn't let it out," he shook his head, "it's hard to explain, but you'll see."

They reached the top of the stairs then and Joe knocked.

The door was opened by a huge, tall man who looked them over carefully before stepping aside. Joe and Hoss passed through the door into a long hallway. Their escort locked the door behind them and as they followed him to the right and down the hallway they noticed that all the doors were shut, but they could hear activity going on inside.

When they reached the last door on the left the huge, bald man knocked then opened it, ushering them into an office. A small, frail-looking black woman rose from her seat behind a desk and gave them a sweet, sunny smile. She then turned her attention to the huge man still standing in the doorway. "Thank you Wes, I can take it from here."

The human mountain gave Hoss and Joe a suspicious look then said, "I'll be right outside if you need me," and he was gone, closing the door behind him firmly.

"Please excuse his unfriendly manner, Wes is very devoted to Mr. Eden and takes his protection very seriously." She smiled again, "We all do. Please have a seat, Mr. Eden's two-thirty appointment is running a little late."

The two men settled themselves on a short sofa and she was about to sit down again when a voice bellowed, "Marie!" from the inner office. She laughed softly as she went to the inner office door, opened it, and went in. Joe and Hoss couldn't help but notice that she had a pronounced limp. The door opened again right after her and a short, painfully thin man popped out. The door closed again and they could hear the two voices talking quietly for a moment.

Marie opened the door and came out. She went to the hallway door, opened it and leaned out saying, "Wes, would you mind escorting Mr. Grunthaner out of the building? Then Mr. Eden asks that you have a twenty-four-hour guard posted on the accounting office."

The little man went pale at that, then completely white when Wes appeared in the doorway. Putting his head down, he scuttled out and Marie closed the door.

She looked at Hoss and Joe then and said, "Please go in now." They stood, went through the inner door, and she closed it behind them.

Adam looked up as he tossed a sheaf of papers into a basket on the edge of his desk and said, "Well kid, you made it. I wasn't sure if you would." He looked up at Hoss who had stopped dead in his tracks, the big man's open, guileless face had everything he was thinking written plainly on it.

The man behind the desk cocked his head to the side and laughed, "I don't think the big guy here shares your certainty that I'm your brother. But you weren't kidding, we really don't look anything alike."

He stood and gestured for the two to have a seat, which they did in two leather armchairs placed at right angles to the desk. A knock sounded then and the black woman opened the door to look in.

"Yes, Marie?"

"Another Mr. Cartwright is on his way up."

"Good, please send him right in when he gets here."

"That must be Pa, but how...?" Joe's voice trailed off.

Adam gave him a knowing smile, "I figured you might have a little trouble finding both of them, so I had some of my people watch for him to send him up if he returned."

They heard Marie speaking to someone and the door opened. Ben walked in with a puzzled look on his face, glanced at his two seated sons, but stopped dead in the same way Hoss had when he saw Adam. He started to speak, but Adam put up a hand to stop him.

"No. Don't say anything," he said as he slowly stood, staring at Ben intently.

He slowly came out from behind the desk, his narrowing eyes still locked on Ben's face. "Ash Hollow," he said and stopped moving. Shaking his head slightly as though trying to clear it he took a few more steps forward, "You had black hair then."

Raising a hand to the back of his neck, Adam clenched his teeth and closed his eyes. "Someone just died, a woman." He raised blazing eyes to look at Ben again and took a few more steps forward.

"Her name was Ingrid...no, it was Inger," Turning his head to the side he looked at Hoss. "She was your mother," he said then he grimaced, putting both hands to either side of his head.

Ben stepped forward and took hold of Adam by the shoulders to steady him and both Hoss and Joe had gotten to their feet.

Adam stood there with his head hanging and his eyes closed as he shook with pain. His shaking soon eased and he opened his eyes to look at Joe, "Damn kid, you were telling me the truth. I can't believe it."

Ben still had a tight grip on Adam's shoulders and pulled him into an embrace. "Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?"

They were all startled when they heard Adam making an odd, choking sound against his father's shoulder. When he leaned back in his father's arms they could see he was laughing and shaking his head.

"Now why does that sound so familiar?" he said as he slanted a sideways look at Joe. He stepped back out of Ben's arms and went behind the desk, took a piece of paper, and quickly wrote on it as he bellowed, "Marie!"

The woman popped through the door and limped into the room as Adam moved to meet her halfway. Handing her the folded note he asked, "Theodora does have hours at the hospital today, doesn't she?" Marie nodded. "Please ask Willie to take this note over to her as quickly as he can."

She smiled at the other three men with curious eyes, then went quietly out the door.

Adam shook his head again as he came up to his father. He took Ben by the arm and led him to a small sofa against the wall. Joe came to sit next to his him so Adam could take the facing chair. Once he was seated Adam rubbed both temples and said, "I can't believe it, it's been six years without a clue, not an inkling as to who I was, and now this."

Ben looked at him with concern, "Is it still that painful?"

"You could say that," his eldest son said through clenched teeth and put his head down to rub the back of his neck with both hands. In a minute he looked up and took a deep breath. "And that was only a few memories. I think I might have passed out if there had been many more."

Ben turned to Joe with a questioning look.

"Uh...I was just walking down the street this morning Pa, and caught a glimpse of a face through a window that looked familiar," Joe gestured helplessly, "and there he was."

Adam sat up, seemingly almost recovered, when the door flew open and a petite, black-haired woman rushed in. The four men automatically stood. "What's wrong? What happened?" she asked, grabbing Adam and went on tip-toe to look intently into his eyes while trying to push up his right eyelid.

"Nothing is wrong, I'm fine," he chuckled as he pulled his head back out of her reach.

"When I got your note I thought something had happened to you," she said anxiously as she tipped her heart-shaped face up to him.

"Something has, but it's not a medical emergency," he said then trapped her hands in his. "Now stop that. We have company," he said as he nodded toward the other men.

The quick glance she gave Ben turned into a double take. She looked back and forth between the father and son a few times then slowly walked up to the white-haired man, her eyes never leaving his face. When she reached him she gently put a hand on either side of his head and turned it to one side, and then the other.

"You're his father, aren't you?"

He smiled, nodded down at her, and was knocked backward a step when she burst into tears and threw her arms around him.

Adam laughed as he came forward to pry his wife off his father. He put his arms around her and stood there patting her on the back, giving her a chance to pull herself together. When the storm seemed to be over he reached into a pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, which he handed to her.

As he put his hands on her shoulders, he looked down into her face and asked, "Are you alright now?"

She nodded then hid her face in his chest, 'I'm so embarrassed, I've never done anything like that before."

"I know," Adam shook his head as he looked at Joe. "In case you were wondering, this is the surgeon I told you about who brought me back. She's also my wife, Theadora."

All three men looked at her in surprise and when she looked up Adam turned her around to face them, keeping his hands on her shoulders. "Thea, this is my father Benjamin Cartwright." She smiled sheepishly at him and nodded. Ben smiled back.

Her husband turned her to the right, "And this is my brother Hoss Cartwright," she gave Hoss her hand and smiled up into his face, "You must have had a different mother," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," Hoss said shyly and she patted his hand.

Adam turned her to the left, "And this is my youngest brother, Joseph Cartwright," he said leaning down and speaking low into her ear. "He's the one who found me."

She moved away from Adam, stepped right up to Joe and put her arms around him and squeezed him as hard as she could. Her grip was so strong she startled a small grunt out of him.

"Thank you, Joe, I'll be grateful to you for as long as I live," she said then stepped back to stand next to Adam. She smiled up into her husband's face, but the smile faded when she noticed how pale he was. He knew she was about to make another attempt to examine him so he distracted her by saying, "Don't you think it's time for you to head home?" His tactic worked.

"Oh, dear Lord, you're right! I have so much to do before dinner." She rushed to the door, but looked back at Adam, "You are bringing them home with you?"

"Of course," he responded and she gave him a pleased grin. "Have they been staying here?"

At his nod she said, "I'll tell Marie to have their things moved to the house," then she slipped out the door. The room seemed strangely quiet after she was gone.

"Hmmm...now that's something I haven't seen before," Adam mused, stroking his beard.

"What?" Joe asked.

"I've never seen her that overcome."

Ben couldn't believe it, "Never?"

"No never. I mean I've seen her cry before, but never completely lose control like that," he grinned wickedly. "I just might be able to have a little fun with this."

"How long have you been hitched, Adam?" Hoss asked.

"Five years as of tomorrow," Adam answered, "and you've arrived just in time for the celebration."

"Did you invite a lot of people?" Joe asked.

"Only everyone - employees, friends, business acquaintances. I think everyone Thea has ever met. She's big-hearted that way."

"And enthusiastic," Ben laughed.

"Yeah, that too," Adam agreed. "I think it is safe for me to leave now. Thea's probably made it home already, so I don't have to worry she'll throw me down on the floor and try to give me a complete physical."

His newfound family members nodded, smiling at that mental picture and Ben asked, "What did you mean when you said she was the surgeon that brought you back?"

"Yeah Adam, show Pa your scars," Joe was being helpful as usual.

"No. I'm not going to take my shirt off here. Marie would be scandalized and she would know since she's listening at the door," he said and they heard muffled laughter retreating.

Adam shook his head, grinning. "She's a good secretary, but nosey, as I guess all good secretaries need to be." He opened the office door to usher his family out. Marie was gone.

"I couldn't help but notice the trouble she has walking," Ben said.

"She's been that way since childhood," Adam responded. "I still can't believe no one would hire her just because of that. She's highly intelligent, a good worker, and very loyal. But their loss is my gain."

As they left the outer office they saw Wes was still in the hall. "Do you need anything Mr. Eden?" he said as he hurried up to lock the door.

Adam clapped the huge man on the back, "Wes, it looks like you won't be calling me Mr. Eden anymore. My last name is Cartwright and this is my father, Ben and my two brothers, Hoss and Joe."

The guard turned to Ben and gave him a surprisingly beautiful smile along with his hand. "Pleased to meet you sir," he said and nodded at Joe and Hoss. The ferocious look he had given them before was gone.

"I won't be in tomorrow but you are coming tomorrow night, aren't you?"

Wes smiled, "You bet, I wouldn't dare not come; your missus would track me down and make me sorry. Especially since I'm bringing my intended and Thea wants to meet her."

Joe whispered to Hoss, "That I have got to see." Hoss gave him a quick frown of warning to behave.

"Did you escort Grunthaner out and put a guard on the accounting office?" Adam asked.

"Yes sir," Wes responded, "what did he do?"

"He's been embezzling."

"After everything you've done for him?" Wes's ferocious look was back.

"I'm sorry to say he has, and there is no doubt," Adam shrugged. "Finding the evidence took a while, but I eventually did."

"I never liked that weasel," Wes said.

"I know, and it looks like your instincts were right, but I felt I had to give him a chance. See you tomorrow night," Adam said and led the way down to that end of the hall until they were standing in front of a blank wall. His family exchanged puzzled glances.

Adam grinned and moved a piece of the molding aside to reveal a keyhole. When he inserted the key and turned it they heard a loud click and the whole wall swung back. "This hotel is full of unusual features," was all he said by way of explanation.

He led them through, then pushed the door-wall back in place. Standing on a landing they could see a staircase that ended at another blank wall, which also swung aside when Adam unlocked it. Then they entered a utility area with an outside door. When they finally emerged on the side street, a gleaming black coach pulled up in front of them.

Adam opened the door and waited while his family climbed in. He looked up at the driver and said, "Straight home please, David," then climbed in and closed the door.