"Drake!"
He turned quickly at the sound of Grace's voice. She ran up to him, out of breath and leaning on his arm once she reached his side. For a split second, he thought she might be changing her mind about everything. However, he noticed an urgency and traded hopefulness for concern.
"What's the matter?"
"Mr. Warbucks…" she breathed. "Annie… All of you…"
"I beg your pardon?"
Another breath. "I just overheard Commissioner Doyle and Mrs. Kelly… but that's just it… her name isn't Mrs. Kelly."
He grabbed her arm. "What on earth are you talking about, Miss Farrell?"
"If I'm not mistaken, her name is Florence Doyle."
"As in…" he said, putting two and two together.
Grace nodded. "Mrs. Kelly is Commissioner Doyle's daughter."
Shaking his head, Drake said, "I don't understand. Why would they pretend they aren't related?"
"I don't know. I don't trust this. I knew something had been off all along. The Commissioner treated Mrs. Kelly worse than she treated me. It didn't make sense that she'd be okay with her as the potential Mrs. Warbucks. Not that Mr. Warbucks expressed any interest in me, but Annie did and she was vehemently against the idea. When they realized I'd overheard they stopped talking. I tried to listen in, but I couldn't make out everything they were saying. I suspect they're up to no good. Why not tell the truth? Why the fake identities? Mr. Warbucks and Annie could potentially be in danger. We've got to stop them!"
"But how? It's our word against theirs. Commissioner Doyle is in a position of power."
"That's the problem."
"We should start by telling Mr. Warbucks."
"No," she protested. "I'm not sure he'll believe us."
"Why wouldn't he? Why would we make something like this up?"
Quirking an eyebrow, she answered, "Something about needing a Grace-ful sort of wife."
"Oh… right."
"And maybe… I know I didn't mishear anything, but I've still got to be fair don't I? Maybe Mrs. Kelly changed her name due to a conflict of interest. For work? I don't know. People will do anything for a job. She might really love Mr. Warbucks."
"Perhaps, but I think there's a good chance this whole wedding could be fixed. Why wouldn't Commissioner Doyle try to get her daughter married off to the richest man in the world?"
"My thoughts exactly."
"We need to find some way to prove it."
"I'm going to make some calls. Mr. Warbucks isn't the only one with connections."
"Is that so?"
Despite the nature of their conversation this evening, Grace still felt like she could be honest with Drake. Things felt settled between them and they were closer for it. "If I can figure out her identity, see if this is really for love or if it's something more devious and if he still needs to marry… it's a chance I need to take."
Drake smiled. "I will help you."
"I think there's one more person we need to speak to about this."
"Who?" he questioned.
"Annie."