Virgil watched the people come and go from the window in the suite his father had reserved in Boston to serve as a headquarters for the search. So many people were out hunting for his little brother, and no one had turned up any news.
"Dammit!"
Virgil gave a start and turned to his father in time to see him lift a vase and hurl it against the wall. Some of the men his father had hired to look for Alan jerked in surprise as it struck the wall and shattered into pieces, but Virgil and Lady Penelope barely moved. Despite Jeff's constant struggle against Alan's infamous temper, they both knew without a doubt where Alan had gotten it from.
"There has to be more to go on!" Jeff thundered.
"Jeff, they're doing everything they can," Lady Penelope broke in gently.
Jeff sighed and sank into his chair, rubbing his temple. "I know," he said. He looked at the men's wary gazes. "I'm sorry. I know you're doing your best. Please, just get back out there and find my son."
Virgil turned his gaze back out the window as his father walked with the men to the door. He understood his father's frustration; he felt it just as strongly himself. As much as Alan annoyed him, he wanted nothing more than to find his little brother, take him back to Tracy Island, and lock him away where no one would be able to hurt Alan again.
A lone figure standing on the opposite side of the street drew Virgil's attention. The man was alone, oblivious to the crowds of people surging around him. He looked a little older than Virgil himself, with short blond hair. His blue eyes were staring at the building, as if he could see through the walls and right at the people inside. There was something vaguely familiar about the man, but Virgil couldn't put his finger on it.
A cry of surprise drew Virgil's attention away from the window. Jeff and Lady Penelope were hurrying from the door to the table with an envelope in Jeff's hand. Virgil glanced back out the window, but the man was gone.
"Virgil!"
Virgil glanced left and right, hoping to find the man, but to no avail. Turning back around, he moved to his father's side. "A note? Is it from Alan's kidnappers?"
Jeff tore the envelope open with shaking hands and pulled the note out. He scanned it, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"What does it say?" Lady Penelope demanded.
Jeff read it again, shaking his head. Wordlessly, he turned it over to Lady Penelope. Virgil moved closer, reading the note over her shoulder.
Jeff,
Years ago, you took away the only person in my life that meant anything to me. Since then, you have done everything in your power to erase her from my life. This is my way of taking back what's rightfully mine. Alan is mine now, and I'm not letting him go. Call off the search.
Virgil looked at his father, who had moved over to the window. "Dad?" he asked tentatively. "What does this mean? Do you know what they're talking about?"
Jeff turned to his son, his eyes flickering to meet Lady Penelope's suddenly guarded gaze. Virgil looked from one to the other, feeling as though he were missing something important.
"I . . . I can't be sure," Jeff admitted. "It sounds like . . . but he wouldn't try . . . not again . . ."
"Dad?" Virgil tried again.
Jeff suddenly seemed to come to a decision. "Let's get back to the island. If it is who I think it is, then I need to speak with all your brothers."
Lady Penelope immediately pulled out her phone. "Parker, bring the car around. We'll be taking a quick trip to Tracy Island."
By the time the four of them had reached Tracy Island, Virgil was bursting with curiosity. His father and Lady Penelope were clearly aware of who might have taken Alan, but neither were willing to say anything just yet. Virgil was tempted to press his father for information, but he knew better. Jeff was barely holding himself together as it was.
Jeff had disappeared into his room for half an hour, leaving Virgil to be surrounded by questioning brothers. It wasn't until their father emerged with a box in one hand that they left him alone.
"Dad, what's going on?" Scott asked.
"Boys, meet me at the kitchen table," Jeff replied. "Make sure Lady Penelope is there, too."
Within five minutes, Jeff found himself sitting at the table with the box before him. He felt his sons' eyes on him expectantly, and he knew that they were doing their best not to push their father to speak, but Jeff knew it was only a matter of time. Their concern for their youngest brother would override their patience.
Jeff sighed and, after a quick glance at Lady Penelope's supportive look, met his sons' eyes. "It was bound to come out sooner or later. I was hoping it would be under better circumstances."
He opened the box in front of him. "This belonged to your mother. In it she kept everything she felt were the most important things to her in her life."
Slowly, with slightly shaky hands, he began to pass around photographs. The boys, exchanging confused looks, accepted the pictures and looked at them. Smiles blossomed on their faces as they silently shared in old memories. Most of the pictures they were looking at were taken when they were children. Some were baby pictures, some were of the boys, some were of Jeff.
John looked up at Jeff. "I don't understand, Dad. What does this have to do with Alan?"
Jeff nodded. Reaching into the box, he pulled out another, older picture. He handed it to John, who glanced at it with a frown.
Gordon peered at the picture. "Hey, that kid looks kind of like John!" he exclaimed.
Scott and Virgil reached for the picture and looked for themselves. "He's right," Scott observed. He looked at Jeff. "Who are these kids?"
"The girl in the picture is your mother," Jeff answered. "The boy who resembles John is her older brother, Christian. The other boy was their younger brother."
His sons all stared at Jeff in shock. "Her brother?" Gordon echoed.
"Mom had brothers?" Virgil asked. "How come we never knew that?"
Jeff sighed heavily. "It's a long story, boys, and one I was hoping never to have to tell, but it looks like it's out of my hands. Please, let me explain, and then you can ask your questions."
The boys all nodded, Virgil clutching the photo tightly.
Jeff sighed again. "Your mother never meant to keep this a secret from you boys. She planned on telling you all when she felt you were old enough to understand, but she . . . she died before she could."
He saw his sons grow still at the mention of their mother's death. Lady Penelope was solemn. She had known Lucille before her untimely death, and she had grieved alongside the family.
"Lucy's life as a child and as a teenager is something she never liked to talk about," Jeff began. "Don't get me wrong; her parents loved her and her brothers very much. But Christian wasn't your typical older brother. He saw Lucy as something of a possession. He tried to control her, tell her who she could be friends with and where she could go. I don't have to tell you how your mother probably felt about that."
Smiles met his comment. All the boys knew that their mother was every bit as strong-willed and determined as any of them.
"Chris used to try and use his strength to keep Lucy in line, but Lucy would have none of it," Jeff continued. "She told me that she used to sneak in and out of the house just to go out with her friends."
"Why didn't her parents ever try and stop him?" John asked.
"They never knew about it," Jeff answered, disgusted. "They thought Lucy was making it all up, since Chris never behaved that way in front of them. Well, already disturbed, Chris became even more unstable when their parents died. Lucy was sixteen when that happened."
"What did he do?" Gordon wanted to know.
"He tried to lock Lucy in the house," Jeff answered. "He had been awarded custody of her in their parents' will; that only cemented his feelings of ownership. That didn't sit well with your mother. By the time she turned eighteen, she had moved out of the house and was starting a life of her own."
"Did Chris try and get her back?" Scott asked.
Jeff paused. "I'm not sure. Your mom never said, but I think he tried. Obviously, nothing came of it. I met Lucy a little while after that, and we got married.
"Chris resented me for doing that," Jeff continued. "Despite all he had done, to him, Lucy was the one bright spot in his life. By marrying her, it seemed to Chris that I had taken her away from him."
"That's ridiculous!" Virgil exclaimed.
"We thought it was over when he got married and had children of his own," Jeff went on. "Lucy tried to keep in contact, but Chris never forgave her for leaving him. His wife died shortly after giving birth to her third son, and that pushed him further to the edge. He began to leave threatening phone calls on our machine. We finally had to change our number. When he started showing up at our house, and at Scott and John's school, we put out a restraining order on him."
Scott and John exchanged stunned looks. "We never knew that," Scott said.
"That was the way we wanted it," Jeff replied. "Your mother and I never wanted you boys to worry. And for a while, it worked. We didn't hear anything from Chris for years."
"Something must have changed, if you think he's involved with Alan's kidnapping," Gordon observed.
Jeff nodded. "It was . . . it was shortly after the accident, when we lost Lucy. My lawyers approached me, saying that Chris was fighting to gain custody of you boys."
"What?" Virgil exclaimed.
"Why?" Scott demanded.
Jeff held up a hand. "He held me responsible for Lucy's death. He accused me of being the one to kill her, and he wanted to take you boys away from me. To him, you were his last link to his sister, and he didn't want to lose that."
"That's ridiculous!" John scoffed.
"That's pretty much what my lawyers said," Jeff agreed. "Chris never got anyone to go along with his petition, and he finally gave up after a visit from a very good friend." He nodded at Lady Penelope.
Lady Penelope met the boys' incredulous stares. "Chris was trying to make a bad situation worse, and after everything you were all going through, I couldn't stand by and do nothing. Parker and I paid a visit to Chris and convinced him to give up his ridiculous attempts. It took some persuading, but he finally agreed."
"We haven't heard from Chris again," Jeff finished. "Until now."
Silence fell over the table as the boys digested the new information. None of them could believe what they had heard, and yet the evidence was still right there in Virgil's hands.
"So you think this guy, Chris, is the one who took Alan?" Scott ventured.
Jeff nodded, passing around the note that had been delivered to the suite in Massachusetts. "It's the only explanation that makes sense. And if Chris has Alan, then we need to find out where he is, and now."
"Do you think he'd hurt Alan?" John asked.
Jeff's jaw tightened. "It's a very real possibility. Lucy's death was the last straw. Chris is not only crazy, he's dangerous. Alan has your mother's spirit; if he has deteriorated over the years, he's more a threat now than he ever was."
Murderous looks fell over the boys' faces. "If he lays so much as a hand on Alan . . ." Gordon began.
"Get in line," Scott told him.
"We need to get going on tracking their moves," Jeff said, cutting off his sons' veiled threats. "Scott, you look for Christian Soble, any records you can find. You other three, take one son and track him down. I believe . . . their names are Luke, Josh, and Elliot."
Scott, John, and Gordon immediately rose to follow their father's commands, but Virgil's quiet voice pulled them up short.
"Dad, you said Mom had two brothers," he said. "What happened to the other one?"
Jeff grew very still. He had been hoping to avoid answering that particular question.
"Dad?" John asked, nervous.
"Lucy's younger brother died when he was six," Jeff answered quietly. "They found him at the foot of a tree where they had a tree house with a broken neck. The authorities eventually ruled it as an accident, but Lucy said she had seen Chris and her younger brother argue up in the tree house just minutes before."
Looks of horror passed between the brothers. Jeff met their gazes firmly. "Now you see what we're up against, boys. Let's move."