A Secret Uncovered Page 3

  “According to Theo’s birth certificate he was born in Cleveland.”

  “I know that,” Ric replied dryly. “I ran a check for the hospital listed. It doesn’t exist. There’s one with a name close to it, but it has no record of the Speers or Theo. Their home address is bogus, too.”

  “Looks like the passport people weren’t as thorough as they should have been,” Ethan commented with wry amusement.

  “Nope. Anyway, that’s where it stands at the moment. I’m about to start running Lilliana Nichole, surname unknown, to see if I can find her.” Ric chuckled. “At least she’s not a Susan, or Judy, or something as common, so I might stand a chance.”

  “There aren’t any court records of the Speers adopting Theo?”

  “I’d have said so, if there was,” Ric replied acerbically. “Although I should admit I still have a lot of digging to do before I can state unequivocally that a record doesn’t exist somewhere.”

  “All right,” Ethan said. “If Foster can uncover what was blacked out on the Certificate of Adoption, you’ll have a better starting place.”

  “Which could take a while. Besides which, it occurred to me that even if he can, it might be a forgery, the same as Theo’s birth certificate.”

  “True. All right, I’ll leave you to your fun,” Ethan said, grinning.

  “Fun? I can think of several words for it. Fun is not one of them.”

  “You’ll survive.”

  “I always do,” Ric replied with a very feigned sigh of exasperation that rated him a laugh from Ethan.

  * * * *

  “Can…may I come in?” Theo asked Ric from the doorway to his office. It was early Thursday morning and Theo hadn’t slept well the previous night. He’d tossed and turned, worrying about what he’d say, or not say, to his mother when she returned home Friday night.

  “Sure. Have a seat,” Ric replied, gesturing to the chair by his desk. When Theo sat, Ric studied him until Theo dropped his gaze in embarrassment. “Bad night,” Ric asked.

  Theo nodded. “Mom’s due back tomorrow and I can’t decide what to tell her.”

  “That you’re glad to see her?” Ric smiled. “You will be, right?”

  “Well, yeah, but…” Theo sighed. “Have you found out anything?”

  “Yes and no. Most of it you probably know already. They grew up, met, and got married in Ashland, Ohio. Then they moved to Cleveland so your dad could go to college.”

  “Yeah. He got a job there after he graduated. He told me all about that.” Theo worried his lip before asking, “Was he really adopted?”

  “He was, when he was six months old. His adoptive parents fostered him, first, and then adopted him. All that’s on record.”

  “Good. At least he wasn’t lying about it.”

  “Nope. Now comes the part you probably won’t like. The hospital listed on your birth certificate doesn’t exist. Neither does the address where they said they were living when you were born.”

  “Why aren’t I surprised,” Theo replied sadly. “Nothing about me is real. Why? Why did they do that?”

  “That’s what you hired us to find out,” Ric said. “At the moment, I’m trying to locate your birth mother.”

  “If everything else is a lie, then her name probably is as well.”

  “Something I’ve considered,” Ric replied. “It’s possible the Certificate of Adoption is a forgery, too. I won’t know until I hear back from Foster.”

  “If it is, I’m screwed,” Theo muttered. He frowned. “My new name is on it, and Mom and Dad’s. That much is real. What about the address?”

  “If you’ve got a minute, I’ll find out. We know it doesn’t match the one on your birth certificate.”

  “You said that one is bogus.”

  “Yep.” Ric turned his attention to the computer, typing in the address, adding Cleveland, Ohio to it. It took him a couple of minutes to find what he was looking for. When he did, he said, “Whoever forged you birth certificate screwed up when they put in the address. Your parents did live at the one on the Certificate of Adoption, which means it’s probably legit.”

  “Then my birth mother’s name is, too,” Theo said, feeling some relief.

  “I presume so. With no last name, it’s still going to be hard to find her, but I’ll keep working on it. I started to, yesterday, but I have other cases, too, and I had to deal with a stakeout for one of them. By the time I got back here and wrote up my report for the client it was almost closing time.”

  “You mean mine’s not the only one you’re working on?” Theo asked in mock dismay.

  Ric grinned. “Sorry to disappoint, but no.”

  “Well, damn.”

  “You must be feeling a bit better about all this,” Ric said. “You’re kidding around.”

  Theo nodded. “At least you’re learning things that might lead to finding out who I am. I mean, who I was. I know who I am. I’m my parents’ son and I know they did everything they could to bring me up to be a decent person.”

  “From what I can tell, they succeeded,” Ric replied, smiling at Theo.

  “I…umm, thank you. I hope so.”

  “I know so,” Ric said firmly, which made Theo turn red in embarrassment. Ric chuckled. “I call it as I see it.”

  Theo knew he should leave. While he was certain there was nothing personal in Ric’s words, he couldn’t help but wish there was. If I don’t get out of here, I might say something I shouldn’t, like ask if he’s free for dinner. He’ll say no and wonder why I’d even suggested it. To him, I’m a job and nothing more. He stood, saying, “I’d better get to work. I’m late already. Not that anyone knows except Ms. Riley. She’s our receptionist-secretary. Nice woman but she does try to run a tight ship, and you didn’t need to know that. You’ll call when you find out anything more? Of course you will.” Theo knew he was babbling but he couldn’t help it.

  “I will,” Ric replied, smiling. “With luck, I’ll hear from Foster sometime today.”

  “I hope so.”

  Theo hurried out of the office, feeling like ten kinds of fool. Damn it. Now he thinks I’m an idiot. When will I learn to keep my mouth shut? Just because he’s sexy as hell, and seems to care about helping me…That’s all it is. It’s who he is and that’s that.

  * * * *

  Ric watched as Theo practically raced out of his office. What did I say that set him off? That he’s a good man? As far as I can tell he is, so why did my saying so embarrass him? Maybe he’s not used to compliments? Or was it the fact it was me giving it? Ric leaned back, looking off into space. “He can’t be interested in me. We barely know each other,” he said under his breath.

  “Who? Theo?” Ethan said from the doorway. “I saw him leaving.”

  Ric swung around, grumbling, “Could you at least knock first?”

  Ethan grinned. “I could, but then I wouldn’t have heard what you said. I take it something happened, other than you telling him what you’ve found out.”

  “I’m not sure. I complimented him and his reaction wasn’t at all what I expected. Then he beat it out of here like the hounds of Hell were after him.”

  “Interesting way to put it. I don’t see you as one of them.” Ethan cocked his head in question. “Are you interested in him?”

  Ric shrugged. “I could be, if the circumstances were different. I don’t think coming on to a client is a good policy.”

  “Not really,” Ethan agreed. “But afterward, when he’s not…”

  “Yeah, I thought of that. Damn it, Ethan, I barely know him.”

  “Then do something about it, but not, as I said, until after you’ve solved his case.”

  “And if he doesn’t like what I find out?”

  “He’s not the man you think he is if that affects how he might feel about you,” Ethan replied.

  “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

  “So get to work. The sooner you get the answers he needs, the sooner you’ll find out one way or the other.”


  Chapter 4

  “I could have called with my results,” Foster said, startling Ric when he came into his office. “But since I was on my way home, I thought I deliver them in person.”

  “You work banker’s hours?” Ric asked with a grin, as it was barely four in the afternoon.

  “When I can.” Foster sat in the chair beside Ric’s desk, setting the folder he was carrying in front of Ric. “First things first. The birth certificate is a forgery, but we already figured that out. The Certificate of Adoption is the real thing.”

  “You’re certain?”

  “Yes. Examining documents for authenticity is what I do,” Foster replied tartly. “However, determining what was blacked out is not possible. Whoever was responsible for defiling the certificate knew what they were doing. As you can see—” Foster opened the folder, pointing to an area on the adoption paper, “—I tried, but removing the covering ink also removed the ink of the word underneath it. To make matters worse, it was printed out by computer, so there are no residual indentations that would have occurred if it had been typed.”

  Ric frowned. “Even for the signatures of the judge and county clerk?”

  “As I said, the person who defiled the certificate was an expert. Before inking them out he used something, I’m presuming a pen or pencil, to scratch through them to make the indentations illegible. I wasn’t able to bring up anything to make even a guess as to what they were.” Foster closed the folder, saying, “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that’s where it stands.”

  “I’d ask about Mr. Speer’s birth certificate, but even if you hadn’t already told Ethan it was a forgery I would have known because the information about the hospital, and the parents’ address, are both bogus.”

  “They are. I even know who created it. However, I have more bad news.”

  “Like I need it,” Ric muttered.

  “I’m sure you don’t, at least on this front. The man who created it owned a reputable printing company.

  “A good cover for creating false documents,” Ric commented.

  Foster nodded. “He died less than six weeks after the date on the birth certificate.”

  “Of natural causes?” Ric asked.

  “If you call apparent suicide natural,” Foster replied. “According to his wife, he was despondent over some bad investments which meant they were going to lose their house. She came home from work to find him dead from an overdose of pills. The empty bottle was on the nightstand next to the bed, along with a glass of water. The only fingerprints on the glass belonged to him.”

  “Did she know what he did as a sideline?”

  Foster shrugged. “If she did, it didn’t show up in the police report on his death.”

  “If I was a suspicious guy, I’d wonder if he was killed because he forged something, maybe Theo’s birth certificate, and someone didn’t want him spilling the beans.”

  “My conclusion, too, but that’s not my field of expertise. Whether it was suicide or murder, the fact remains that he’s not around to tell us who hired him to create the birth certificate.”

  * * * *

  The gray-haired man puffed on his cigar as he waited for his son to take a seat. Then he said, “We have a problem.”

  “Like what?” the son asked.

  “Thanks to one of my lawyers, who is helping me rewrite my will, it’s come to my attention that someone is interested in Lily’s whereabouts.”

  “Our Lily, as in Lilliana?”

  “I don’t know for certain if it’s her, but are you willing to take the chance that it isn’t? The lawyer’s clerk was researching her whereabouts, as usual with no luck, and discovered someone else seemed to be doing that as well.”

  The son shook his head. “Who, and why? Do they know?”

  “I wouldn’t need you if they did, would I?” The older man viciously ground out his cigar. “It’s possible the bastard she spawned has found out he was adopted and has hired someone to locate his birth mother.”

  “Tell me where to find the—the detective, I presume—and I’ll have a talk with him and find out who he’s working for.”

  “The clerk doesn’t know where the detective’s located, or what his name is. If he did, I wouldn’t—”

  “Need me.” The son smirked. “I think the only reason you haven’t disowned me, Father, is because I’m willing to do your dirty work.”

  The older man didn’t try to deny it. “You need to find him before he manages to locate your sister.”

  “You should have done that as soon as she took off,” the son replied tightly.

  The old man glowered at him. “Don’t you think I know that? But when she did, I had no reason to think it mattered. As far as I was concerned, I was well rid of her and her loose ways. Now it does, and she’s the only person who knows who adopted her kid.”

  “Presuming that’s what happened and she didn’t keep him.”

  “You have a point, although why search for her if that had happened? Either way, as I said, find out who’s looking for Lily before he finds her.” The older man gave his son a hard stare. “Your wellbeing, and mine, depends on it. If the boy surfaces, he stands to inherit everything, thanks to your grandfather’s will, leaving us scratching for our next meal.”

  “I hardly think it’s that bad,” the son protested. “It’s not like we aren’t fairly well-off in our own rights.”

  “Well-off is nothing compared to what we’ll be if the boy dies, at which point we stand to inherit millions.”

  “Now I get the picture.” The son didn’t appear to be at all upset by the idea that he was expected to kill his nephew when he found him.

  “I would certainly hope so. Find the detective, find Lily, find her bastard son, and deal with all three of them.”

  “Your wish…” The son smiled briefly as he flexed his hands and then got up and left the room.

  “What did I do to deserve two such intractable children,” the father asked, looking at a photo on his desk of himself, his now dead wife, and their off-spring. “If I hadn’t left them for you to raise, Isabella…” He sighed. “A man should never trust a woman to do what is necessary.” Taking a fresh cigar from the humidor on the corner of his desk, he snipped off the end and lit it before going back to what he’d been doing before his son had arrived.

  * * * *

  As soon as he’d taken care of his normal chores Friday morning—checking his email and phone messages and answering them—Ric went back to work trying to locate Lilliana. The first step was searching for court records about Theo’s adoption. There were, he soon discovered, an average of three-hundred and eighty adoptions per day in the country, making the task suddenly seem insurmountable because any information about the city and state where Theo’s had happened had been removed on the adoption certificate.

  “Might as well start with Cleveland and work out from there,” he said under his breath. “Though all things considered, that’s as likely to be real as…as a chimera.”

  Even with the many resources he had at his command, two hours later, cross-eyed and no closer to finding what he was searching for, he gave up.

  “Despite the fact the Certificate of Adoption is legit, according to Foster,” Ric said when Ethan came into his office, “it’s the only record of the adoption that exists, as far as I can determine.”

  “Foster deals in the physical,” Ethan pointed out. “The paper, the type of printing that would have been employed on such certificates within the timeframe of Theo’s birth, and whether any of the information has been altered by a third party.”

  Catching his drift, Ric said, “They didn’t want to create a fake document with phony names and signatures for everyone but the Speers, in case someone decided to have an expert examine it to determine if it was real or a forgery, or if any alterations had been made. So whoever handled the adoption gave the Speers a legitimate certificate, but because Lilliana wanted them to, they blacked out anything on it that could be used to t
rack her down.”

  “Exactly,” Ethan agreed. “My educated guess would be that the adoption was done legally, but by someone who undoubtedly charged her a fortune to do it under the table in order to ensure no one, probably her family, could find her or Theo.”

  “I bet it was a closed adoption and the Speers never met Lilliana.” Ric nodded slowly. “That makes more sense. It also makes me wonder why she didn’t want her family to know, if that was the reason behind keeping everything a secret.” He grinned, adding, “Maybe he’s an heir to a fortune and she didn’t want her family to use Theo to get their hands on it.”

  “Stranger things have happened,” Ethan replied.

  “True. Unfortunately for Theo, whoever put the adoption together knew what they were doing. So my next step is going back to what I started before Foster said the Certificate of Adoption was the real thing—trying to find her.”

  “Yes, after you’ve taken care of Mr. Lyons’ problem.”

  “Yeah, I know. Installing security is me.” Ric rolled his eyes.

  Ethan laughed. “If you want, I’ll take over and you can start running the background checks for Ms. Welton.”

  “No thanks. At least I won’t be staring at a computer screen for a while.”

  With that said, Ric put his computer to sleep, gathered up what he needed, and took off.

  * * * *

  Theo spent all day Friday at the travel agency setting up vacations for clients—couples who wouldn’t need either him or his mother escorting them wherever they were going. He poured all his concentration into what he was doing in an effort not to think about the fact his mother would be returning that night. For the most part it worked, until around three-thirty when he’d finished with the itinerary for the final couple and emailed it to them.