“Thank you for seeing me on short notice,” Aunt Sondra said, extending her hand. “My father met your father on several occasions. He spoke well of him.”

The man shook her hand, glanced at Raven, then looked back at her more closely.

Aunt Sondra stepped away to observe his response.

The man kept staring, and Raven’s heart beat like a trapped bird was trying to fly out of her chest.

Aunt Sondra sighed. “I thought so.”

“You thought what? Who is this?” the man asked.

“Does she look familiar?”

“She looks like . . .” He gazed at Raven, didn’t finish the sentence.

“Your ex-wife?”

Ex? Raven didn’t know they were divorced. She’d been told almost nothing. And she hadn’t asked. She didn’t want to know anything about these people. She only wanted to go back to her house and Jackie and school.

“Who is she?” the man demanded.

“I think she may be your daughter.”

Again, the man stared at her.

“Obviously we’ll have to do a paternity test.”

“Viola . . . ,” the man said. He stepped toward her.

She backed away. If he thought he would hug her, he was very much mistaken.

“My name is Raven,” she said.

“Raven?” the man said.

“She’s been called that since she was a baby,” Aunt Sondra said.

“Where did you find her? Have you gone to the police?”

“I wanted to talk to you before police got involved. I’d like to do the genetic testing first. If she’s your daughter, I’m hoping we can keep this as quiet as possible. She’s already badly traumatized. She had no idea she’d been abducted. She’s been living out in Washington.”

“Washington! Do you know who took her?”

“The woman she believes to be her mother is dead.”

“She is my mother!” Raven said.

“You see?” Aunt Sondra said to the man. “We need to keep this from becoming a media spectacle so she can come to terms with it in a quiet atmosphere.”

Raven didn’t like the way she talked about her as if she were a child who didn’t understand anything.

“But who took her?” the man asked. “Was it the woman who raised her?”

Aunt Sondra looked down for a few seconds. When she lifted her head, she said, “I’m very sorry to say, my sister, who had mental problems all her life, probably took her.”

“She doesn’t have mental problems!” Raven shouted.

“Please lower your voice,” her aunt said.

“I want to go home!”

The man raised his palm to his forehead and whispered, “My god.”

“Yes, it’s going to be a difficult situation,” Aunt Sondra said. “That’s why I’m speaking to you privately. I hope we can agree on a plan that will protect her. And, I admit, I’d like to keep my company as uninvolved as possible.”

The man turned a critical look on her.

“I’m sure you’d rather not dig up this mess again,” Aunt Sondra said. “It can only bring negative attention to your family and law firm.”

“How so?” the man said sharply. “I was the one who had a child abducted.”

“Do you want your boys and mother dragged through it all again?”

“That can’t be avoided.”

“It can be minimized. You’re an attorney for celebrities. You must have your ways.”

The man looked angry again.

“My sister left everything she owns to Raven—significant assets and investments, including two large properties. I’m willing to let the inheritance stand without contest even if she isn’t my niece.”

“Are you bribing me to keep this quiet?”

“I’m being pragmatic. It’s in everyone’s interest to make this transition as smooth as possible.”

“Your sister has to be held accountable for what she did.”

“My sister is dead.”

“Are you sure?”

“That’s another problem.”

“What is?”

“I’m certain she’s dead—I have her last will and testament—but I have no body. I believe she ended her life somewhere on her acreage in Washington, and we haven’t yet located her body. I’d have to get police and cadaver dogs in there.”

“You will not!” Raven shouted. “You read her last wishes. She wants to be left alone! And you’re wrong about it being suicide!”

A white-haired man opened the door and looked in. “Is everything all right, Jonah?”

“Yes, thank you,” he said.

When the door closed, Aunt Sondra said, “I’m trying to minimize the stress of this situation, mainly for Raven. I hope you and I can work this out together. If you’d like to involve her mother, that’s up to you.”

“She’s not my mother,” Raven said.

“Ellis and I have no contact anymore,” he said.

“Why don’t we do a paternity test and go from there?” Aunt Sondra said.

The man walked to his desk and nearly fell backward into the chair.