Chapter 4 - A Name That Wasn't HersBy evening, Adrian had arranged a private suite in a small hotel near Boston's waterfront.

Mara refused to enter until he showed her every room.

She checked the windows first.

Then the bathroom.

Then the closet.

Finally, she crouched beside the bed and looked underneath it.

Adrian stood by the open doorway.

"You can lock the door from inside."

She shook her head.

"Locks work both ways."

He considered that.

"You're right."

He asked the hotel manager to demonstrate the interior latch and explain that staff could not enter without authorization except in an emergency.

Mara watched carefully.

Only after testing it herself did she step farther into the room.

A lawyer named Tanya Brooks arrived twenty minutes later.

Tanya specialized in representing survivors of exploitation and vulnerable adults.

She was forty-three, direct, and unimpressed by wealthy men.

Before entering, she pulled Adrian aside.

"Let me establish something," she said. "You paying for her accommodation doesn't give you authority over her."

"I know."

"She can leave."

"I know."

"She doesn't owe you a statement, testimony, gratitude, or her personal history."

Adrian nodded.

"That's why I called you."

Tanya studied him.

"You'd be surprised how rarely someone says that and means it."

Inside the suite, Tanya sat across from Mara.

"My name is Tanya. I work for you if you want me to. Mr. Vale can pay my fees, but he doesn't get to control what you tell me."

Mara looked toward Adrian.

"Can he stay?"

Tanya answered carefully.

"Only if you want him here."

After a moment, Mara nodded.

"Stay."

They spent almost an hour discussing ordinary things.

Food.

Clothes.

Whether Mara wanted medical attention.

Whether she had a safe place to sleep tomorrow.

Only then did Tanya ask about her name.

"I've been called Anna Ward," Mara said.

"Who gave you that name?"

"Ruth."

"Who is Ruth?"

"She took care of me after the fire."

"Was she a relative?"

"No."

"Did she legally adopt you?"

Mara frowned.

"I don't think so."

"What did she tell you about your family?"

Mara twisted a strand of hair around her finger.

"That my mother died because she made powerful people angry."

Adrian felt a chill.

"And about you?" Tanya asked.

"That I couldn't go back. She said the police would blame me for the fire."

"Why would they blame you?"

Mara stared at the carpet.

"Because I was there."

Tanya waited.

Mara swallowed.

"Ruth said children sometimes start fires without meaning to. She said people would make me confess if they found me."

Adrian clenched his fists.

Tanya noticed, but kept her voice calm.

"That sounds frightening. Did anyone ever tell you that you were officially suspected of causing the fire?"

Mara shook her head.

"Only Ruth."

"Where did you live with her?"

"Outside Lowell. In a house near an old textile mill."

"Did you go to school?"

"She taught me at home."

"Did you see a doctor?"

"Sometimes, when I was little."

"Did you have identification?"

"She kept my papers."

Tanya wrote the answers down.

"When did you leave?"

"Four weeks ago."

"What happened?"

Mara's breathing changed.

"Ruth got a phone call."

"From whom?"

"I heard a man's voice."

"What did he say?"

Mara lowered her head.

"He said the refinancing would happen soon."

Adrian looked up sharply.

The Morrow House redevelopment was scheduled for a major refinancing next month.

Mara continued.

"Ruth told him I didn't remember anything. But he said that wasn't good enough."

"Did you recognize his voice?" Tanya asked.

"No."

"What happened afterward?"

"Ruth told me she was sending me somewhere new."

"Did she say where?"

"She said it was somewhere nobody would ask questions."

Mara pulled both knees against her chest.

"I left that night."

Adrian fought the urge to ask a dozen questions.

Tanya gave Mara time to breathe.

Eventually, Mara looked toward the window.

"I've been sleeping wherever I can. Sometimes under bridges. Sometimes near the train station."

"How did you find Mr. Vale?" Tanya asked.

Mara looked at him.

"I didn't know it was him at first."

"Then why did you help?"

Her answer was quiet.

"Because he was bleeding."

Adrian lowered his eyes.

Mara continued.

"When I got close, I recognized his face from photographs Ruth kept."

Adrian's head rose.

"Photographs of me?"

Mara nodded.

"She had pictures of your father, too."

Silence filled the room.

"Why?" Adrian asked.

Mara looked confused.

"She told me to stay away from everyone in your family."

Tanya leaned forward.

"Did she explain why?"

"She said one of them killed my mother."

The words landed like a blow.

Adrian looked at Mara.

"Which one?"

Mara shook her head.

"She never told me."

Then she reached into the pocket of her ragged coat.

She withdrew a small piece of folded paper.

It was damp, creased, and nearly torn apart.

"I found this in Ruth's trash before I left."

Adrian waited as Mara unfolded it.

It was part of an old invoice.

Printed across the top were three words:

GREYWATER CONSULTING LLC.

Below them was a monthly payment amount.

$4,800 — PERSONAL CARE SERVICES.

At the bottom appeared the name of the approving client.

VALE FAMILY FOUNDATION.

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Adrian recognized the signature.

It belonged to Vivian Shaw.