Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six(100)

He was just Cat’s type, seemingly embodying all the worst of their father’s DNA.

And this was his house, a grand waterfront home, all white stucco and blue glass, towering palms glowing in the elaborate landscaping, a huge gleaming Sea Ray sitting in the dock out back. The house was valued at nearly two million on Homes.com; the boat, new, cost close to half a million. Other things Henry and Gemma had found online during their deep dive into records: he was late on his mortgage; he hadn’t paid his taxes last year.

Finally, Henry steeled himself and climbed out of the car into the humid night air. The croaking of frogs, the clinking of halyards.

He walked up the impeccably manicured path to the front door, motion sensor lights coming on as he moved.

But when he rang the bell, no one answered. He stood, waited. Thought about leaving. What was he going to say to the guy when he opened the door?

Hey, I think our half sister is going to try to kill you.

I’m Henry, by the way, nice to meet you. Did you know our donor father was a serial rapist and killer who died in prison? Messed up, right?

Oh my god. He should never have come.

But he rang the bell again, and saw a light come on inside.

He peered in the glass door and watched as an older woman with wild gray-and-black hair, a robe over pink pajamas, and thick glasses, shuffled down the stairs finally, looking sleepy and confused.

She clutched a cell phone in her hand. Henry felt buzzy with nerves; took a step back from the door to show her he meant no harm.

She flipped on the light and regarded him through the thick glass.

“Can I help you?” she asked, frowning.

“I’m sorry to come so late. But I’m looking for the owner of this house—Michael?”

The old woman shook her head. “No,” she said. “My son and daughter-in-law live here.”

Did he have the wrong house? He checked the address on his phone.

No, this was it.

“Michael,” started Henry. He hadn’t thought this through. “I have reason to believe he might be in danger.”

The old woman pulled her robe tighter around her, seemed to size him up.

Did he look like a good guy? Hard to say—a strange man on your doorstep in the middle of the night was never a good thing, right? She wasn’t going to swing the door open for him and welcome him inside, listen to his bizarre tale.

“What kind of danger?” she asked.

“It’s a—long story,” he said. “But I really need to find and talk to him. It’s urgent. I wouldn’t have come here like this if not.”

He felt the other woman size him up. Whatever she saw softened her, but she didn’t move closer to the door.

“Michael,” she said. “That’s my daughter-in-law’s brother—they call him Mako now.”

Her daughter-in-law. Another half sibling? Someone else in Cat’s sights?

“Right, Mako,” he said. “He owns a big gaming company. Red World is their most successful game.”

“They’re away. All of them, together.” She looked worried now. “Hannah and Bruce rent this place from him.”

Henry’s heart sank. “Away where?”

“I’m sorry,” said the woman, shaking her head. He could see on the screen of her cell phone that she’d already punched in 911 but hadn’t hit Send. “Who are you? What do you want?”

Even that was too long a story to tell here. He tried though and it all came out in a tumble, starting with his name and devolving into a ramble about his mother, his aunt, his genealogy journey, Cat. The woman watched him, eyes widening, still clutching her phone.

“It sounds unbelievable,” he said when he was done. “I know that. But I’m telling you the truth.”

“I’ll call them,” she said after a moment. “How’s that?”

“Okay, yeah,” he said. “That’s good.”

He nodded and watched as she dialed. It was so hot even in the dark, the humidity raising sweat on his brow. His clothes felt sticky, sweat soaking the back of his shirt.

After a moment, the other woman spoke. “Hannah, it’s Lou. Everything’s okay here but can you call when you get a chance? It’s not urgent; Gigi and I are fine but it does seem important.”

The older woman looked at the phone with a frown, then turned the frown on him. “It went straight to voicemail. You don’t know my daughter-in-law; that’s not right.”

They were still on opposite sides of the door.

“I’ll tell you where they are,” she said. “But I’m also going to call the local police up there.”

That was fair. He could only protect Cat for so long. He wasn’t just there to help her. He wanted to keep her from harming anyone else. That was the reason, the real reason, he’d left his family on this errand, one Piper had not sanctioned and would be very angry to learn about. She thought he was at the data center, called in on an emergency. He’d lied to her and she would probably find out. And there would be hell to pay. But. He needed to do this. Not just for Cat. But also for himself. For Luke. For their baby on the way. He needed to be a good man, to do the right thing. If he could stop one bad act, maybe that balanced the scales, proved that his DNA was not the thing that made him, that his actions were. He’d tried to explain that to West.