Camouflage by M J Marlow (smart ebook reader txt) 📖

seat of a waiting car. Luke handed Gregory a thick envelope. The man saluted and moved back into the hotel. Then Michael nodded and Luke drove away from the hotel. They did not stop until they arrived at a private estate up in the mountains.
Michael carried Emily into the immense compound and sat her down in a chair in the main living room. Then he went to the bar and downed the drink that a dark-skinned man handed to him. He went to sit down near his daughter; watching as she came back to consciousness. She looked up at him in total confusion.
“I know you have a lot of questions, darling,” Michael said as he came to sit by Emily. “Your life has been turned upside down since I stumbled across you in Riverton…”
“You can’t let those maniacs keep Alexander prisoner!” Emily broke in, her eyes wide with fear for her friend. “Please…”
“Alexander helped arrange this little meeting, Emily,” Michael told her bluntly. “He and his friends are staging a fake kidnapping so that Sebastian is concentrating on his son; he won’t think to ask about you.” He saw her confusion and understood it. “I know you don’t understand what is going on, Emily. All I can say for now, is that your life is going to get a great deal stranger unless you trust me.”
“Why should I trust you?” Emily laughed in shock. “I don’t even know you…”
“That is not my fault, Emily,” Michael broke in, looking almost hurt. “If I had known you were alive, I would have moved heaven and earth to find you. But, for some reason only he knows,” he continued as he looked suddenly weary, “Sebastian Townsend made it his business to keep me from finding you.” He laid his hand on Emily’s and frowned as she stiffened. “Emily, I am your father.”
“No!” Emily cried, pulling her hand away. “You’re lying to me!” She got to her feet and backed away from him. “I don’t know what your game is, but I am not going to play…” She turned and saw a woman who looked a great deal like her. “Dianna Spencer?” she asked Michael. He nodded. “I can see why you might have been confused.”
“Emily, please sit down,” Michael asked as Dianna came into the room. “Your sister and I…”
“Sister?” Emily’s eyes widened. She shook her head in denial. This was not happening to her! Whatever these crazy people wanted, they would have to get it from someone else. “Please just leave me alone!”
She ran out through the double doors into the gardens beyond. Dianna started to follow her, but Michael indicated she should sit down. Emily needed time to think on her own. She would begin to see the truth of the matter; he was certain of it. Out in the garden, Emily sank down on a bench near an ornate fountain and sat staring into the water. She could hear night birds calling out among the trees surrounding the compound. There was the scent of jasmine, roses, and honeysuckle in the warm air. Neither did anything to calm her.
Then she heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Luke coming towards her. He sat down on the rim of the fountain and smiled at her.
“He’s a good man, Emily,” Luke said simply. “He should never have been kept out of your life the way he was.” He got to his feet and nodded to her. “Give him a chance.”
Emily watched the man saunter off and decided he was right. She would give Winslow his chance; although, by rights, she should just demand to be left alone. Emily got to her feet and headed back into the living room where Dianna and Winslow had been joined by a handsome, dark-haired man. Dianna introduced her husband, Stephen Talbot. He smiled, but remained silent; sensing that his input was not needed in this situation.
Emily sat down on the couch and watched as Winslow brought her a file. She opened it and looked at the blood test results someone had sent Winslow anonymously. They proved that Emily was Dianna’s half sister. That was good. But they also showed that Emily was indeed Michael Winslow's daughter.
“Did you know this when you abducted me in Riverton?” Emily asked her father bluntly.
“No, child,” Michael replied with equal honesty. “I did not. Someone sent me these test results when I started looking into your background.”
“So if I am Dianna’s sister,” Emily asked, “and your daughter; why was I raised by the Bartons?” She saw by their expressions that she was not going to like the answer. “I might as well hear all of it, don’t you think?”
“Our mother was abducted about a week before you were due, Emily,” Dianna told her younger sister. “She was brutalized and tortured by whoever had taken her. When she was dumped at the hospital, you were not with her.”
“So whoever abducted our mother,” Emily frowned darkly, “took me away from all of you. But why?”
“We don’t know, Emily,” Michael chimed in. “No one was ever found who had any connection with your disappearance.”
“But why didn’t you search for me?” Emily asked them bluntly. “You knew I was about to be born, but you didn’t look for me!”
“There was a note pinned to your mother’s blouse,” Michael choked out, the horror of those days still fresh in his mind. “It said that the child, you, had been still born.” He ran his hand through his hair, and closed his eyes to calm himself. “We thought you were dead.”
“And you think Sebastian Townsend had something to do with all of this?” Emily realized what they were saying. She shook her head in denial. “I can’t believe that. He has been like a second father to me all my life.”
“We need to know, Emily,” Dianna said to her. “You are the only one who can find out the truth.”
“You want me to find out if Sebastian was connected to our mother’s murder?” Emily thought it over and knew the first doubt she had ever experienced regarding Sebastian. “How am I supposed to do that?”
“I will be there to help, Emily,” Alexander said as he came into the room. Gregory and Bridget followed him into the room and took seats at the bar. He sank down on the couch next to Emily. “I need to know the truth of this as much as you do,” he continued as he took her hands in his. His expression was serious as he looked into her eyes. “Will you help us all put this ugliness to rest, Emily?”
“How?” Emily asked him, feeling a strange surge of relief at his nearness. “I am no spy.”
“All you really need to do is engage in a little subterfuge with me,” Alexander replied. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a jewelry box. He opened it and slid the engagement ring inside onto he finger. “Be my wife?”
“I barely know you, Alex,” Emily replied, stricken that he would use such a ploy to trap his own father. “I barely know any of you,” she continued as she looked around the room. How do I know that you are not all lying to me to trap a man I have always looked on as my guardian, my mentor?”
“You don’t,” Michael told her simply. He came to sit on her other side and took her hands as Alexander stepped back. “And we could be completely wrong in our suspicions. It’s just that he has been involved in your life from the very beginning. We need to know why.”
“There might be a perfectly innocent explanation,” Dianna agreed. “Until we know, however, you are not safe anywhere near him.”
“And so the fake engagement?” Emily looked over at Alexander and caught an expression in his eyes that made her heart pound. She thought over all they had said and rose to her feet. “Let me think about it,” she said as she took off the ring and gave it back to Alexander. “If I agree, I want you to ask me again in a more public setting.”
“It’s only fair, child,” Michael nodded. “Dianna will take you to your room.” When Emily and Dianna were gone he turned to the others. “Well?”
“She has every right to be skeptical,” Stephen finally chimed in. “Her whole life, Sebastian has been a benevolent presence. Why would she believe us when we suspect him of being the man behind Stephanie’s murder?”
“We can’t force her,” Alexander added, frowning. “She will only become convinced that we are all liars. I have spent the better part of a month with your daughter, Michael,” he continued as he went to the bar. “I say we leave it to her.”
While the others were discussing Emily’s situation, she and Dianna had been sitting on the stairs listening. Dianna and Emily continued on upstairs then and Dianna sat down on the bed as Emily went to look out the windows at the island rolling down towards the sea. Dianna could tell her younger sister was having a hard time with her decision; but it was her decision to make. When Emily finally turned, Dianna could see that she had come to a decision. Emily joined her older sister on the bed.
“Tell me about our mother, Dianna,” she finally said. “Was she a good person?”
“Our mother was a truly wonderful woman, Emily,” Dianna told her honestly. “She could have led an idle life; she was a rich heiress when she and our father met; but she chose to go to medical school. When our father was killed, she grieved for years….”
“And then she met Michael Winslow?”
“Yes,” Dianna nodded. “They fell in love and