“So, you’re Celia Montgomery, the one and only daughter of Earl and Johanna Montgomery?” Tessa asked, her eyebrow raised.
“It’s certainly possible,” Eleni replied, still trying to come to terms with the revelation herself. She showed the age-progressed photo from the newspaper article to Chris’s boss. “I only recently found out I was adopted. My mother died a few months ago, and she never mentioned it, or how the adoption came about, so I honestly don’t know what to think. It’s something we need to explore, at any rate. I’m sure we’d need a DNA test to prove anything conclusively.” They had returned to FBI headquarters in downtown Chicago, and had reported directly to Tessa upon arrival. Chris had been quick to fill his boss in on what they had discovered, how they had been watched at the cabin and their narrow escape from the shooter. Tessa had immediately contacted the local law enforcement and confirmed that both men who had been chasing them had minor injuries from the crash and had been arrested, but both had lawyered up immediately without making any statements, incriminating or otherwise.
“If it’s true,” Eleni continued, “it would explain a lot of my childhood. But I’m not sure what to do next, or how it ties into this case. I certainly don’t want anything from that family. I mean, I don’t even know them. But if I am Celia, and we can prove it, then I would think they’d want some closure so at least they’d know I survived after whatever happened all those years ago on that Jacksonville beach.” She rubbed her arms in a soothing motion, trying to wrap her head around this latest revelation. “I’m sorry Johanna and Earl Montgomery are already dead. If I am their missing child, they both died before knowing that I’m still alive. That’s incredibly sad.”
“Well, what did happen?” Chris asked. “Do you have any memory of the events described in the newspaper articles?”
“I don’t remember it at all, but the child who went missing was only three. That explains a lot.” Eleni leaned back in her chair. “My mother never wanted to answer questions about who my father was, so I always assumed I was born out of wedlock and the truth embarrassed her, or that I was a child of rape. In any case, my mother never spoke about any of this. She told me her parents had died before I was born, and I never met any aunts or uncles. Any time I asked her anything about our family, she avoided the questions, so eventually, I quit asking.” She went on to explain how she had discovered that she was adopted after her mother’s death, and that her mother had never told her the truth about her parentage. “Honestly, I’m a bit concerned about my mother’s involvement in the kidnapping. We found another name on a postcard—Joelle Wilcox. But I don’t know who that woman is, or what role she played in the abduction, if any.” She shrugged. “I may never know.”
Tessa listened to all of this and appeared to come to a quick conclusion. “So, the Montgomery family paid Henry Jackson, a man claiming to be a private eye, twenty-five thousand to poison the food at Marino’s Deli. Is that our working theory?”
“That’s it in a nutshell,” Chris agreed.
“Why?” She tapped her cheek in a pensive motion. “If you are the missing child, why would they want you dead?”
Eleni and Chris looked at each other, and they both shrugged.
“That’s what we still don’t know,” Chris replied. “We know there’s a connection, but right when we discovered the newspaper articles and were getting ready to research the issue, the perps started shooting at us.”
“Alright,” Tessa said, clearly thinking through every aspect of what they did and didn’t know regarding this case. Eleni was very impressed with this woman, and liked her immediately. She was straight-forward and down-to-earth, and was a consummate professional, through and through. “Let’s get you both in front of a computer. Let me know when you have more.” She nodded at Chris. “Looks like you’re back on the clock.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he responded as she left them by Chris’s desk.
“What does that mean?” Eleni asked, once Tessa was out of earshot.
Chris shrugged. “I was taking personal time to investigate this case with you. Now that we have a new lead that proves you’re in danger, the FBI is back on board.”
Eleni felt a rush of emotion at his statement, but humbleness topped the list. “I hadn’t realized you were making such a sacrifice for me. Thank you.” She could tell she’d embarrassed him by her words. He flushed and even the tips of his ears reddened a bit. It was very endearing. The more time she spent with him, the more he seemed like a giant teddy bear. He could be tough when it was warranted, but was usually gentle and shy. His softer side made her like him even more.
“You’re welcome,” he responded quietly, then quickly turned to the computer. “Let’s see what else we can find.”
She smiled and let him change the subject. Although she hadn’t changed her mind about keeping their relationship on a purely friendship level, there were times over the last few days when the attraction had still sprung up between them, and now was one of them. Still, there was no way she was going to trust her heart with someone new. It simply hurt too much when that person was torn away—and she didn’t think she could survive another loss. Charlie’s death had been devastating. She didn’t wish that kind of pain on anyone, and certainly didn’t want to open herself up to the possibility of experiencing it again by giving her heart away. No, it was better and safer to stay single and focus on Katie. That would be enough. It would have to be.
“Check this out,” Chris said as he pointed to his screen and pulled her out of her woolgathering. “Here’s a picture of the Montgomery family about seven years ago from the company website.”
Eleni pulled up a chair, sat down and studied the photo. She felt like she’d been running a marathon the last few hours, and was ready to take a break and really dig into this new and possible revelation about her past. Earl Montgomery was a dignified-looking man, with gray hair and deep creases on his face. His wife, Johanna, had a stately appearance as well, and seemed to be classy and sophisticated. Despite their apparent success and bearing, they also both seemed to have an air of sadness portrayed in the photo. But what really caught Eleni’s attention was the other man standing behind the couple in the picture. He appeared to be in his early twenties, and looked like he had just finished running a board meeting. He had short dark hair, pleasant features and a confident smile.
He was also the man that had been following Eleni, and who had approached Katie at the hospital.
A cold chill swept down Eleni’s spine. “That’s him. That’s the guy that’s been following me.” She scanned the photo’s caption. “His name is Zach Montgomery.” She turned and her eyes locked with Chris’s. “That means, if I really am Celia Montgomery, my own brother is trying to kill me.”
“I’d say, it’s time to track down Zach Montgomery and bring him in for questioning,” Chris said firmly. During the course of his career, he’d seen family members turn on each other, but this situation seemed incredibly strange to him. If Eleni really was Celia Montgomery, she’d had no idea, and hadn’t been trying to contact the family, or establish any sort of relationship with them. So, what possible motive could Zach have for trying to kill her? And why hurt all of those other people so indiscriminately? Were the collateral damages so insignificant to Zach that he really didn’t care who got hurt or killed, as long as his objective was achieved?
“I agree,” Eleni said quietly. “We need to find him and lock him in a room until we get answers.”
Chris noticed her subdued tone and gave her a playful nudge. “Hey. Don’t worry. We’re going to figure this out.”
“I know,” Eleni said. “This is just a lot for me to absorb at one time. This morning, I was just Eleni Townsend, reporter, with not much of a history. Now my life is suddenly filled with intrigue. I’ve got to tell you, I think I was a lot happier before I knew about this possible connection to the Montgomery family.”
“Because of the murders, or because of something else?”
Eleni grimaced. “The murders are a big part of it. I hate to think that other people were hurt and killed because I am apparently the target of some vendetta or problem that I don’t even really understand. But I’m also hurt to know this information about my mother.” She sat back in her chair. “Was she the kidnapper? It certainly seems that way since she was in Jacksonville herself at the time of the crime. But even if she didn’t actually steal me from the beach that day, she certainly must have known what happened and how I came to be her daughter.” Her expression turned bleak. “How could she have done such a thing?”
Chris squeezed her hand, then released it. “We don’t know all the facts yet. Let’s wait and see what we discover. I have a feeling you’re going to learn a lot over the next few days.” He handed her his cell phone. “Look. I’m going to try to keep researching this. Why don’t you use my phone and give Katie a call? It might really do you some good to hear her voice.”
Eleni gave him a grateful smile. “What a good idea. Thanks!” She took the phone, stood and moved away so she could get a bit more privacy. She’d been worried about not having her own phone in case there was an emergency with Katie, and hearing the child’s voice would help reassure her immeasurably.
Chris watched her go, his heart hurting for her. Although he was dealing with his own issues and possible career changes, he couldn’t imagine dealing with finding out your entire history was based on a lie and probable criminal activity. His own parents had been wonderful people and mentors. Although no parent was perfect, his childhood had been wonderful, and he had no complaints. They certainly hadn’t stolen him from another family or concealed his true identity.
He glanced over at Eleni, who was speaking to her daughter in a caring and animated way. Her body language had changed, and the stressful way she had been carrying herself was now replaced with happiness and pleasure. He could easily see that the call had rejuvenated her, despite the revelations of the day. Eleni was a devoted parent. It was obvious in the way she fought for her daughter’s safety—and how she did whatever was necessary to protect her, even at great personal sacrifice.
His thoughts returned to what she had learned about her mother. How did a person forgive someone, especially a loved family member, after such duplicity? He needed to get to work, but he took a moment to look up a Bible verse first. He knew there was a verse somewhere about needing to forgive someone seven times seventy, and he found what he was looking for in Matthew, chapter 18. There was no ambiguity, yet he struggled with the concept, and said a short prayer for her.
God, please be with Eleni as she deals with this news about her childhood, and help her work through the feelings and issues this raises within her. Help her forgive her mom and anyone else that might have been involved in her kidnapping. Also, please help us solve this crime before anyone else gets hurt, and bring justice to the families of all of the victims. Amen.
Even though he had been praying for Eleni and not himself, he felt a sense of peace sweep over him. He knew that God had heard his prayer and would be helping her through this difficult situation. Chris knew it with absolute certainty.
But why did he have trouble asking God to help him with his own struggles? It was a paradox. He was happy to pray for others, but hesitated to ask God for help for himself. Yet he knew God wanted him to pray, and communicate with Him about every aspect of his life, just as Eleni had suggested during their walk the other day. He’d realized more and more over the last couple of days that he had been shutting God out of his worries and concerns, and had been trying to handle everything on his own. That had been a big mistake. He decided to rectify the problem right now. He closed his eyes and said another prayer, this time asking God to forgive him for pulling away from Him, and asking Him to come back into his life and to help guide him in His perfect will.
The result was electrifying, and helped him feel even better about the doubts and career choices that he was facing. He knew he still needed to make some decisions about his future, but he also knew that he wasn’t going to take another step forward without asking God to direct his steps.
He turned back to his keyboard, refreshed, and started searching for “Zach Montgomery.” It was easy to find an address for him in New York City where Montgomery Investments operated and, apparently, he was one of the vice presidents of the company, in charge of procurements and contracting. They had seen the man in Chicago several times since the poisoning, but his home was in New York.
Where was he staying in Chicago? Hopefully, he wouldn’t be that hard to track down if he was still in the city.
He stood and went in search of Tessa to see if they had enough for an arrest warrant. The conversation was short and sweet. She supported sending a New York team to interview him, but believed that since they had no direct evidence of wrongdoing, there wasn’t enough yet for an arrest. Chris grudgingly agreed. Though they had observed him following Eleni, they hadn’t actually caught Zach Montgomery doing something criminal. Being in the same location where crimes had been committed was suspicious, but wasn’t proof of anything illegal. They needed more, but at least now they had a direction and focus for the investigation. That was much more than they’d had when the day had started. He called his contact at the New York office and did the formal request for that FBI office to find Montgomery and do the interview.
As he was hanging up the phone, Eleni returned and sat down next to him, a smile of happiness on her face. “That was just what the doctor ordered,” she said as she leaned back in her chair. She handed him back his phone.
“How’s Katie doing?”
“She’s barely sat still since she went to stay with my friends. They’ve got two kids of their own, and they homeschool, so Katie has been learning and having a great time with their co-op. Today they visited a bakery to see how they made bread. The baker made quite the impression, and gave them each a choice of cookies or doughnuts, and then let them decorate them.” She sighed. “She’s all sugared up, happy as can be. She’s decided she wants to be a baker, too, when she grows up.” She brushed some hair away from her face. “I was worried this whole experience was going to traumatize her, but she seems to be bouncing back really well. This is one big adventure for her.”
“Kids are pretty resilient,” Chris agreed. “I’m glad you got to connect. I know it’s hard for you to be separated like this, but it sounds like she’s doing great.” He set his phone down by his keyboard and motioned toward his computer. “We can’t get an arrest warrant for Zach Montgomery, but we’re sending over a team to his New York house to ask him some questions.” Before he could explain more, his phone rang and he raised a finger, asking Eleni to wait while he answered it. He had a short conversation, then hung up and met Eleni’s eye. “Well, that was an interesting piece of news.” He tilted his head. “Zach Montgomery is still in Chicago. According to his secretary, he’s staying at the Intercontinental Hotel downtown.” He stood. “I think it’s time we paid him a little visit. Agreed?”
Eleni stood, too. “Agreed. Let’s go.”