Chapter 14 - the brother Richard never named
The boy’s name was Nathan Kane.
Samuel’s twin brother.
Same mother.
Same age.
Different fate.
Records showed both boys entered foster care after their mother died.
Arthur Hollis acquired guardianship over Samuel.
Nathan disappeared from the system.
Michael finally admitted the truth from custody.
“Arthur took both.”
“Why did you hide Nathan?” Lena asked.
“Because Nathan became worse than Arthur.”
Grace felt cold.
“What does that mean?”
“Samuel resisted the training.”
“And Nathan?”
“Loved it.”
The contrast explained decades of confusion.
Two identical boys.
Both capable of using the same identities.
Some crimes attributed to Samuel may have belonged to Nathan.
Some women may have known one brother while police believed there was only one man.
Grace thought of Lauren.
Elaine.
Her own relationship.
“How do I know which brother I almost married?”
Michael looked at her.
“Samuel has a scar behind his right ear.”
Grace knew it.
Richard had one.
He told her it came from a childhood bicycle accident.
Samuel.
Her Richard was Samuel.
Nathan remained unknown.
Lena searched old photographs.
A pattern emerged.
Whenever Samuel disappeared from one identity, Nathan sometimes appeared using the same name later.
That explained contradictions in witness statements.
Elaine remembered Daniel Cross leaving town.
Lauren later encountered “Daniel” acting completely different.
Maybe Nathan.
The person who continued targeting women aggressively might have been Nathan.
Grace called Emma.
“Did your mother ever say Samuel changed?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After she disappeared.”
That fit.
Lauren had discovered two men sharing identities.
She staged her disappearance to investigate.
Richard may have spent years trying to separate his crimes from Nathan’s.
Then Lena remembered the photographer video.
Richard said:
“If Sophie finds anything, believe her.”
He had known the box contained evidence that made him look guilty.
Maybe because he could not distinguish which documents belonged to which brother.
Graham’s strategy became clear.
Keep Samuel compromised by crimes Nathan committed.
If Samuel spoke, authorities would arrest him too.
Perfect control.
Then Richard called again.
Grace answered herself.
“Is Nathan alive?”
Silence.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“With Graham.”
“Was he at the wedding?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
Grace’s stomach tightened.
“Who?”
“The man who grabbed Sophie.”
Andrew had confessed he was supposed to grab Sophie.
But Sophie remembered a hand, ring, voice.
Could there have been two attempts?
Richard clarified.
“Andrew was ordered to take her outside. Nathan intercepted him when you hit Andrew with the chair.”
Grace remembered.
The man disappeared too fast.
Maybe not Andrew.
Nathan wore the Hollis ring.
“Why would Nathan stop Andrew?”
“He wanted Sophie for himself.”
Sophie went pale.
Grace gripped the phone.
“Where are you?”
Richard finally answered.
“Rosefield.”
“That estate is under police control.”
“Not below the old foundation.”
A second underground level.
Of course.
Richard and Lauren had entered through a tunnel.
Graham was there.
Nathan too.
Arthur?
Richard did not know.
“Stay out,” he told Grace.
“You don’t get to order me.”
“I know.”
“You used my daughter.”
“I know.”
“You lied to me for two years.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying you know.”
He became silent.
Grace breathed.
“Are you trying to fix this?”
“Yes.”
“Then come out alive and answer everything.”
A long pause.
“I’ll try.”
The call ended.
Police surrounded Rosefield again.
This time engineers found a hidden ventilation shaft leading to the lower complex.
Lena entered with tactical officers.
Grace remained outside with Sophie.
Inside, they found Lauren.
Injured but conscious.
Graham had escaped deeper underground.
Richard was gone.
Nathan was gone.
Lauren handed Lena a flash drive.
“He finally found Arthur.”
“Samuel?”
“Yes.”
“Arthur is alive?”
Lauren looked shaken.
“Barely.”
Arthur Hollis had been kept in a medical room beneath Rosefield.
Not controlling anything.
A prisoner.
Graham and Nathan had used his name for years.
“Why keep him alive?” Lena asked.
“To authenticate old trusts.”
The old tyrant had become an asset in the machine he created.
Lauren guided them toward the chamber.
They found Arthur.
Ninety-one.
Weak.
Oxygen tubing beneath his nose.
His eyes still sharp.
Lena stood over him.
“Where is my father?”
Arthur smiled faintly.
“Which version?”
“Samuel Kane.”
“Running from himself.”
“Where?”
Arthur pointed toward a sealed steel door.
“Graham took him below.”
“There’s another level?”
Arthur laughed.
“There is always another level.”
Lena moved toward the door.
Arthur called after her.
“Detective.”
She turned.
“Nathan is not Samuel’s twin.”
Lena froze.
“What?”
Arthur’s smile faded.
“He’s his older brother.”
“But they look identical.”
“Because Nathan made sure they did.”
Lena stared.
Surgery.
Years of deliberate identity replacement.
Arthur whispered:
“Nathan spent his life becoming Samuel.”
Then he said one final thing.
May you like
“And Samuel spent his life becoming me.”
👉 Police had finally found Arthur alive, only to learn that Nathan had deliberately reconstructed himself to look like Richard—making decades of crimes even harder to untangle.
