“Because Charles Lawson was the owner of C. J. Lawson Steel. His company built half of this city. It was a family business. Charles’s grandfather had started building the skyscrapers in the late 1800s and then his father continued and so on. Hell, it’s still a family business.”
“Let me guess, you’re a history buff too.”
“No. My parents were architects for that type of construction. Lawson was talked about a lot when I was growing up.”
“So you knew him?” Gia asked.
“I’m forty-two, not a hundred and two.”
Gia laughed. “I just thought you looked good for your age.”
“Keep it up and I’ll eat your burger too,” he teased.
“I’m starving. It might not be a risk worth taking,” she joked back. Then she returned to the business at hand. “Do you still have any of their old contacts?
“No. I wasn’t interested in the business when they were alive. Even though they wanted me to follow in their footsteps, I didn’t.” The more they had pushed, the faster he’d run. “I knew a few names, but I never kept in contact with any of my parent’s associates once they were gone.” Gia stared at him for a moment as though she was going to continue questioning him about his past. He tapped the picture again. “Tell me more about what you learned.”
“This is where it gets weird. No one ever spoke about Audrey. There was a rumor about her abusing Charles to the point he was hospitalized. Then from that point on, she was gone. Never seen in another photo, and never mentioned again.”
“Then how do you know Audrey Henderson was Audrey Lawson? I mean, the Hendersons would’ve been able to put those facts together without any help.”
“And that is why I do it old school. There was a newspaper article, just one, about finding a young girl wandering the streets. She didn’t know her name or where she’d come from.”
“There is no way the police or media back then didn’t know she was Audrey Lawson. They were so well known in New York.”
“Yes, but they weren’t so well known in a small town in Massachusetts. All they knew was her first name because it was on a paper in her pocket. When no one claimed her as theirs, she was placed in an orphanage. She lived there until she was sixteen. Then she left and went to work in a mill. I’m sure you know the rest of the story.”
He did. Audrey married the owner of the mill after his wife had been found murdered. There had been an age difference, and it was questionable why they were together, but back then no one spoke their minds. Everything was hush-hush when it came to dealing with the rich and powerful.
“I still don’t know how you know for sure this is the same girl,” Roger said.
Gia turned her laptop around and showed him the scanned picture from the news article back in Massachusetts. “It was taken only days after the one we’re researching. There is no question. That is the same girl.”
He compared the two photos, and Gia was right. “You’re correct.”
“Yet no one claimed her. It’s as if she’d been intentionally sent away.”
There wasn’t anyone alive as far as he knew who could tell them that. “I can’t imagine Charles would’ve passed on that story to anyone. If he even knew. He was so young himself. Maybe six and she was maybe ten?”
“Audrey was eight,” Gia said. “And here is the newspaper article about Charles being hospitalized.” Gia shook her head. “She might have been eight, but she was a cruel child. Not only did she beat him with a baseball bat, but she tried setting the house on fire afterward. One of the nannies caught her in the act.”
And that psycho raised a child? No wonder James Henderson was such a fucked-up individual. Caydan had filled him in on some of the things James had suffered at the hands of his mother. Roger was sure there was more no one knew about. That didn’t, however, give James a free pass for all the cruelty he inflicted on the Tabiqian women and their children.
“What are you going to tell Brice?” Gia asked.
“Hell if I know. I’d like to have more proof than just newspaper clippings.”
“You could get a DNA test done.”
Roger laughed. “You want me to ask two very rich and power families for a sample of their DNA to prove they are long lost cousins? Hell, I’m not sure either one would want to know how that came about.”
Gia reached over and touched his hand. “Roger, it was an ugly time. The war had taken a toll on a lot of people. But that’s all in the past now. Brice must’ve had his reasons for asking you to look into this. You have to tell him,” she said softly.
He nodded. “I know.” The problem wasn’t the Hendersons being related to the Lawsons. It was two families now having to live with what had been passed down through the generations. And I just hope this sick behavior ended with James.
“Do you want to head back tonight so you can talk to him about it tomorrow?” Gia offered.
There was a knock on the door and a voice said, “Room service.” The woman came in, set the table, and left. Only then did Roger reply to her.