CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

After looking through dozens of photo albums and relearning her family history, the entire team was excited to be served dinner in the magnificent dining hall. It hadn't been used in years, and the only remaining servant at the chateau was scrambling to get things ready.

"Let us help," smiled Elena. "You can't do this by yourself."

"Madam, this is my job," said the man.

"I know, and you're doing an amazing job. But we were unexpected, and we'd like to help."

They chipped in on setting the table, making the food, and bringing up the wine. It was a celebration, and everyone was thrilled that Daphne had at least a few answers to help her understand where she'd come from. The St. Valary family had spent generations in this part of France. Having made their money in shipping and agriculture, primarily vineyards, they'd been a respected and admired family in France.

"Mr. and Mrs. St. Valary," said Brix.

"Please," smiled Francois. "I believe you can call us Mama and Papa, or Mary Elizabeth and Francois. Whatever is comfortable for you."

"Thank you, Francois," grinned Brix. "Did either of you ever meet Lord or Lady Bishop during your travels?"

"Not that I recall," said Mary Elizabeth, shaking her head. She turned to her husband, who had a thoughtful expression.

"I believe I met Lord Bishop once during a business meeting in England. My wife and Dauphine were with me at the time. He was settling a case for an English oil drilling company, and I was representing the French vineyard interests to protect our lands."

"You were on opposing sides?" asked Tiger.

"No. No," he said, shaking his head. "We were on the same side. There was a celebratory dinner afterwards. We were all very young. I remember him telling me that he and his wife were trying to adopt a child."

"Did you meet Lady Bishop?" asked Major.

"Not that I recall. I feel as though she had an illness or something and stayed behind. Strange, though, that we didn't meet."

"Why do you say that?" asked Sebastian.

"Because we were all staying in the same hotel. Their manor house was being redecorated, and Lord Bishop said the wallpaper paste made his wife ill, so they were staying in London for a few weeks. We were involved in many outdoor events and activities that week, so I would have thought she'd want to enjoy the fresh air, but I never saw her."

"Were there other members of the Lightkeepers group with you?" asked Walker.

"Why yes," he nodded thoughtfully. "I hadn't remembered that, but yes. In fact, there were about twenty members present. We all had mutual interests, and there was to be a meeting before our upcoming voyage."

"We need to find out more information about Lady Bishop before she met your father," said Brix.

"I need to call my father," said Daphne. "I mean, my adoptive father." Francois smiled at his daughter, realizing how perfectly she'd turned out. She was a carbon copy of his beloved wife, and her mannerisms were identical to his own.

"It's alright, Dauphine," smiled Francois. "You were raised believing he was your father. Adopted or not, he did a fine job with you. It's alright to have two fathers." Daphne smiled at her biological father and dialed Lord Bishop's number.

"Daphne! I've been waiting to hear from you. Did you find them? Are they your parents?" he asked, filled with excitement for his daughter. She loved him even more for being so supportive in this moment.

"I found them, Father. And yes, they are my biological parents."

"Oh, that's wonderful," he sniffed. "Just wonderful, darling. I look forward to meeting them soon and sharing all of your childhood photos with them. There's so much to fill them in on."

"Father, it doesn't change our relationship. I know you had nothing to do with this," she said.

"But I didn't question her. I should have. I should have done many things, and I did not. I'm ashamed of myself for that."

"Please don't be. I know you meant nothing hurtful by it. Father? I need to know about Mother's past. Where did she come from? Who were her parents?"

"All wonderful questions," he said. "I wish I could answer them. I've told you how we met once before. Your mother was waiting outside the gates of Oxford one Friday morning. I ran into her, and she said she was waiting for a friend. I asked her to coffee, and we spoke as if we'd known one another for ages. We had the same interests, same goals, or so it seemed."

"Same interests? Like what?" asked Brix.

"Well, she said she was interested in cricket, which turned out to be a stretch. She didn't care for it at all. She claimed she had an interest in art, but not really. Only to the point of buying mounds of it. Come to think of it, I wasn't very smart, was I?"

"Sir, where was your wife from?" asked Tiger.

"Ghana. She told me that her parents were dead, and she was living with an aunt in Ghana. She'd come to England for holiday with some friends."

"Did she return to Ghana?" asked Brix.

"No. In fact, she got an apartment with another young woman, and within six months, I proposed to her."

"So, she never told you about her family, if she had siblings or not. Nothing."

"No," he said quietly. "I must appear pretty stupid to you all. I was in love with her. Deirdre was quite beautiful when she was young. She still is, I suppose. Although the horrible things she's done have diminished her beauty in my eyes considerably."

"It will do that," said Zulu. "I assume you had a rather plush wedding. Did no one from her family come?"

"No. She told my mother that some of them had died and that those remaining in her family were suffering from some illness, but they encouraged her to proceed with the wedding. They would all celebrate later, but we never did."

"Sir, what was your wife's maiden name?" asked Major.

"Yeboah. Deirdre Yeboah."

"Shit," muttered Zulu. "Shit, shit, shit."

"What? What's wrong?" asked Daphne.

"Asante Yeboah was a terrorist rebel leader who killed thousands if not millions. His goal was to exterminate anyone who didn't side with his beliefs. He was responsible for the kidnapping, rape, mutilation, and murder of twelve young girls that my team was sent to rescue."

"Dear God," muttered Daphne.

"AJ? Pigsty? Does anyone hear me?" asked Zulu.

" We've got you, Zulu, and we heard. I'm sending the information to Ghost and the other members of your team to see what they remember about what happened to him and his family. I'll start my research now and see if he had a daughter. I know he was killed not long after you all left the service."

"Yep. Because we killed him," said Zulu. He turned and stared at his granddaughter-in-law. "I'm sorry, honey. But our team killed him."

"It's okay. It sounds like he wasn't meant to live. I wonder if terrorism can be inherited."

"I don't think terrorism can, but hate and evil certainly could be," said Zulu. "If your mother was indeed his daughter, she may have mental issues that we will never understand."

"It would explain her eliminating my sister."

"Your sister?" asked Francois.

"They adopted two little girls. Cassandra and me. She became sick, and Deirdre refused to allow treatment for her, saying it only prolonged the inevitable, and she could never be married."

"Cassandra? Was she younger than you?" asked Mary Elizabeth.

"Yes, by a year or two."

"I wonder," whispered her mother. She stood and went to a desk, pulling out a stack of photos. She spread them across the top of the desk and then picked up a photo. "Here. This one. Is that the girl?"

"That's her! That's Cassandra," smiled Daphne.

"No. That's Caliope. She was the daughter of our dear friends, Ingmar and Sborn Neudstrom of Norway. He was ridiculously wealthy from salmon fishing or something."

"She was one of the lost children," said Daphne. "Deirdre allowed her to die. Are the Neudstroms still alive?"

"Very much so," said Francois. "We see them on occasion when either one of us needs an escape. They will come here, or we go there. They live above the Arctic Circle near a small village called Honningsvag."

"We need to tell them about this," said Brix. "We'll need to tell all of the parents eventually, but right now, we're trying to find any records we can that will tell us where those children went and to whom."

"I know that they would be relieved to have closure to this. None of us ever expected to see our children again. Just having Dauphine here, alive, will give many hope who haven't had such in a long while. If one is alive, perhaps many are." Tiger stared at the man, nodding.

"We can all hope, sir."