Maxwell arrived at the gate of the mansion, and very annoyed, he had to let his car be subjected to a meticulous search.
"Sorry, sir." One of the men from the house guard, who were manning the entrance, came to inform him of what had happened. "We don't suspect you. But Mr. Henry told us to check every car that tries to enter here for anyone who might have hidden without your consent. You'll also notice that more cameras have been placed everywhere around the property, and they have motion sensors. There's no way anything can get through without us keeping an eye on it."
Maxwell pressed his lips together in a thin line. His brother's joke showed how unprotected his children were.
"That's how it should be. I have nothing to apologize for. I have you to thank for protecting my family while I was away." Maxwell replied.
"Mr. Henry left us instructions in case you wished to leave with your family. He left everything planned out so that if there is still someone alive spying on you, you can pass through without them noticing."
"Yes. I'm going to travel to the United States with all my family. I don't intend to stay away from any of my children or my mother."
"Whenever you want, sir."
"I want it now. I'll go into the house and tell everyone to pack their bags. Should the nannies go along? Are they reliable?"
"Yes. They're all trustworthy in this house. We, the house guards, will keep our post here, but other men have already been chosen to accompany you on your journey for as long as necessary."
"Do you know if Henry has arranged housing for a family like mine, and the nannies?"
"Yes, sir. They will all be housed in a mansion like this one, a safe distance from your brother's nearest town. And, just like here, all the security equipment has already been installed. You and your family won't have to worry about a thing."
"What about the false documents? We can't leave the country with our real names. My brother must have arranged for all the airports in that country to inform him if we were going to travel."
"Sir... You're going by private jet. At the airport on this farm."
Maxwell took a deep breath. He had forgotten that detail. He was relieved, after all. But he had no intention of returning with his family to a place marked by Adam. He was going to another country. Just as he had planned with Anna, before all those things happened.
He got into his car and had just arrived at the mansion. He went into the house, and already in the living room, he heard the excited voices of the children and the laughter of their mothers. He went towards the noise, and found them in the TV room, playing with the guns he saw pointed at his family, and even with the fake kidnapper's hood. His family couldn't know that Adam had told him the whole farce. If his biological mother knew, she would suspect that Adam knew the truth about him and she would certainly seek to eliminate this threat.
As soon as the children saw him, they dropped everything on the floor and came to hug him. He hugged them back.
"And mommy?" Tayme asked with her little finger in her mouth.
"We're going to meet her..." Maxwell said, and looked at their mothers. "Are you coming with me? It's very important to me that my children live with you."
They looked at each other, and then Maxwell's biological mother smiled at him.
"We're all packed. We've just been waiting for you."
Maxwell smiled gratefully.
"And Jenna?"
"She's in her room."
"Will she stay, or will she come with us?"
"She said she won't stay without her husband. She hasn't even unpacked."
"Then it's time for us to leave." Maxwell said, looking at David and Donald. He could no longer tell who was who. It crossed his mind to tell them to put each other's names on their clothes, but knowing that they would change their clothes just to be confused, he gave up on the idea.
He went up to his room and as soon as he entered and opened the closet, he saw Anna's clothes and his heart squeezed. He took out his cell phone and asked the housekeeper to send one of the maids to his room.
The young woman who knocked on the door, he only knew existed in the house because of her unruly, curly red hair, which stood out because it was a shade he had never seen before. He didn't even know half the employees who worked there. But that didn't matter. Helen was dead and she needed...
"Did you come to sort my wife's clothes?" He asked, noticing that there was something different about the girl, something besides her red hair...
"Yes, sir." She said shyly. Maxwell was distracted, wondering what it would be like to take her to bed. But he shook his head, reproaching himself. Anna was suffering from the distance between them, and he was already thinking about distracting himself from his problems in the wrong way.
"I want you to collect all Anna's clothes, and all my clothes that are left here. I also want you to take all my family's personal belongings, including the toys, and send them to the address I'll give you as soon as I get to the States. Can you do that?"
"Sir... Only this room has been spared. The other belongings have already been packed and sent somewhere I can't tell you. There are only a few clothes left in each individual suitcase."
"Got it..." Maxwell said, thinking how his father-in-law had thought of everything. He didn't leave a single detail out of his plans. He certainly wouldn't be able to get rid of him easily, and it was likely that he would want to leave for another country, along with the whole family.
And Maxwell didn't know if he still wanted him away from his children. Not now, when he had proved that he would never let his grandchildren be threatened. He was a safe haven that he was no longer willing to abandon. He understood that he needed Henry. And he hoped that Anna would have the same thought, once she knew that at no time were her children at risk of death. He wanted to call her and hear the sound of her voice. He closed his eyes, remembering the night they spent together. Only then did he remember that the redhead was still there, and when he opened his eyes, she was staring at him with a smile that he was holding back with difficulty.
"Would you like me to do the same with your belongings?" She asked, turning her head so that Maxwell wouldn't see her smile.
But Maxwell wasn't interested in her smile. It was something more... that he was thinking about.
"What's your name?" He asked suddenly.
"I'm Camille, sir."
"Camille... If I asked, would you lie with me?" Maxwell asked, now totally oblivious to the promised fidelity. Wishing to satisfy a mad craving that the memory of Anna, and also of Helen, brought him.