Free The Lightkeeper's Daughter by Colleen Coble

door was open when she passed, and she peeked inside to see him propped on pillows.
    He gestured for her to come in. “I just sent the maid to ask you to come see me.”
    “Is everything all right?” she asked.
    “Come closer so I don’t have to raise my voice.”
    She peered down the hall, then stepped into the bedroom. Logs had been laid in the fireplace but weren’t lit. She seated herself on the chair beside the hissing gaslight. She folded her hands in her lap and prayed for this to be over so she could retire. She was unutterably weary.
    “I heard someone attacked you also, child. Is this true?”
    “Yes, sir. In the woods. He put a burlap bag over my head and tied my hands.” She showed him her wrists.
    He fingered his temple. “He didn’t hit you?”
    “No.”
    “What did he say?”
    “He said, ‘Don’t move.’ But he put a knife blade to my neck.”
    “That’s all?”
    She turned up the wick on the gaslight so she could see better. “I suspect it was the same man who attacked you, and he happened to stumble into me. I believe he wanted only to slow me down so he could escape.”
    Mr. Driscoll blinked, and his hands dropped back to the sheet. “Have you talked to anyone at all about your past?”
    “No, sir. When would I have had time?”
    “The attacks must be related,” he said.
    “Is this normally a safe area?”
    “Very safe. We’ve never had a break-in at Eaton Manor.”
    “Did your attacker take your wallet or anything else?”
    He shook his head. “It’s all accounted for.”
    Addie studied his pallid face. He could easily have been killed. “Do you have any idea what was behind the attack?”
    He pointed to the glass on the bedside table. “May I have a drink?”
    Was he stalling having to answer her? “Of course.” She lifted the glass to his lips and let him take a sip.
    “Thanks.” His head fell back against the pillow. “I didn’t tell Henry, but I think the attacker intended murder. He had a knife, as you know.”
    She put her hand to her throat. “How did you escape him?”
    “I kicked the knife out of his hand. He shoved me, and I fell back into the tree. Clara came out onto the porch and began to scream as he came toward me. I think her presence prevented him from finishing the job. He grabbed his knife and ran off into the forest.”
    “You think the attacker wanted to kill you because you brought me here?”
    His intent gaze held hers. “I’m a pharmacist and well liked. No one has so much as held up my drugstore.”
    “Why didn’t the man try to kill me, too, then?” she asked, her head spinning with questions. “He merely threatened me until he could tie me up. I was an easy mark if he intended murder.”
    He picked at the sheet. “I don’t know,” he said after a long pause. “Maybe he thought it would cause the police to dig into your background and the truth would come out.”
    “There’s nothing to be found if someone investigates me. Even those in Crescent City know me as the lightkeeper’s daughter.” She rubbed her eyes. “Have you heard from your investigator yet?”
    “I received a call this morning. The attorney’s office that processed the funds sent to your parents was destroyed by the Great Fire. All records were lost, so my investigator can’t find out anything by examining them. I’d hoped he could bribe someone to let him look at the records without involving the attorney.”
    “Oh no! Will we be able to find any proof?”
    “If he can locate the attorney, my agent might be able to persuade him to reveal the story, but that’s a long shot. If not, the locket and your resemblance will have to do.”
    “What resemblance?”
    He pointed to a painting over the fireplace that she’d paid little attention to. “Look at that picture of Laura.”
    She rose and stepped to the painting. Her mother. Addie had longed to see what she looked like, but she hadn’t yet found a photograph. She drank it in. “Her hair is redder than