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CHAPTER ONE

IN THE DIMINISHING light, Leo Spencer was beginning to question his decision toat hi acres of countryside reaching out on either side to distant horizons which had now been sed up by the gathering dusk

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell his driver to put his foot down, but ould be the point? How , unlit country roads, still hazardous fro tohe needed was to end up in a ditch somewhere The last car they had passed had been several miles back God only knehere the nearest toas

He concluded that February was, possibly, the very worst month in which to have undertaken this trip to the outer reaches of Ireland He had failed to foresee the length of tiet to his destination and he now cursed the contorted reasoning that hadthere on the company plane

The flight to Dublin had been straightforward enough but, the minute he had met his driver outside the airport, the trip had evolved into a nightmare of traffic, diversions and, as they’d appeared to leave all traces of civilisation behind, a network of bleak, perilous roadsby the constant threat of snow It hung in the air like a death shroud, biding its ti

Giving up on all hope of getting anything useful done, Leo snapped shut his laptop and stared at the gloomy scenery

The rolling hills were dark contours rising ominously up from flat fields in which lurked a honeyco streams and rivers, none of which was visible at this time of the late afternoon Leo was accustoht of London He had never had much time for the joys of the countryside and his indifference to it was rapidly being ce mile

But this was a trip that had to be undertaken

When he reflected on the narrative of his life, he knew that it was an essential journey The death of hisso shortly after his father’s own unexpected des, he had been playing golf with his friends—had left him with no excuses for avoidance He had to find out where he really came from, who his real birth parents were He would never have disrespected his adoptive parents when they were alive by searching out his birth family but the time had come

He closed his eyes and the ie of his own life flickered in front of him like an old-fashioned movie reel: adopted at birth by a successful and wealthy couple in their late thirties who had been unable to have children of their own; brought up with all the advantages a solid, round had to offer; private school and holidays abroad A brilliant academic career followed by a stint at an investboard for a h the financial world until, at the ripe old age of thirty-two, he now had more money than he could ever hope to spend in a lifetime and the freedom to use it in the more creative arena of acquisitions

He seeolden touch None of his acquisitions to date had failed Additionally, he had been bequeathed a sizeable fortune by his parents All told, the only grey area in a life that had been blessed with success was the e Like a pernicious weed, it had never been co on the edges of his consciousness, and he knew that it would always be there unless he took active measures to put it to rest once and for all

Not given to introspection of any sort, there were acy, despite all the advantages his wonderful adoptive parents had given him His relationships omen had all been short-lived He enjoyed a varied love life with soible wo to any of the the kind of round on which a successful relationship could flourish But there lurked the nagging suspicion that the notion of his own feckless parents duers they could had fostered a deep-seatedexample his adoptive parents had set for him

He had known for several years where he could locate his mother He had no idea if his natural father was still on the scene—quite possibly not The whereabouts of his mother was information that had sat, untouched, in his locked office drawer until now