The Inheritance Games, #4
The Brothers Hawthorne
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Contents
CHAPTER 21: GRAYSON
Overview
Grayson joins Gigi and Savannah in searching Sheffield’s office for clues about the safe-deposit box, while secretly working to control or obstruct Gigi’s investigation. The search yields two hidden items Grayson conceals: the index card that held the key and a USB drive hidden inside a family portrait.
Savannah’s distrust of Grayson sharpens, but Gigi remains determined and pulls both of them toward the next stage of the hunt. The chapter deepens the mystery around Sheffield’s alias and points the investigation toward Duncan’s party the next night.
Summary
Gigi brings Grayson and Savannah into Sheffield Grayson’s office and explains that she found the safe-deposit box key hidden inside Sheffield’s computer, attached to a cut-down index card. Grayson asks to examine the key and photographs it under the pretense of studying the bank etchings, while privately considering making a flawed duplicate to keep Gigi from opening the box.
Savannah openly challenges Grayson’s involvement, accusing him of helping Gigi because Grayson cannot believe Sheffield would abandon his family or have another woman. Grayson answers that Gigi will pursue the mystery with or without help, but Savannah’s distrust remains clear. Gigi frames the search as “step negative one” and insists they first make sure Sheffield’s own office contains no clue to the alias used for the box.
Grayson asks about the index card and, after Gigi retrieves it from the trash, secretly pockets it when Gigi is not looking. Gigi instructs them to search for fake identification, papers, drives, or anything connected to another name. Grayson also learns that Sheffield sold his company shortly after his mother’s death, not long before Sheffield came after Avery, and Savannah quietly asks whether Gigi tried the name Colin, their dead cousin, revealing how strongly Colin still shadows the family.
Grayson searches the office methodically while watching the twins. After finding nothing in the desk, shelves, furniture, floorboards, art, or a framed photo of Colin, Grayson examines a family portrait of the twins with their parents. The image makes Grayson reflect on the normal-looking family life he never had, but he pushes the thought aside and discovers a hidden compartment in the frame.
Inside the compartment, Grayson finds a USB drive and secretly palms it into his shirt cuff before Savannah approaches. Savannah warns Grayson without specifying what she has seen, and Grayson tests her by asking what he wants, what he fears losing, and what kind of person he is. Gigi interrupts the charged exchange, Savannah pushes to end the search, and Gigi reveals that the next stage will happen the following night at a party.
Who Appears
- Grayson HawthorneSearches Sheffield’s office while secretly trying to control Gigi’s safe-deposit box investigation.
- Gigi GraysonEnergetically leads the search for clues to Sheffield’s hidden safe-deposit box alias.
- Savannah GraysonDistrusts Grayson, challenges his motives, and tries to protect Gigi from him.
- Sheffield GraysonAbsent father whose hidden key, office, and possible alias drive the chapter’s investigation.
- ColinThe twins’ dead cousin, mentioned as a possible alias and lingering family shadow.