Chapter 8 - The Lie Lucas Told
Lucas said nothing during the drive back to Saint Anne’s.
Detective Quinn had taken his laptop and phone as evidence. He was not under arrest, but an officer rode beside him.
Daniel traveled in another vehicle.
He watched the city lights pass beyond the rain-streaked window and thought about Malcolm’s final words.
Ask your brother.
When they reached the hospital, Sarah was asleep again.
Claire met Daniel outside the room.
“The court issued an emergency protection order,” she said. “Sarah stays here tonight. Tomorrow there will be a temporary custody hearing.”
“And Rachel?”
“In another secured room.”
“Has Sarah asked about her?”
“Twice.”
Daniel looked through the window.
No matter how furious he felt toward Rachel, she was still Sarah’s mother.
That truth would make every decision harder.
Detective Quinn requested that Daniel join her in a private office.
Lucas sat at the table without his coat. His torn sleeve had been removed for examination.
Quinn placed several printed pages in front of him.
“Your password did not appear through ordinary system monitoring,” she said. “It was entered manually.”
Lucas stared at the table.
“Someone could have installed a keylogger.”
“On which device?”
“My office computer.”
“We checked. No unauthorized software.”
“My phone.”
“Also clean.”
Lucas remained silent.
Daniel sat across from him.
“What did you hide?”
“Nothing connected to Sarah.”
“That is not an answer.”
Lucas rubbed both hands over his face.
“Three weeks ago, when I first found the Northbridge connection, I contacted Malcolm.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You spoke to him?”
“I wanted to confirm he was involved.”
“You should have called the police.”
“I had no proof.”
“So you called the man connected to Dad’s death?”
“He claimed he had information about Dad.”
Daniel stood.
Quinn told him to sit down.
He ignored her.
“What information?”
“Malcolm said Dad was alive.”
“And you believed him?”
“He sent me a video.”
Lucas removed a memory card from the inside seam of his wallet.
The officer immediately took it.
“You kept hidden evidence on you?” Quinn demanded.
“I didn’t know whether the video was real.”
“You also didn’t want us to find it,” Daniel said.
Lucas looked at him.
“The recording showed Dad sitting in a room. He spoke directly to the camera.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me not to involve you.”
Daniel’s anger sharpened.
“And you obeyed?”
“For three weeks.”
“My daughter was being manipulated.”
“I did not know that yet.”
“You knew Malcolm had access to Rachel’s security system.”
“I thought he was monitoring financial records.”
“You thought that made it acceptable?”
“No.”
“Then why did you keep working alone?”
Lucas looked toward the door.
“Because Dad gave me a name.”
“What name?”
“Evan Mercer.”
Daniel frowned.
“There is no Evan Mercer.”
“According to Dad, there is.”
The memory card was placed into an isolated evidence computer.
The video opened.
Thomas Mercer appeared on the screen.
He had aged.
His hair was almost entirely gray, and deep lines marked his face, but Daniel recognized him immediately.
The way he held his head.
The slight narrowing of his left eye.
The old scar near his chin.
Daniel reached toward the screen without touching it.
His father was alive.
Thomas looked directly into the camera.
“Lucas, listen carefully. Do not contact Daniel. Malcolm is watching him more closely than he watches you. Find Evan before Northbridge moves the final account. The boy does not know who he is, and Malcolm intends to keep it that way.”
The video ended.
Daniel stared at the frozen image.
“How old is this?”
“The file claims it was recorded three weeks ago,” Lucas said.
“Can that be verified?”
“No.”
“Who is Evan?”
“I don’t know.”
“You never searched?”
“I found dozens of records. They were all false.”
Detective Quinn looked at the red ring in the hospital evidence bag.
“Could Evan be the man who resembles you?”
Lucas’s face changed.
The possibility had occurred to him.
Daniel sat slowly.
“Our father had another son.”
“I don’t know.”
“You heard him call Evan a boy.”
“Dad called me a boy until I was thirty.”
“Why would Malcolm hide him?”
“Maybe because he has a claim to the foundation.”
Daniel remembered the three rings.
Three founders.
Three authorization profiles.
Perhaps there was another heir.
Or another witness.
Quinn examined the video metadata.
“The password used at Northbridge was created after Lucas received this recording.”
Daniel looked at his brother.
“You used the password when communicating with Malcolm.”
Lucas did not answer.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Then Malcolm could have captured it.”
“Yes.”
“You let him into your system.”
“I used an isolated computer.”
“Apparently not isolated enough.”
Lucas looked ashamed.
“I was trying to find Dad.”
“And while you chased a secret, Malcolm came after Sarah.”
“I know.”
Daniel stood again.
This time, no one stopped him.
He left the office and walked to Sarah’s room.
He needed distance from his brother before anger made him say something he could never take back.
Inside the room, Sarah was awake.
Nurse Evelyn was helping her drink water.
Daniel sat beside the bed.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked.
“I had a bad dream.”
“You’re safe.”
“Is Uncle Lucas safe?”
“Yes.”
Sarah reached toward the small cloth rabbit lying beside her pillow.
Claire had brought it from the car.
“I forgot something,” Sarah said.
“What?”
“Mr. Gray didn’t know Bunny could see.”
Daniel looked at the toy.
“What do you mean?”
“Grandpa gave it to me.”
“Grandpa disappeared before you were born.”
“Not that Grandpa.”
Daniel’s heartbeat quickened.
“Who gave you the rabbit?”
“The man behind the glass.”
Sarah turned the toy over.
A narrow stitched opening ran beneath one ear.
Daniel called Nurse Evelyn back into the room.
Police examined the rabbit without damaging it.
Inside was a tiny camera and storage unit.
Lucas was brought from the interview room.
Sarah’s toy had recorded more than forty hours of footage.
Unlike the house-security files, the recordings had never passed through Malcolm’s server.
They were original.
The first playable video showed Rachel sitting in the blue room.
Malcolm stood beside her.
Mr. Gray faced the camera.
In clear light, his resemblance to Lucas was unmistakable.
He looked directly toward Sarah’s rabbit.
May you like
Then Malcolm addressed him by name.
“Evan, close the door.”
