Chapter 13 - The Wife Before Nathan’s Mother
Nathan had never heard the name Victoria Sloane.
According to every story he knew, Charles Mercer had married only once.
Nathan’s mother, Eleanor, had died when Nathan was thirteen. Charles had rarely discussed his life before their marriage.
Margaret opened a locked drawer and removed an old photograph.
Charles stood beside a tall dark-haired woman outside Blackridge’s first office.
The woman’s eyes were sharp and direct.
Even in a faded photograph, she seemed to be studying the person behind the camera.
“They married when Charles was twenty-four,” Margaret said. “Blackridge did not exist then.”
“What happened?”
“They created the original energy-routing system together. Victoria believed the technology should be licensed to governments and intelligence contractors. Charles wanted civilian control.”
“They divorced over the company?”
“They divorced because Charles discovered she was sharing their research with a private network.”
“Orion.”
“It did not have that name yet.”
Nathan looked at the photograph.
“Why did he hide her from me?”
“Because their divorce agreement included sealed records. Because your mother wanted no connection to Victoria. And because Charles believed silence would protect you.”
“It didn’t.”
“No.”
Elena searched public databases.
“There is no recent record for Victoria Sloane.”
“She changed identities often,” Margaret said.
Vanessa remained near the window.
“The woman who recruited me called herself Evelyn Drake. But that is her voice.”
“You’re certain?” Nathan asked.
“I heard it every week for two years.”
Margaret examined the Crown Lake files.
“If Victoria created Bellweather’s operation, she selected Vanessa long before Adrian became involved.”
Nathan replayed his father’s final video.
Someone had already entered our family.
Charles had not meant Adrian.
He had meant Vanessa.
Or the woman directing her.
Nathan’s phone rang.
Daniel Hurst.
“Nathan, we have a problem,” the prosecutor said. “Adrian Shaw is willing to cooperate.”
“That sounds useful.”
“He claims you designed the entire withdrawal operation.”
“He warned me he would.”
“He has documents.”
“Fabricated.”
“He also has a witness.”
“Who?”
“Your former chief financial officer, Martin Keene.”
Nathan remembered Martin as a careful, quiet executive who had resigned six months earlier after a dispute with Adrian.
“Martin accused Adrian of manipulating the reserve accounts.”
“His statement now says you ordered him to create undisclosed liabilities. He says Adrian discovered the fraud and tried to stop you.”
Elena searched Martin’s file.
“He was never part of Orion’s original network.”
“Then they reached him recently,” Nathan said.
Hurst continued.
“Adrian will be released into protective custody while we assess his information.”
“You’re releasing him?”
“He is offering access to Crown Lake’s foreign accounts.”
Nathan understood.
Adrian was exchanging one layer of the conspiracy for protection from another.
“When?”
“He left the detention facility twelve minutes ago.”
The call ended.
Elena accessed traffic cameras near the facility.
A government vehicle carrying Adrian entered a tunnel beneath the east side.
It never appeared at the other end.
Hurst called again.
“The transport signal is gone.”
Nathan stared at the screen.
“You lost him?”
“The vehicle has been found.”
“Where is Adrian?”
“He is not inside.”
The escort officers had been discovered unharmed but unconscious. Their communication devices were missing. The vehicle’s interior cameras had been erased.
Adrian had been taken.
Or he had arranged his own disappearance.
A message arrived on Nathan’s phone.
It came from Adrian’s number.
I HAVE TEN MINUTES BEFORE THEY MOVE ME AGAIN.
Nathan replied.
WHO HAS YOU?
Adrian answered.
VICTORIA.
A location followed.
An abandoned ferry terminal on the southern waterfront.
Margaret shook her head.
“It is a trap.”
“Of course it is.”
“You cannot go.”
“Adrian knows the foreign accounts.”
“He also helped destroy you.”
“And now the person above him believes he failed.”
Vanessa moved away from the window.
“I’m going with you.”
“No.”
“Victoria recruited me. She may speak to me.”
“She may kill the operation the moment she sees you.”
“She knows I signed the transfer. She knows I spoke during the board meeting. I am already exposed.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You don’t get to earn forgiveness by placing yourself in danger.”
“I’m not asking for forgiveness.”
“What are you asking for?”
“A chance to stop being useful to them.”
Nathan considered Charles’s warning again.
Understanding Vanessa’s coercion did not restore their marriage.
But it gave him a reason not to leave her entirely powerless.
Margaret prepared a legal evidence package while Elena contacted Hurst and shared the location. Investigators would remain several minutes away to avoid alerting whoever held Adrian.
The ferry terminal stood empty beneath a gray afternoon sky.
Nathan and Vanessa entered through a broken side gate.
A single black car waited near the water.
Adrian sat in the rear seat.
The doors were open.
He appeared unharmed.
Nathan stopped twenty feet away.
“You look comfortable for a hostage.”
Adrian stepped out.
“I knew you would come.”
“Where is Victoria?”
“Watching.”
Vanessa searched the upper windows.
Adrian held a small drive between two fingers.
“This contains Orion’s master account index.”
“Why give it to me?”
“Because they are replacing me with you.”
Nathan laughed once.
“They spent years destroying me.”
“To make you controllable.”
“I’m not.”
“That is what Charles said too.”
Adrian tossed the drive onto the pavement between them.
Nathan did not pick it up.
“What does Victoria want?”
“For you to accept leadership of Halcyon.”
“Why?”
“Because only a Mercer can unlock the final trust.”
“What final trust?”
Adrian looked toward the river.
“The one containing the technology Blackridge was created to hide.”
Vanessa spoke.
“Where is Victoria?”
Adrian’s eyes moved to her.
“Closer than you think.”
A gunshot-like crack echoed from the terminal roof, but no bullet struck them. A camera mounted above the gate exploded, showering sparks onto the pavement.
A warning.
Adrian stepped backward toward the car.
“You have until midnight to open the drive.”
“What happens at midnight?”
“Blackridge’s restored reserve accounts disappear permanently.”
Nathan glanced at the drive.
“And if I open it?”
“Victoria learns whether your father left you the final authorization.”
Adrian entered the car.
Before closing the door, he looked at Nathan with something close to regret.
“Your father did survive the crash.”
The car sped away.
Vanessa stared after it.
Nathan remained still.
Adrian had finally said the words directly.
Charles Mercer was alive.
Or Adrian needed Nathan to believe he was.
Nathan picked up the drive.
May you like
A countdown glowed on its surface.
Nine hours and forty-one minutes remained.
