Chapter 10 - the mercer nobody spoke about
Gabriel had only one uncle.
At least that was what he had believed his entire life.
Daniel Reese locked the office door.
Detective Shaw kept one hand near her weapon.
Gabriel stared at him.
"What other uncle?"
Reese looked toward the windows.
"Your father's younger brother."
"My father didn't have a younger brother."
"Yes, he did."
Gabriel laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
"I would know."
"Your grandfather erased him from the family."
"People aren't erased."
"Rich families have been trying for centuries."
Reese sat down.
"His name was Jonathan Mercer."
Gabriel searched his memory.
Nothing.
No photograph.
No story.
No Christmas card.
No mention.
"Why was he erased?"
"Because he accused your grandfather of stealing from the trusts."
Gabriel felt cold.
"When?"
"Almost thirty years ago."
"And what happened?"
"He disappeared."
Shaw asked, "Missing person?"
"No official report."
"Why?"
"The family said he moved to Europe."
Gabriel looked at Reese.
"Did he?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"Because I saw him fifteen years later."
Silence.
"Where?"
"At Mercer Holdings."
Gabriel's pulse accelerated.
"He came to see your father."
"When?"
"About a month before Edward Mercer died."
Gabriel sat slowly.
"My father knew he was alive."
"Yes."
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"I don't know."
Reese rubbed his forehead.
"Edward told me never to mention Jonathan. He said it was a family matter."
"And Morrow?"
Reese hesitated.
"Jonathan used the name Thomas Morrow."
Gabriel felt the entire investigation shift.
Morrow was a name.
Julia had discovered that.
Maybe she had discovered Jonathan too.
"Is he alive?"
Reese shook his head.
"I don't know."
Shaw asked, "Did Malcolm know about Jonathan?"
"Of course."
"What was their relationship?"
"Hatred."
Gabriel looked at Julia's folders.
"Then Malcolm might not be the mastermind."
Reese gave a bitter smile.
"Do not mistake that for innocence."
"I don't."
"Malcolm spent decades trying to protect what the Mercers had. Jonathan wanted to expose what they had done."
"Done to whom?"
Reese looked away.
"That's where this becomes difficult."
Gabriel's patience broke.
"My wife is dead. My father may have been murdered. My baby was nearly sent down a staircase. Difficult stopped mattering."
Reese nodded.
"The original Mercer fortune did not come entirely from your grandfather's businesses."
Gabriel said nothing.
"There was another family."
"What family?"
"The Morrows."
Gabriel stared at him.
Reese continued.
"In the 1970s, your grandfather partnered with a man named Charles Morrow. They created several investment funds."
"And?"
"Charles died unexpectedly."
Gabriel's stomach tightened.
"Then what?"
"Your grandfather absorbed most of the assets."
"Legally?"
Reese's silence answered.
Gabriel stood.
"Are you telling me the Mercer fortune was stolen?"
"Part of it."
"How much?"
"Enough to build everything that came afterward."
Shaw asked, "What happened to the Morrow family?"
"Charles had one daughter."
"Name?"
"Elena."
Gabriel waited.
Reese looked directly at him.
"Jonathan Mercer married her."
Gabriel felt his mind trying to catch up.
His forgotten uncle married the daughter of the man their grandfather had allegedly cheated.
"That's why he turned against the family?"
"Partly."
"Where is Elena now?"
"No idea."
"And Jonathan?"
"No idea."
Gabriel looked at the city outside.
Julia had discovered a hidden war that began before Gabriel was born.
But why would Jonathan target Julia?
Why threaten children?
If Jonathan wanted to expose the Mercer family, murdering them made no sense.
Unless he wanted revenge.
A phone vibrated.
Not Gabriel's.
Not Shaw's.
Reese slowly reached into his pocket.
His face went white when he saw the screen.
"What?"
Gabriel asked.
Reese handed him the phone.
A message had arrived from an unknown number.
LEAVE THE OFFICE NOW.
Gabriel looked at Shaw.
Then another message appeared.
YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES.
Shaw immediately moved toward the door.
"Everybody out."
They took the stairs.
At floor thirty-eight, fire alarms began.
At thirty-five, smoke rose through the stairwell.
At thirty-two, security announced an electrical fire on the forty-second floor.
Gabriel stopped.
"Julia's office."
Shaw pulled him forward.
"Move."
They reached the street nine minutes later.
Flames were visible behind the windows of the forty-second floor.
Gabriel stood in the rain watching Julia's office burn.
The files were gone.
The cabinet.
The photographs.
The recorder.
Everything they had not already removed.
Reese stood beside him.
"This is what they do."
Gabriel turned.
"Who?"
Reese stared up at the flames.
"The Mercers."
Gabriel's voice became cold.
"I'm a Mercer."
May you like
Reese looked at him.
"Then decide which kind."
