Chapter 13 - THE NIGHT THE MERCERS LOST CONTROL
By midnight, the mansion was surrounded by security.
Claire remained inside.
Not because she was afraid.
Because she wanted answers.
Laura sat across from her.
“The police are handling the situation.”
Claire nodded.
“And Martin?”
“Still missing.”
Claire looked at the ledger.
“We need him.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because he is the only person who can authenticate the original agreements.”
Claire looked at the documents.
“We already have enough.”
Laura shook her head.
“Enough for the first step.”
“What about the second?”
Laura didn't answer.
Claire understood.
There was something bigger.
Something Laura hadn't told her.
“You know something.”
Laura sighed.
“I found another company.”
Claire's expression changed.
“Another Mercer company?”
“No.”
“Then whose?”
Laura slid a document across the table.
Claire read the name.
Hale Financial Advisory.
Claire looked up.
“Martin?”
“Yes.”
“What does he have to do with it?”
“He isn't just a witness.”
Claire stared.
“What is he?”
Laura leaned closer.
“He was the person who helped structure your father's protection.”
Claire froze.
“So he knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“Well enough that your father trusted him.”
Claire looked at the ledger.
“Then why did he disappear?”
Laura said nothing.
Claire stood.
“We find him.”
The search continued until dawn.
Then Daniel arrived.
He looked exhausted.
“You shouldn't be here.”
Claire looked at him.
“You know where Martin is.”
Daniel hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Daniel placed a key on the table.
“He left this for you.”
Claire stared.
“What is it?”
“A storage unit.”
“Where?”
Daniel gave her the address.
Claire looked at Laura.
“Let's go.”
The storage unit contained no money.
No weapons.
No dramatic evidence.
Only boxes.
Old documents.
Photographs.
And one cassette recorder.
Claire pressed play.
Her father's voice filled the room.
“If you're hearing this, Claire, I failed to protect you.”
Claire froze.
The recording continued.
“I need you to understand one thing. Richard wasn't the only person involved.”
Claire looked at Daniel.
He looked away.
Her father's voice continued.
“There was another person.”
The recording stopped.
Claire stared at the machine.
“What happened?”
Daniel's face had gone pale.
He whispered:
“I thought that part was gone.”
“What part?”
“The name.”
Claire looked at him.
“Whose name?”
Daniel took a breath.
Then he said:
“Your mother.”
Claire froze.
“My mother?”
Daniel nodded.
“She knew Richard.”
Claire stared.
“My mother died when I was young.”
“Yes.”
“What did she know?”
Daniel looked at the old boxes.
“More than anyone.”
Claire opened the nearest box.
Inside was a photograph.
Her mother.
Richard.
Her father.
And a fourth person.
Claire didn't recognize him.
On the back of the photograph was a date.
The year before Claire was born.
And beneath it, a handwritten sentence:
This is where everything began.
Claire turned the photograph over.
Her hands trembled.
Then she saw the name of the fourth person.
She knew it.
It was the same name that appeared on the final page of the blue ledger.
The person behind the Mercer family.
The person who had remained invisible for decades.
Claire looked at Daniel.
“Who is this?”
Daniel stared at the photograph.
“I don't know.”
Claire frowned.
“You just said—”
“I said I knew the name.”
“What does that mean?”
May you like
Daniel looked toward the door.
“It means I have spent twenty years trying to forget it.”
