Chapter 10 - the shot at ashford bridge)
Calvin reached Nora before the second shot.
He pulled her behind the stone abutment.
Daniel had already disappeared.
“Where did he go?”
“Stay down.”
“Where did he go?”
Another shot struck Nora’s car.
Glass exploded.
Calvin drew his weapon and moved toward the road.
The shooter was somewhere above the gorge.
Nora crouched behind the concrete wall, heart hammering.
She looked toward the place Daniel had been standing.
Nothing.
Then she saw the key card he had dropped.
She grabbed it.
Calvin returned three minutes later.
“Shooter’s gone.”
“Daniel?”
“Also gone.”
“He saved me.”
“Or staged it.”
Nora stared at him.
“You think he arranged someone to shoot at his own head?”
“I think Daniel Mercer has survived thirty-four years by making other people believe whatever keeps him alive.”
Police arrived.
Statements were taken.
The road was closed.
Nora refused an ambulance.
By noon, she was back at Gerald’s office.
Marcus paced.
Elaine sat rigidly near the window.
“You met him,” Elaine said.
“Yes.”
“Did he touch you?”
Nora looked at her.
“He pulled me out of the path of a bullet.”
Elaine’s face changed.
“That means nothing.”
“He says Northstar is worth four hundred million.”
Gerald went silent.
Marcus stopped pacing.
Elaine whispered, “He told you.”
“You knew?”
“I knew Samuel’s estimate was incomplete.”
Marcus laughed.
“Four hundred million.”
Nora looked at him.
“No.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were thinking loudly.”
Gerald asked, “What else did Daniel give you?”
Nora placed the key card on the desk.
Gerald recognized the logo.
Wellington Trust Company.
The same name Nora had seen in the old ledgers.
Elaine stood.
“No.”
Nora looked at her.
“What is Wellington?”
“Private storage. Financial archives.”
Gerald picked up the card.
“There used to be a Wellington branch in Bellweather.”
“Used to be?”
“It closed after the 2008 financial crisis.”
“Where are the records?”
Gerald’s face tightened.
“Chicago.”
Nora inspected the card.
A number had been written on the back.
4417.
Marcus leaned closer.
“Safe deposit box?”
“Possibly.”
Elaine said, “Destroy it.”
Nora looked at her.
“Are you going to suggest destroying every piece of evidence that appears?”
“If Daniel gave it to you, it is poison.”
“He could have let me get shot.”
“He never does anything without a reason.”
“What reason?”
Elaine looked at Nora with an expression almost like pity.
“To make you trust him.”
The phone rang.
Gerald answered.
His receptionist said something.
Gerald frowned.
“Send him in.”
Dean entered.
Marcus groaned.
“How the hell did you find us?”
Dean looked at Nora.
“We need to talk.”
“No.”
“Your brother’s debt is no longer my primary concern.”
“That is touching.”
Dean placed a tablet on Gerald’s desk.
Security footage.
A man entering a storage facility the previous evening.
Daniel Mercer.
Dean tapped the screen.
“Recognize him?”
“Yes.”
“He removed three boxes from a unit owned by Crown Meridian.”
Gerald asked, “Why are you tracking Crown Meridian?”
Dean smiled without humor.
“Because they’re the people your son borrowed from.”
Gerald stiffened.
“My son?”
Nora looked sharply at him.
Gerald had one son.
Andrew Whitmore.
A real-estate developer who lived in Boston.
“What does Andrew have to do with this?”
Dean’s eyes remained on Gerald.
“Apparently nobody has told you.”
Gerald stood.
“Told me what?”
“Andrew is chairman of Crown Meridian Partners.”
The room became silent.
Gerald stared at Dean.
“That’s impossible.”
Dean slid another document across the desk.
Corporate filings.
Board minutes.
Shareholder resolutions.
Andrew Whitmore’s signature appeared on every page.
Nora looked at Gerald.
He genuinely had not known.
That made the situation worse.
Dean turned to Nora.
“Your father spent twenty years trying to protect you from Crown Meridian.”
Nora looked down at the filings.
“And Gerald’s son controls it.”
“Correct.”
Marcus whispered, “This family needs a chart.”
Dean ignored him.
“One more thing.”
He swiped the tablet.
A second surveillance image appeared.
May you like
Andrew Whitmore standing beside Daniel Mercer.
The timestamp was from three days before Samuel died.
