Chapter 9 - the father she never asked for)
Nora did not want to meet Daniel Mercer.
That was the first certainty she had experienced in two days.
The second certainty was that Daniel Mercer intended to meet her.
At 9:17 that evening, an envelope appeared beneath the front door.
No knock.
No car.
No footsteps.
Just paper sliding over wood.
Marcus saw it first.
He was sleeping at Hawthorne Ridge because Dean had instructed him not to return to his apartment.
Nora had allowed it for one reason.
Her nieces.
Brooke and Sophie were staying with their mother across town, but Nora did not trust Dean’s definition of collateral.
Marcus picked up the envelope.
“Nora.”
She came down the stairs.
Her name was written across the front.
Not Samuel’s handwriting.
Not Elaine’s.
Inside was a note.
ASK GERALD WHAT HAPPENED ON MAY 4, 1998.
Underneath:
10 A.M. ASHFORD BRIDGE.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY EVELYN LEFT YOU.
Marcus read over her shoulder.
“No.”
Nora looked at him.
“No?”
“You are not meeting whoever sent that.”
“Interesting hearing you discuss responsible choices.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“Nora, someone broke into this house. Dad hid records for decades. Mom apparently participated in a fake death. Gerald’s family is connected to some shell company. Maybe don’t meet mysterious strangers under bridges.”
Nora stared.
“That may be the smartest thing you’ve said since Dad died.”
Marcus sat at the kitchen counter.
“Thank you.”
“I’m still going.”
“Of course.”
At 7:30 the next morning, Gerald arrived.
Nora placed the note in front of him.
His face changed at the date.
“What happened May 4, 1998?”
Gerald sat slowly.
“My father died.”
“How?”
“Heart attack.”
Nora waited.
Gerald sighed.
“He was found in his office.”
“Was Evelyn there?”
Gerald looked at her.
“Yes.”
Marcus whispered, “Come on.”
Nora remained calm.
“Tell me.”
“My father called me that morning. He sounded frightened.”
“Of Evelyn?”
“No. Of what he had done.”
“What had he done?”
“He had used Crown Meridian to conceal ownership interests in dozens of land transactions. Some legal. Some not.”
“Raymond?”
“And Daniel Mercer.”
Nora sat across from him.
“Why did Evelyn go there?”
“She wanted original loan documents proving Daniel had forged her signature.”
“Did she get them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was your father alive when she left?”
Gerald looked at the floor.
“I never saw her leave.”
Nora understood.
“You found them together.”
“Yes.”
“What did you see?”
“Evelyn was standing beside his desk. My father was on the floor.”
“Dead?”
“Dying.”
“What did she say?”
Gerald’s voice became quiet.
“She said, ‘He finally told me where Daniel put the originals.’ Then she ran.”
“And you never reported seeing her?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“My father grabbed my wrist.”
Gerald’s eyes were distant now.
“He said, ‘Do not let Daniel find the girl.’”
Nora swallowed.
“The girl was me.”
“I believed so.”
Marcus leaned against the counter.
“Everybody knew but us.”
Gerald looked at him.
“Samuel tried to build a wall between you and the decisions adults had made before you were old enough to understand.”
Marcus laughed.
“Worked great.”
At 9:45, Nora drove toward Ashford Bridge.
She did not go alone.
She told Marcus she would.
She told Gerald she would.
Then she called Calvin Pike.
He followed two minutes behind in an unmarked vehicle.
Ashford Bridge crossed a narrow gorge east of town.
At 10:01 Nora parked.
An older man stood beside the railing.
Gray hair.
Dark coat.
No umbrella despite the rain beginning to fall.
Daniel Mercer turned.
Nora knew immediately.
Not because of photographs.
Because of the way he looked at her.
As if he were seeing a debt.
Not a daughter.
“You look like Evelyn,” he said.
Nora stayed six feet away.
“You don’t.”
He smiled.
“She would have liked that.”
“Why am I here?”
“To hear something nobody else will tell you.”
“I’m getting tired of people saying that.”
Daniel looked toward the trees.
“Did you bring police?”
“No.”
He smiled again.
“You lie like your mother.”
“Which one?”
His expression changed.
Nora felt a small satisfaction.
Daniel reached into his coat.
She tensed.
He removed a key card.
“Your father kept the wrong records.”
“Samuel?”
“Samuel wasn’t your father.”
“He was more my father than you’ve managed in thirty-four years.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
There.
The temper Elaine had described.
“The property underneath Hawthorne Ridge was never supposed to belong to Samuel.”
“Who did it belong to?”
“Evelyn.”
“That is what the ledgers suggest.”
“Not just the land.”
Daniel stepped closer.
Nora did not move.
“Crown Meridian owes her estate a controlling interest.”
“How much?”
Daniel laughed.
“You still don’t understand.”
“Explain.”
“The sixty-three million Gerald told you about is the assessed land value.”
“And?”
“Northstar owns mineral, easement, and corridor rights extending beyond those parcels.”
Nora’s mind began calculating automatically.
“What value?”
“Current?”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked her directly in the eye.
“Closer to four hundred million.”
Behind Nora, somewhere in the trees, a branch snapped.
Daniel’s expression changed.
He suddenly grabbed Nora’s arm.
May you like
“Down.”
A gunshot tore through the bridge railing.
