Chapter 13 - The Exchange
Richard agreed to the exchange.
Claire objected.
Sarah objected more.
"He's my father. He'll kill me."
Richard looked at her.
"He won't get you."
"You can't guarantee that."
"No."
Sarah stared at him.
Richard continued.
"But I can guarantee Thomas dies if we do nothing."
Sarah looked away.
Finally she nodded.
The location was an abandoned railway depot.
Midnight.
Michael demanded no police.
Richard brought police anyway.
Hidden far beyond sight.
Sarah wore a tracking device.
The bracelet clasp had already been photographed and duplicated.
The original remained in evidence.
Richard carried the replica.
At 12:06 a.m., a black SUV arrived.
Thomas was pushed out.
Then Daniel Mercer stepped out behind him.
Richard froze.
Daniel.
Not Michael.
Daniel looked older than the photograph.
Gray hair.
A scar along his jaw.
But unmistakable.
Sarah whispered, "That's not my father."
Richard's eyes narrowed.
Daniel raised his hands.
"Don't shoot."
"Where is Michael?"
"Watching."
"Where?"
"Everywhere."
Thomas stumbled forward.
Richard caught him.
"Are you hurt?"
"Mostly dignity."
Daniel looked toward Sarah.
His expression broke.
"Sarah."
She stared at him.
"You knew I was alive."
"Yes."
"You never helped me."
"I couldn't."
She laughed bitterly.
"Another coward."
Daniel accepted it.
Richard held up the bracelet.
"You wanted this?"
Daniel shook his head.
"Michael does."
"Why?"
"Because the coordinates don't lead to the ledger."
"What do they lead to?"
Daniel looked at Sarah.
"Her real birth record."
Silence.
Sarah frowned.
"What?"
"Katherine hid proof of your identity."
"Why would Michael care?"
Daniel swallowed.
"Because you're not Evelyn's daughter."
Sarah stepped back.
Richard felt danger before he understood it.
"Who is her mother?"
Daniel looked directly at him.
"Katherine Hayes."
Richard stopped breathing.
Sarah's face emptied.
"No."
Daniel continued quickly.
"Katherine had Sarah before she met you."
"You're lying," Richard said.
"I wish I were."
Richard moved toward him.
Thomas caught his arm.
"Richard."
Daniel said, "Michael was the father."
Sarah shook her head.
"No."
Daniel continued.
"Katherine hid the pregnancy. Sarah was raised under Evelyn's protection."
Richard's world narrowed.
His wife had a daughter with Michael Mercer.
Before Richard.
Years before Emily.
Sarah whispered, "Katherine was my mother?"
Daniel nodded.
"Yes."
Richard stared at Sarah.
He saw nothing of Katherine.
Then suddenly he did.
The way she tilted her head when angry.
The crease near her mouth.
Tiny details his mind had ignored.
Sarah was Emily's half-sister.
Daniel continued.
"Michael wants the birth record destroyed because it contains a DNA chain connecting him directly to aliases used in the network."
Claire's voice came through Richard's concealed earpiece.
"We have movement east side."
Richard looked toward the darkness.
Gunfire erupted.
Daniel dropped.
Thomas pulled Sarah behind concrete.
Richard fired toward muzzle flashes.
A car accelerated away.
Claire's team moved in.
Daniel had been shot in the shoulder.
Alive.
Thomas was safe.
Sarah was shaking.
Richard knelt beside her.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Sarah whispered, "Did you know?"
"No."
"Would Katherine have told you?"
Richard looked toward the darkness.
"I don't know anymore."
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Michael.
Richard answered.
"You missed."
Michael laughed.
"I wasn't aiming at Daniel."
Richard's blood chilled.
May you like
"What?"
"Check on Emily."
