Chapter 6 - The Doctor's Secret
Alan Mercer denied everything.
Richard confronted him in a private consultation room at St. Catherine.
Claire stood nearby.
Alan looked exhausted.
"My brother is dead."
"We have his passport."
"That proves nothing."
"We heard his voice."
Alan's expression tightened.
Richard moved closer.
"Katherine told me not to trust you."
Alan looked genuinely surprised.
"Katherine?"
"You knew her."
Alan turned away.
That was answer enough.
"When?"
"Twenty years ago."
"How?"
Alan sat down.
"I treated Anton Vale."
Richard froze.
"After Winter Lantern?"
"Yes."
Alan rubbed his face.
"Michael brought him to a private clinic. He had two gunshot wounds and internal bleeding."
"You worked for Michael?"
"I worked at a hospital he used."
"That's not what I asked."
Alan looked up.
"At first, I didn't know."
Richard said nothing.
"By the time I understood, Daniel and Michael had information on everyone. Bank accounts. affairs. addictions. illegal contracts. They didn't need guns. They owned secrets."
Claire asked, "And you?"
Alan laughed without humor.
"My secret was Daniel."
Richard frowned.
"Your brother?"
"He killed someone."
Alan's eyes lowered.
"A contractor named Luis Herrera discovered money laundering. Daniel confronted him. There was a fight. Luis fell from a parking garage."
"Accident?"
"No."
Richard waited.
"I helped Daniel make it look like one."
Claire immediately straightened.
"You're admitting to evidence tampering in a homicide?"
"I'm admitting I was a coward."
Richard leaned forward.
"Did you hurt Emily?"
Alan stood.
"No."
"Did Daniel?"
"I don't know."
"Michael?"
"I don't know."
Richard slammed his palm onto the table.
"Stop saying you don't know."
Alan flinched.
Richard's voice remained controlled.
"My daughter's back was carved open inside your hospital's jurisdiction. Your family initials were placed in her hand. Your brother is alive. My dead wife left me a warning about you. Give me something useful."
Alan stared at him.
Then whispered, "Emily came to me."
Richard froze.
"When?"
"Six days ago."
"Why?"
"She had discovered hospital records connected to people legally dead but still receiving treatment."
Claire stepped closer.
"Fake identities?"
"More than that."
Alan opened a locked drawer.
He removed a paper file.
"St. Catherine maintained a restricted database. Certain patients appeared under numerical codes. No insurance trail. No ordinary medical history."
"Who authorized it?"
"My predecessor."
"Evelyn Cole?"
Alan nodded.
Nathan, waiting outside, heard his mother's name and entered.
"What did my mother do?"
Alan looked at him.
"She built the system."
Nathan looked sick.
Richard asked, "Why did Emily come here?"
"She found Charles Cole."
Nathan gripped the chair.
"Here?"
"Three months ago."
"The photo."
Alan nodded.
"He was treated for a cardiac arrhythmia under the name Charles Miller."
Nathan whispered, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"He begged me not to."
"He's my father."
"He said telling you would get you killed."
Nathan turned away.
Richard said, "Where is he now?"
"I don't know."
Richard stared.
Alan raised his hands.
"I truly don't."
Claire flipped through the file.
One page caught her attention.
"What's Red Harbor?"
Alan's expression changed.
Richard saw it.
"What is Red Harbor?"
"A private medical facility."
"Where?"
"I've never been there."
"Who owns it?"
"On paper? Several shell corporations."
"And in reality?"
Alan hesitated.
"Daniel Mercer."
Richard remembered Emily's warning.
Wrong brother.
Maybe Daniel was not the attacker.
But he was still inside the machinery.
Claire continued reading.
"There are patient transfers every six months."
Alan nodded.
"From St. Catherine to Red Harbor."
"Who?"
"People who officially don't exist."
Richard asked, "Michael?"
Alan looked at him.
"Possibly."
Then Emily's nurse appeared at the door.
"Dr. Mercer?"
Alan turned.
"What?"
"Your patient is awake."
Richard was already moving.
Emily looked weak but conscious.
Richard sat beside her.
She reached for his hand.
"Hi, Dad."
His throat tightened.
"Hi, kid."
A tear slipped from her eye.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I should've told you sooner."
"You should've told me immediately."
She almost smiled.
"Still giving orders."
"Always."
Her expression changed.
"Dad."
"What?"
"Nathan didn't do this."
"I know."
"He tried to help me."
Richard looked toward the door.
Nathan stood outside.
Emily continued.
"It was Daniel."
Richard's jaw tightened.
"But he wasn't the one who cut me."
Richard leaned closer.
"Who was?"
Emily began trembling.
"I never saw his face."
"Voice?"
She nodded.
"Older man."
"Michael?"
"I don't know."
"What did he want?"
Emily looked terrified.
"The ledger."
Richard squeezed her hand.
"I don't have it."
Emily stared at him.
"I know."
"Then why did Katherine say you moved it?"
Emily slowly shook her head.
"I didn't."
Richard felt the room become cold.
"What?"
"Mom told me where it was."
"But you never moved it?"
"No."
"Then who did?"
Emily swallowed.
"Grandma."
May you like
Richard stopped breathing.
His mother had been dead for twenty-three years.
