Chapter 10 - The Brother in the Photograph)
Nathan Mercer was ten when the family told Ethan he drowned.
Ethan remembered the lake.
Police boats.
His mother screaming.
His father standing on the dock like stone.
No body was recovered for three days.
Then his parents told Ethan they had identified Nathan at a private facility.
Ethan was never allowed to see him.
For thirty-two years, he believed grief had erased the details.
Now he understood the details had been hidden.
"Nathan survived the lake," Margaret said.
Ethan stared at her.
"He survived?"
"For two days."
"You said not exactly."
Margaret couldn't meet his eyes.
"Charles removed him from the hospital."
"Why?"
"Because the drowning wasn't an accident."
Ethan felt sick.
Nathan had discovered one of Charles's Northstar files.
Someone frightened him near the dock.
He fell into the water.
Charles believed the attacker might try again.
So he created another death.
Another disappearance.
Another lie supposedly designed to protect someone.
"What happened to Nathan?"
Margaret looked at the floor.
"We lost him."
"How do you lose your own son?"
"Charles moved him between safe locations. Then one convoy never arrived."
"Daniel?"
"We never proved it."
Ethan paced.
"You let me mourn my brother while searching for him?"
"I was trying to protect you."
"Stop saying that."
Margaret flinched.
"No one gets to use that sentence anymore."
Elena watched him.
His entire life had become a collection of manufactured funerals.
His mother.
Daniel.
Possibly his father.
His brother.
Nothing in Mercer House had been what it appeared.
Thomas placed an old photograph on the table.
A teenage boy stood beside a black car.
The photograph was dated four years after Nathan supposedly died.
The boy looked like Ethan.
Elena whispered, "That's him?"
Margaret nodded.
"Last confirmed photograph."
Victoria approached.
"I've seen that man."
Ethan turned.
"Where?"
"Mercer House."
"When?"
"The night your father died."
Ethan felt the air leave his lungs.
"You said you didn't see the man's face."
"I didn't. But his build, the way he stood..."
"That's not enough."
"No."
She pointed to Nathan's right hand.
A crooked little finger.
"He had that."
Margaret closed her eyes.
Nathan had broken that finger falling from a horse at eight.
It never healed correctly.
Ethan sat.
"If Nathan was with my father..."
Thomas finished the thought.
"He may know what happened afterward."
Aaron interrupted.
"Someone's outside."
Everyone looked toward the security feed.
A black sedan had parked across the street.
Then another.
Thomas drew a small handgun from beneath his jacket.
Elena immediately moved Lily behind her.
Ethan looked at Thomas.
"You brought a weapon?"
"I came here expecting Daniel."
Margaret moved toward the back door.
"We need to go."
Thomas shook his head.
"They'll expect that."
Victoria studied the cars.
"No."
"What?"
"Daniel uses SUVs."
Thomas looked at her.
"How comforting."
"Those cars belong to Northstar's internal security."
Margaret stared.
"How do you know?"
"Because I've ridden in them."
Victoria approached the window.
A man stepped from the first sedan.
Older.
Dark coat.
Silver hair.
He raised both hands.
Margaret gasped.
"No."
Ethan looked at her.
"Who?"
Margaret whispered the name like a ghost.
"Samuel Crowe."
The lawyer who sent Elena the envelope.
Samuel entered alone.
He looked exhausted.
"I assume everyone has discovered that Charles lied to everyone about everything."
Ethan almost laughed.
"You're alive too. Wonderful."
Samuel looked at Lily.
"Hello."
Elena moved between them.
"Stay away from her."
"Good."
Samuel smiled faintly.
"Never trust strangers who know your child's name."
"What do you want?"
"To keep Lily alive."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"Everyone says that right before explaining why they lied."
"Then I'll skip the explanation."
Samuel removed a folder.
"Daniel has called a founders' meeting."
Margaret stared.
"He can't without the Ruiz vote."
"He doesn't need the vote to call it. Only to win it."
"When?"
"Tomorrow night."
"Where?"
Samuel looked toward Ethan.
"Mercer House."
Ethan laughed bitterly.
"Of course."
Samuel continued.
"If Lily's guardian doesn't appear, Daniel can petition the remaining founders to suspend the Ruiz share."
Elena shook her head.
"We're not taking Lily anywhere."
"You don't have to."
"Good."
"You do."
Samuel looked at Elena.
"You're her legal proxy."
Ethan stepped forward.
"No."
Samuel didn't blink.
"If Elena refuses to attend, Daniel wins control."
"I don't care who controls Northstar."
Samuel's expression darkened.
"You will."
"Why?"
"Because Daniel's first proposal is to erase the entire founders' archive."
Margaret frowned.
"What archive?"
Samuel looked at Ethan.
"The one containing proof of what happened to Charles."
Ethan stopped breathing.
"And Nathan?"
May you like
Samuel nodded.
"And Nathan."
