Chapter 10 - the cabin at lake ashford)
Rain began before they reached Lake Ashford.
Daniel sat in the back of an unmarked police SUV while Ruiz coordinated tactical units.
The road narrowed.
Trees closed around them.
The cabin stood alone near the water.
No lights.
One vehicle outside.
Engine warm.
Police surrounded the property.
Ruiz ordered Daniel to remain behind.
He ignored her only after hearing a scream from inside.
Vanessa.
Officers breached the front door.
Daniel followed farther than he was allowed.
The main room was empty.
A chair lay overturned.
Blood marked the wooden floor.
A hallway led toward the back.
Another scream.
Police opened a bedroom.
Vanessa was tied to a radiator.
Her wedding gown had been cut near the hem.
Blood covered one side of her hair from a wound above her temple.
She looked at Daniel.
For a moment neither spoke.
Then she began to cry.
"I'm sorry."
Daniel stood in the doorway.
He thought of Lily's scratched arm.
The locked room.
The lies.
The years stolen from him.
His anger remained.
But so did the realization that Vanessa was terrified.
Ruiz cut the restraints.
"Where is Richard?"
Vanessa shook her head.
"He left."
"When?"
"Minutes ago."
"With Emily?"
Vanessa stared at Daniel.
"No."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
"You knew she was alive."
"Yes."
"For three years?"
Vanessa looked down.
"Yes."
Daniel's voice broke.
"And you let me believe she was dead."
Vanessa cried silently.
"I thought she would be safer."
"You moved into my home."
"I was ordered to."
"You kissed me."
Her face collapsed.
"I know."
"You let Lily trust you."
"I know."
"You agreed to marry me."
Vanessa raised her eyes.
"That part wasn't supposed to become real."
Daniel stared.
Vanessa continued.
"I was supposed to get close to you. Learn your routines. Gain access to your father's records. Eventually marry you if necessary."
"If necessary."
"I hated you when it started."
Daniel almost recoiled.
"Why?"
"Because I believed the Mercers killed my father."
"Maybe they did."
"My father worked for Charles. Then he disappeared. Richard told my mother Arthur stole millions and died running from the law. Years later Emily found me. She showed me evidence that Richard lied."
"Then why work for Richard?"
Vanessa's voice became hollow.
"Because he showed me my father."
Everyone became still.
"Arthur is alive?"
"He was."
"Was?"
"I don't know anymore."
Vanessa explained.
Two years earlier, Richard brought her to a private facility.
Arthur was there.
Older.
Thin.
He seemed medicated.
Richard promised Vanessa her father would be released if she cooperated.
At first she fed Richard harmless information about Daniel.
Then the requests became darker.
Get access to the estate.
Find Emily's files.
Learn about Lily's trust.
Vanessa tried to warn Emily.
Richard discovered it.
After that, Emily vanished from Vanessa too.
"Why hurt Lily?" Daniel asked.
Vanessa looked at her hands.
"I panicked."
"That's not an answer."
"I found out yesterday Emily was somewhere inside the estate."
Daniel froze.
"What?"
"She had been moved into the hidden basement room three days ago. Richard wanted her close because the wedding was the final stage."
"Final stage of what?"
"Getting control of Mercer Heritage."
"Who wants control?"
Vanessa's eyes filled with fear.
"I don't know."
"Richard?"
"No."
"Then who?"
"He calls them the Board."
Daniel frowned.
"The Mercer Heritage board?"
"No. Something older."
Ruiz leaned closer.
"Names."
"I never heard names."
"Then what do you know?"
Vanessa swallowed.
"Project Haven wasn't created by Charles Mercer. It existed before him. Charles inherited responsibility for managing part of it."
Daniel remembered Emily's warning.
Your father didn't start this.
Vanessa continued.
"Arthur discovered the program was being used for more than witness protection. People who threatened certain financial interests were being erased. Some were hidden. Some were killed. Some had their identities replaced."
Daniel felt sick.
"Emily found the registry."
"Part of it."
"Where?"
"I don't know. She never told me."
"Why appear at the wedding?"
"Because Richard threatened Lily."
Vanessa explained that Emily had been kept under surveillance for years.
Whenever she resisted, she was shown photographs of Lily.
School.
Playground.
Bedroom windows.
Three days earlier, Richard told Emily she would be released if she helped complete one final task.
Appear briefly at the wedding.
Allow Daniel to see her.
Trigger his emotional breakdown.
Create witnesses to his supposed instability.
Emily pretended to agree.
Instead, she moved her locket into the dressing room and arranged for Lily to find it.
"How?"
Vanessa shook her head.
"Someone inside the estate helped her."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Daniel remembered the hidden message.
THE GIRL IS COMING TO YOUR ROOM.
Someone had warned Vanessa.
Someone else had helped Emily.
More than one hidden player was moving through the wedding.
Ruiz asked, "Why did Richard bring you here?"
Vanessa's face changed.
"He thought I had the registry."
"Do you?"
"No."
"Did Emily?"
"I think so."
"Where is it?"
Vanessa looked at Daniel.
"She once told me there was only one person she trusted enough to hide it with."
Daniel waited.
"Who?"
Vanessa whispered.
"Lily."
Daniel's blood ran cold.
"My daughter was three."
"Exactly."
"She couldn't understand anything."
"Emily didn't need her to."
Daniel thought of Lily's toys.
Books.
Old clothes.
Boxes of things Emily had given her.
Vanessa leaned forward.
"Daniel, whatever Emily hid, Richard believes Lily has had it this whole time."
Before Daniel could answer, a gunshot sounded outside.
Police shouted.
Ruiz drew her weapon.
Daniel turned toward the window.
A black figure ran toward the lake.
Officers pursued.
Another gunshot.
Then silence.
Minutes later, Ruiz returned.
Her expression told Daniel something had gone wrong.
"Richard?"
"Gone."
"How?"
"Boat."
Daniel looked through the rain.
A small motorboat had disappeared into darkness across Lake Ashford.
Ruiz held up something an officer found near the dock.
Richard Bell's gold ring.
The same Mercer crest seen in the wedding footage.
Inside the ring was an inscription.
Not Charles's initials.
Not Richard's.
Three letters.
A.V.M.
Vanessa stared at it.
"My father's middle name was Victor."
Daniel looked at her.
Arthur Victor Vale.
May you like
The ring did not belong to Richard.
It belonged to Arthur.
