Chapter 7 - Someone Is Watching
Daniel heard footsteps behind him.
He didn't turn immediately.
He had learned during negotiations that fear often revealed itself through speed.
So he continued toward his car.
The ledger was inside a leather document case beneath his arm.
Footsteps again.
Closer.
Daniel reached for his phone.
No signal underground.
He turned.
Nobody.
Rows of concrete pillars.
Parked cars.
Fluorescent lights.
Then something moved near the stairwell.
A man wearing a maintenance uniform.
Daniel relaxed slightly.
Until he noticed the man wasn't carrying tools.
He was carrying gloves.
Daniel changed direction.
The man followed.
"Mr. Mercer."
Daniel walked faster.
"Sir."
Another man appeared ahead.
Not maintenance.
Security.
Except Daniel didn't recognize him.
Daniel stopped.
Bad choice.
Both men were now approaching.
"Mr. Mercer," the second man said, "Mr. Victor Mercer asked us to collect something from you."
"Did he?"
"The case."
Daniel glanced toward a black SUV.
Same model Claire had seen outside her house.
"Tell Victor he can ask me himself."
The first man moved closer.
Daniel stepped back.
Then every fire alarm in the garage exploded at once.
Sirens screamed.
Red lights flashed.
The men hesitated.
Rebecca Sloan appeared through the stairwell with two legitimate security officers.
"Daniel!"
The men ran.
One escaped into the SUV.
The other vanished through a service exit.
Daniel stared at Rebecca.
"How did you know?"
"Claire called."
"Claire?"
"Elevator malfunction. She thinks Victor did it."
Daniel ran toward the building.
"Where are they?"
"Firefighters are opening the elevator now."
Ten minutes later, Elise and Claire emerged shaken but unharmed.
Daniel hugged his sister.
Then Elise.
The gesture surprised both of them.
"You okay?"
Elise nodded.
"Mom's more angry than scared."
Claire glared.
"He tried to kill us."
Daniel looked at her.
"We don't know that."
"The elevator dropped."
"Three feet."
"Three feet too many."
Rebecca took the ledger.
"We need copies somewhere Victor can't reach."
Daniel agreed.
Within the hour encrypted files were sent to three attorneys and a federal investigator.
The original entered a private safe deposit box.
Victor's leverage weakened.
But he still had access to Mercer Tower.
Which meant he had access to company systems.
Daniel convened another board meeting.
This time he was prepared.
He placed photographs of the ledger pages before every director.
Victor arrived last.
He looked at the documents.
Then at Daniel.
"You've had an eventful morning."
Daniel stood.
"Victor Mercer, effective immediately, your access to all Mercer Hospitality facilities and systems is suspended pending investigation."
Victor smiled.
"You don't have authority."
"I do with board approval."
Several hands rose.
Not all.
Enough.
Victor surveyed the room.
"You think removing my key card changes anything?"
"No."
Daniel leaned toward him.
"But I'm interested to see what you do when you can't hide behind my company."
Victor gathered the photographs.
"These prove nothing."
"They prove Hawthorne was funded through stolen trust assets."
"They show handwritten notes from a dead woman."
"They show forged signatures."
"You'll need experts."
"We hired three."
Victor's smile faded.
Daniel continued.
"And the handwriting matches yours."
Silence.
Victor stood.
"You want war?"
"No."
Daniel looked across the table.
"I want my family back."
Victor's eyes shifted toward Claire, who stood behind the glass wall outside.
For the first time in decades, brother and sister stood on the same side of him.
Victor approached the door.
As he passed Daniel, he whispered:
"You think Claire told you everything?"
Daniel didn't answer.
"Ask her about the hospital."
He walked out.
That evening Daniel confronted Claire.
"What hospital?"
Claire went still.
Elise noticed.
"Mom?"
Claire sat down.
"There was something I never told either of you."
Daniel crossed his arms.
"I'm getting tired of that sentence."
Claire looked at Elise.
"This concerns your father."
"My father?"
Elise had grown up knowing Thomas Harper died before she was born.
A car accident in Maine.
That was all.
Claire took a deep breath.
"The accident didn't kill him immediately."
Elise stared.
"What?"
"He lived for two days."
"You told me he died at the scene."
"I lied."
"Why?"
"Because during those two days, he told me something."
Elise's voice cracked.
"What?"
Thomas had known Margaret Mercer.
Before dating Claire, he had worked as a freelance photographer documenting several Mercer properties.
One night he photographed Victor meeting a state official behind the original Mercer Hotel.
He thought little of it.
Later Margaret contacted him privately.
She asked for copies.
Thomas gave them to her.
Years later, shortly before his accident, he believed someone had begun following him.
"He thought Victor knew about the photographs," Claire said.
Elise stood.
"So Dad's accident—"
"I don't know."
"You think Victor killed him too?"
"I don't know."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I wanted you to have one part of your life that wasn't poisoned by the Mercers."
Daniel flinched at the family name.
Elise walked away.
All her life she had believed her father died because of rain on a highway.
Now even that memory wasn't safe.
"Where are the photographs?" Daniel asked.
Claire shook her head.
"Thomas said he mailed them."
"To who?"
"He died before he could tell me."
Elise stopped.
A memory surfaced.
Something from childhood.
"My father's camera."
Claire turned.
"What about it?"
"You kept it in the attic."
"Yes."
"There was a mailing receipt in the case."
Claire stared.
They drove back to her house under security.
In the attic, Elise found the old camera bag.
Inside one pocket was a faded postal receipt.
Most of the ink had disappeared.
But one line remained legible.
Recipient:
M. REED.
Daniel frowned.
"Reed?"
Claire's eyes widened.
"Detective Thomas Reed's wife was named Margaret."
The retired detective who had asked about the second copy.
They called him.
This time Reed answered.
Daniel didn't bother with introductions.
"We found the ledger."
Silence.
"Then you're in danger," Reed said.
"We also found a receipt showing Thomas Harper mailed something to your wife."
Another silence.
Longer.
"Mr. Reed?"
The retired detective sighed.
"I wondered when somebody would find that."
"What did he send?"
"Photographs."
"Do you still have them?"
"Yes."
Claire grabbed the phone.
"Then why didn't you come forward twenty-four years ago?"
Reed's voice changed.
"Because somebody came to my house."
"Victor?"
"No."
"Who?"
Reed answered quietly.
"Your father."
Claire went pale.
Arthur Mercer.
The father Daniel had spent half his life defending.
Reed continued.
May you like
"And what Arthur told me that night changed the entire case."
---
