Chapter 4 - The Man Roman Trusted More Than Family
Grant Mercer expected Roman to come angry.
Instead, Roman came alone.
The meeting place was an abandoned church on Chicago's West Side.
Grant stood near the altar.
Sophia wasn't there.
Roman walked down the center aisle.
“Where's my daughter?”
“Safe.”
“That wasn't the question.”
Grant looked exhausted.
For the first time, Roman noticed how old his friend had become.
“You shouldn't have investigated Rachel's trust.”
Roman stopped.
“So you did know.”
“I knew enough.”
“Did you kill her?”
Grant's face twisted.
“No.”
Roman drew his gun.
Grant didn't move.
“Don't lie to me.”
“I didn't kill Rachel.”
“You followed her.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she was investigating Vale.”
“Yes.”
“You installed the device in my car.”
Grant swallowed.
“Yes.”
Roman aimed directly at his forehead.
“Give me one reason.”
Grant's eyes filled with something Roman had never expected.
Shame.
“Because the alternative was Sophia.”
Roman's finger remained on the trigger.
“Explain.”
Grant slowly removed his jacket.
No weapon.
“Vale took control of your father's operation before Vincent died.”
Roman listened.
“Your father wanted out. Vale didn't. By then they had judges, cops, politicians, companies. Your father couldn't shut it down without destroying everyone.”
“And you?”
“I worked for Vincent.”
“You poisoned me.”
“I kept the dosage below what Vale ordered.”
Roman's eyes narrowed.
Grant continued.
“He wanted you dead three years ago.”
“Why?”
“Because Rachel discovered everything.”
Roman felt his chest tighten.
“Vale knew if she told you, you'd go to war.”
“So he killed her.”
“Yes.”
The word echoed through the church.
Roman's gun shook slightly.
“And you let him.”
Grant looked down.
“Yes.”
Roman struck him.
Grant crashed against a pew.
Roman grabbed his collar.
“You carried her coffin.”
“I know.”
“My daughter called you uncle.”
“I know!”
Grant's voice broke.
Roman froze.
“I've lived with it every day.”
“Where is Sophia?”
“I moved her before Vale could.”
Roman stared.
“You kidnapped her to protect her?”
“I knew you wouldn't trust me.”
“You're right.”
Grant wiped blood from his mouth.
Then he gave Roman an address.
Sophia was alive.
Marty confirmed it twenty minutes later.
Roman didn't forgive Grant.
But he didn't kill him.
Not yet.
Grant revealed the rest.
Vale had built an invisible organization inside legitimate Chicago institutions.
Roman's criminal empire was merely camouflage.
Whenever something needed to disappear, organized crime received the blame.
Rachel had discovered the network.
Daniel Cole had discovered the chemical program.
Both died.
Now Vale wanted Roman eliminated and Sophia controlled.
“Why Sophia?”
Roman asked.
Grant looked at him.
“Because Vincent put ownership of the original Halcyon patents into a Calder family trust.”
Roman understood.
Sophia's trust.
“Vale can't legally control the technology without her authorization.”
“Exactly.”
Roman felt disgust.
Three years of poison had never been about weakening him.
It had been preparation.
Kill Roman.
Control Sophia.
Own everything.
Roman returned to Marty.
They made a plan.
Not a war.
Roman knew Vale expected violence from him.
So Roman would give him something else.
Evidence.
Evelyn recovered Daniel's research.
Grant provided financial records.
Sophia's trust documents proved ownership.
Roman secretly contacted an attorney outside Illinois.
Then a federal investigator Rachel had named in her journal.
For forty-eight hours, they assembled everything.
Vale moved first.
He had Roman's businesses raided.
News stations reported an impending federal indictment.
Several Calder captains abandoned Roman.
Others offered loyalty.
Roman trusted none of them.
Then Grant disappeared.
Marty believed he had betrayed them.
Roman wasn't sure.
Until a package arrived.
Inside was Grant's phone.
And a handwritten message.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT MERCER ALIVE.
Below it was an address.
An abandoned Halcyon laboratory.
Marty said, “It's a trap.”
Roman loaded his pistol.
“Obviously.”
“So we're not going?”
Roman looked at him.
“You still don't understand me.”
Marty sighed.
“I was afraid you'd say that.”
They went together.
Inside the laboratory, they found Grant tied to a chair.
Vale stood behind him.
Judge Samuel Vale looked exactly like he did on television.
Silver hair.
Calm eyes.
Expensive suit.
Respectable.
“Roman.”
Roman raised his weapon.
Vale smiled.
“Your father used to enter rooms the same way.”
“Don't talk about him.”
“Why? Vincent was my friend.”
“You murdered him.”
Vale's smile disappeared.
Roman hadn't known that.
He had guessed.
Vale's reaction confirmed it.
“Heart failure,” Roman said. “Wasn't it?”
Vale remained silent.
Roman understood.
His father.
His wife.
Daniel.
Three deaths.
Three secrets.
Vale had spent decades turning murder into medicine.
“You poisoned my father too.”
Vale slowly clapped.
“Rachel always said you were smarter than you pretended.”
Roman stepped forward.
“Where's the evidence you took from Grant?”
Vale smiled.
“Destroyed.”
Marty suddenly laughed.
Vale looked at him.
“Something funny?”
Marty pulled out his phone.
“No. Something recorded.”
Vale's face changed.
Everything he had just admitted had been transmitted.
Vale's men moved.
Gunfire erupted.
Roman dragged Grant down.
Marty overturned a steel table.
The laboratory became chaos.
Police sirens approached outside.
Vale ran.
Roman chased him through the rear corridor.
They reached the rooftop.
Rain had begun again.
Vale stood near the edge.
Roman aimed.
Vale smiled.
“You won't shoot.”
Roman said nothing.
“If you kill me, you're exactly what everyone believes you are.”
Roman slowly lowered the gun.
Vale smiled wider.
Then floodlights illuminated the roof.
Federal agents emerged.
Vale's expression collapsed.
Roman looked at him.
“My wife wanted the truth exposed.”
He placed his gun on the ground.
“So that's what I'm giving her.”
Vale was arrested.
But as agents led him away, he turned toward Roman.
“You think this ends with me?”
Roman stared.
Vale smiled.
“Ask Marty who really hired him.”
Roman looked toward his chauffeur.
May you like
Marty's face went pale.
And Roman knew the final secret had not yet been revealed.
