Chapter 9 - The Betrayal That Broke the Mercer Family
Adrian Mercer pointed his gun at the woman who had spent twenty-three years wondering why one son never came home.
Catherine stared at him.
"Adrian?"
He looked at her without affection.
"Hello, Mother."
Her lips trembled.
"My baby."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"Don't call me that."
Norah stood between him and Lily.
Marcus lay near the doorway, blood spreading across his upper arm.
He was conscious.
But his weapon had fallen beyond his reach.
Detective Cross stood beside Adrian, holding a pistol.
"Move away from the girl," Cross ordered.
Norah didn't move.
Adrian sighed.
"You're remarkably stubborn."
"People keep telling me that."
"This doesn't concern you."
"You kidnapped my friend."
"Your friend made the mistake of opening a container she shouldn't have."
Lily's voice shook.
"I didn't open anything."
Adrian turned toward her.
"Your father did."
"He was trying to help people."
"He was interfering with business."
Norah felt her anger rise.
"You're talking about human beings."
Adrian shrugged.
"People are remarkably expensive to move when governments are paying attention."
Catherine began crying.
"Adrian, please."
He ignored her.
Norah looked at him.
"Why keep your mother alive if you hated her so much?"
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"Because she knew where the original records were hidden."
"What records?"
"The Ashcroft agreement."
Catherine closed her eyes.
Adrian stepped closer.
"My father was a monster, Norah. You think I don't know that? He sold loyalty, bought judges, buried witnesses, and treated his children like assets."
"Then why become exactly like him?"
Adrian's smile vanished.
"Because Dominic inherited everything."
His voice rose.
"Everything."
Catherine whispered, "That's not true."
Adrian turned on her.
"You always chose him."
"Adrian—"
"You looked at him like he could do no wrong."
"That's not what happened."
"Then why did you leave me?"
Catherine began shaking.
"I didn't leave you."
Adrian laughed bitterly.
"Of course not. You just disappeared."
"Your father took me away."
"He told me you didn't want us."
"And you believed him?"
Adrian's expression flickered.
For one moment, Norah saw the abandoned boy beneath the expensive suit.
Then he raised the gun again.
"It doesn't matter."
"It matters to me," Catherine whispered.
Adrian looked away.
Cross stepped forward.
"We're wasting time."
Norah watched him.
He was nervous.
Sweat gathered along his hairline.
Unlike Adrian, Cross understood how quickly a kidnapping could become a federal murder case.
"Where's the recording?" Cross demanded.
Catherine remained silent.
Cross approached the bed.
Norah stepped into his path.
"Don't."
He pointed the gun at her.
"Move."
"No."
He pressed the weapon closer.
Lily cried out.
Norah felt her heart hammering.
She was terrified.
But she remembered Lily beginning to kneel in the restaurant.
She remembered her mother's bruised wrists.
She remembered how easily powerful people expected everyone else to surrender.
"No," she repeated.
Cross grabbed her shoulder.
Before he could push her aside, a voice sounded from the corridor.
"Take your hand off her."
Dominic.
He stood at the far end of the hallway.
His charcoal suit was wrinkled.
His tie was gone.
A dark bruise marked his cheek.
But his expression was steady.
Adrian stared.
"How did you get out?"
Dominic walked forward slowly.
"Your detective used forged financial records and a witness statement from a man who was unconscious in the hospital."
Cross went pale.
Dominic continued.
"My attorney had the detention challenged. Federal investigators were already reviewing the shipping evidence."
Adrian lifted his gun.
"Stop walking."
Dominic stopped.
His gaze moved past his brother.
To Catherine.
For a moment, his face crumpled.
"Mom?"
Catherine made a broken sound.
"Dominic."
He swallowed.
"You're alive."
She nodded through tears.
"I'm here, sweetheart."
Dominic closed his eyes briefly.
When he opened them, he looked at Adrian.
"You knew."
Adrian said nothing.
"All these years."
"You wouldn't understand."
"Then explain it."
Adrian laughed.
"You got the company. You got the money. You got Dad's respect."
"Respect?"
Dominic stared at him.
"Dad was afraid of anyone he couldn't control."
"He chose you."
"He used me."
Adrian's hand trembled.
Dominic took one careful step forward.
"I spent half my life trying to undo what he built."
"And I spent mine watching you act like you were better than us."
Dominic shook his head.
"I never thought I was better."
"Then why did you leave me behind?"
The question hung in the air.
Dominic looked at his brother.
For the first time, his voice softened.
"I didn't know you were asking me to stay."
Adrian's face changed.
Then Cross shouted.
"Enough!"
He seized Lily by the arm.
She screamed.
Cross pressed his gun against her head.
"Everybody shut up!"
Dominic froze.
Norah raised her hands.
"Please."
Cross dragged Lily toward the door.
"I want a car. No police. No federal agents."
Dominic looked at him.
"Let her go."
"Get me out of here."
"You won't make it past the parking lot."
"Then she doesn't either!"
Lily sobbed.
Norah moved closer.
"Take me instead."
Cross stared.
"What?"
"I'm the one Valerie wanted. I'm the one who found Catherine. Lily doesn't know anything else."
"Norah, no," Dominic said.
She didn't look at him.
"She's nineteen. Let her go."
Cross hesitated.
Norah took another step.
"Please."
For a moment, the room seemed suspended.
Then Catherine spoke.
"Daniel."
Cross turned.
She reached beneath her pillow.
"You're looking for this."
In her hand was a small digital recorder.
Cross's eyes widened.
"Give it to me."
Catherine held it up.
"Let the girl go."
He shoved Lily toward Norah.
Norah caught her.
Cross lunged for the recorder.
At that instant, Marcus swept his leg from the floor.
Cross stumbled.
His gun struck the wall.
A shot exploded.
Catherine screamed.
Dominic lunged forward and knocked Cross to the ground.
The weapon skidded across the floor.
Adrian raised his own gun.
"Dominic!"
Dominic looked up.
His brother aimed directly at his chest.
For one terrible second, nobody moved.
Then Adrian's gaze shifted toward Catherine.
She was staring at him.
Not with hatred.
With grief.
"Please," she whispered. "Don't make me lose another son."
Adrian's face twisted.
His hand shook.
And he lowered the weapon.
A second later, armed federal agents entered the hallway.
"DROP THE GUN!"
Adrian let it fall.
Cross was handcuffed.
Marcus received emergency treatment.
Lily collapsed into Norah's arms.
And Dominic knelt beside his mother.
For twenty-three years, he had imagined what he would say if he could speak to her again.
Now, with her trembling hand against his cheek, he could manage only three words.
"I'm so sorry."
Catherine shook her head.
"You came."
Dominic began crying.
Quietly.
Without trying to hide it.
Norah looked away to give them privacy.
Then she noticed the recorder on the floor.
Its red light was blinking.
Still recording.
She picked it up.
The screen displayed an older audio file.
A date from twenty-three years earlier.
Norah pressed play.
A man's voice emerged.
Dominic's father.
"The child stays hidden. Catherine signs the transfer, and Evelyn Bennett gets paid."
A woman cried in the background.
Then another voice spoke.
Young.
Frightened.
Evelyn Bennett.
"I won't let you take that baby."
The recording continued.
A man's voice demanded, "Then who are you going to tell she belongs to?"
Evelyn answered.
"Her father."
A pause.
Then came the words that made Norah's blood run cold.
"Dominic Mercer."
Norah stared at the recorder.
Dominic was still kneeling beside Catherine.
He hadn't heard.
Norah looked at the date.
Twenty-three years ago.
Dominic would have been sixteen.
She turned toward Catherine.
"Who was that baby?"
Catherine looked at her.
May you like
Her eyes filled with tears.
And she whispered, "The daughter Dominic never knew he had."
