Chapter 5 - The Secret Her Father Took to His Bed
Thomas Collins woke at 6:12 the next morning.
Audrey was beside him.
Declan stood near the window.
When Thomas saw Declan, the heart monitor accelerated.
“Get him out.”
Audrey leaned closer.
“Dad?”
“Get Mercer out.”
Declan started toward the door.
Then Audrey stopped him.
“No.”
Both men looked at her.
“Four years ago, you told me you stole electronics.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“Audrey.”
“You didn’t.”
Silence.
She placed the photograph of Elliot Crane on the blanket.
Her father’s face lost color.
“Tell me.”
Thomas stared at the picture.
Finally, he whispered, “Elliot found the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
Declan answered.
“A record of payments.”
Thomas looked at him bitterly.
“Not yours.”
Declan went still.
Thomas continued.
“Victor Hale was paying people inside Mercer’s organization. Judges. Dock supervisors. Police officers.”
Audrey frowned.
“So you stole it?”
“I copied it.”
“Why?”
“Because Hale approached me. He wanted me to alter shipping routes. I refused.”
Thomas swallowed.
“Then he threatened you.”
Audrey’s stomach twisted.
“I thought if I had proof, I could protect us.”
Declan stepped closer.
“The missing half-million?”
Thomas looked ashamed.
“I moved Mercer money into an account Hale couldn’t trace. I planned to disappear with Audrey.”
“You made it look like theft.”
“Yes.”
Audrey stared at him.
“All these years…”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You let me believe I destroyed my twenties because of your gambling.”
Tears filled Thomas’s eyes.
“I woke after the stroke and learned you had signed that contract. I tried to tell you.”
“You could barely speak.”
“I know.”
Audrey stood.
Anger and grief collided inside her.
Declan looked almost sick.
He had built four years of Audrey’s captivity on a lie.
Not hers.
Not entirely her father’s.
A war between men.
“Where is the ledger?” Declan asked.
Thomas looked at Audrey.
“I gave it to Elliot.”
“And Elliot?”
“Was supposed to disappear.”
Declan’s eyes narrowed.
“I was told he died.”
“He wanted everyone to believe that.”
Audrey walked toward the door.
Declan followed.
“Audrey.”
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t know.”
She turned.
“No, you didn’t.”
Her voice broke.
“But you never tried to know.”
That landed.
“You saw a debt and someone desperate enough to pay it. That was enough for you.”
Declan had no defense.
Audrey left.
Nathan was waiting outside.
She walked directly into his arms.
He held her while she cried.
Declan emerged moments later.
He stopped when he saw them.
For once, jealousy did not become anger.
It became shame.
Because Nathan was giving Audrey exactly what Declan had never given her.
Comfort without a price.
That afternoon, Audrey made a decision.
She would finish her notice.
Then she would leave the city.
Nathan offered her the Chicago position again.
This time, she accepted.
When Declan heard, he merely nodded.
“No counteroffer?”
Audrey asked.
“No.”
She studied him.
“You’re learning.”
“Slowly.”
For the next week, Declan changed.
He stopped calling after hours.
He hired two assistants for Audrey to train.
He never asked where she went for lunch.
And when Nathan arrived, Declan remained inside his office.
It should have made leaving easier.
Instead, Audrey began noticing strange things.
Declan bringing his own coffee.
Declan staring at her empty chair whenever she left early.
Declan asking whether her father was comfortable, then immediately changing the subject.
On Friday evening, Audrey entered his office.
“I’m leaving.”
Declan looked up.
“For the evening?”
“For good.”
His face changed.
“My replacement starts Monday. There’s no reason to complete the remaining notice.”
He stood.
Audrey placed her access card on his desk.
Neither spoke for several seconds.
Then Declan opened a drawer.
He removed an envelope.
“What is this?”
“Your money.”
Inside was a cashier’s check.
Audrey stared at the amount.
Every dollar she had paid against her father’s debt.
Plus interest.
“No.”
“It was collected under circumstances I no longer consider legitimate.”
“You considered them legitimate for four years.”
“I was wrong.”
Audrey looked at him.
Declan Mercer did not apologize.
Not normally.
Yet the words were there.
Raw and unprotected.
She pushed the check back.
“If you want to do something useful with it, establish a fund for families harmed by your businesses.”
He stared.
“You’re giving away half a million dollars?”
“It was never really mine.”
A faint, sad smile touched his mouth.
“You’re the strangest person I know.”
“And you’re the most difficult.”
Audrey walked toward the door.
“Audrey.”
She stopped.
Declan looked at her as though there were a thousand things he wanted to say.
In the end, he chose one.
“I hope Chicago deserves you.”
Her throat tightened.
“Goodbye, Declan.”
She left.
Twenty minutes later, Audrey entered the parking garage.
She never saw the man behind the concrete pillar.
A cloth covered her mouth.
Her phone struck the pavement.
As darkness swallowed her, she heard a familiar voice.
May you like
“Your father should have given me the ledger four years ago.”
Elliot Crane had finally come back for what he wanted.
