Chapter 3 - The Prisoner Named Daniel Mercer
Luca stared at the photograph until the pixels seemed to blur.
Daniel was alive.
Not a recording.
Not a memory.
Alive.
His hair had gone gray at the temples. His face was thinner, marked by years Luca could only imagine. But the eyes were the same.
Sharp.
Restless.
Defiant.
Marco enlarged the image.
"No obvious manipulation."
"Location?"
"Working on metadata."
"Probably stripped."
Roman pointed to the wall behind Grace.
"Church."
A narrow stained-glass panel was visible.
Luca recognized the symbol.
"Saint Augustine's."
Marco looked up.
"Red Hook?"
"Closed six years ago."
"Vale owns it?"
"He owns half of Red Hook through shells."
Roman checked the time.
11:07 p.m.
Less than an hour.
"They want Ivy."
"They're not getting Ivy."
"Then Grace—"
"I'm aware."
Luca called Rosa.
"Put Ivy on."
Moments later, a sleepy voice answered.
"Did you find Mommy?"
"I found where she might be."
"Might?"
"I need you to answer something."
"Okay."
"What was your father's full name?"
"Patrick Michael Callahan."
"Did he ever tell you stories about when you were born?"
"Sometimes."
"What kind?"
Ivy thought.
"He said I was the loudest baby."
Despite everything, Luca nearly smiled.
"Anything about the hospital?"
"No."
"Do you know Daniel Mercer?"
"No."
"Have you ever seen his picture?"
"No."
"Okay."
"Mr. Luca?"
"Yes?"
"Are you scared?"
The question caught him.
"No."
"You're lying."
He stared at Daniel's photograph.
"A little."
"My mommy says being scared means you know something matters."
Luca closed his eyes briefly.
"Your mother is right."
"Please bring her home."
"I will."
He hung up.
Marco was watching.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Say it."
"You're different with her."
"She's seven."
"Exactly."
Luca ignored him.
"Find Daniel's family records."
"I already did."
Marco brought them up.
"Parents deceased. No siblings officially. Never married."
"Biological children?"
"None registered."
"DNA databases?"
"Can't search without—"
"Find someone who can."
Roman left to coordinate the church operation.
Luca studied the photograph again.
Something bothered him.
Daniel stood too close to Vale.
Not like a prisoner.
But his hands weren't visible.
Neither were Grace's.
Could be restrained.
Could be performance.
Could be worse.
At 11:42, Luca's convoy stopped three blocks from Saint Augustine's.
He brought six men.
Not Ivy.
Never Ivy.
The church appeared abandoned.
Boarded windows.
Rusting fence.
But light glowed behind stained glass.
Luca entered through the front.
No resistance.
That worried him.
Inside, candles lined the aisle.
Grace sat near the altar in the same white dress.
Alone.
"Grace."
She looked up sharply.
"Luca?"
He approached.
"Where's Vale?"
"Gone."
"Daniel?"
Her expression cracked.
"He was here."
"Was?"
"They took him."
Luca checked her wrists.
Red marks.
She had been bound.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Can you walk?"
"Yes."
"Then we're leaving."
Grace grabbed his arm.
"Where's Ivy?"
"Safe."
"You didn't bring her?"
"Of course not."
Relief flooded her.
Then terror followed.
"Then this is wrong."
Luca went still.
"What?"
"They wanted you to refuse."
"What are you talking about?"
"The message. The deadline. All of it."
"Why?"
"So Ivy would be somewhere else."
Luca's phone was already in his hand.
He called Rosa.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
"Marco."
"Calling security."
Luca's pulse slammed.
A third call.
Finally, someone answered.
Not Rosa.
A male voice said, "Mr. Moretti."
Luca's face became stone.
"Who is this?"
"You should have brought the child."
"Where is she?"
"Safe for now."
"If you touch her—"
"Your threats are outdated."
Luca stepped away from Grace.
"What do you want?"
"What we've wanted for twelve years."
"Daniel?"
A laugh.
"No."
"Then what?"
"The key."
Luca looked at Grace.
"What key?"
The caller answered.
"Ivy Callahan."
Click.
Luca exploded into motion.
"Marco, lock down every road. Roman, get eyes on the safe house."
Roman's voice came through his earpiece.
"Already there."
"And?"
A pause.
"Front door breached."
Luca stopped walking.
"Rosa?"
"Alive. Drugged."
"Ivy?"
Silence.
"Roman."
"She's gone."
Grace made a broken sound.
Luca turned.
"Grace, listen to me."
"You promised!"
"I know."
"You promised my daughter!"
"I know."
"Who took her?"
"That's what we're finding out."
Grace shook.
Luca grabbed her shoulders, not roughly but firmly.
"Who knew where she might go? Did Patrick ever mention safe places, relatives, anyone connected to Daniel?"
"No."
"Think."
Grace covered her face.
Then lowered her hands.
"There was a box."
"What box?"
"Patrick's tool chest. After he died, I found papers. Most were coded. There was one photograph."
"Of Daniel?"
"No."
"Who?"
Grace stared at him.
"You."
Luca's expression changed.
"Me?"
"You and Patrick."
"I barely knew Patrick."
"Apparently he knew you."
"When?"
"I don't know. You both looked younger. Daniel was between you."
That made no sense.
Luca had known Daniel before Daniel joined federal investigators.
Patrick could have been present.
"Anything written?"
"On the back."
"What?"
Grace swallowed.
"Three fathers. One daughter. One key."
Luca felt the room tilt.
"Say that again."
She did.
Three fathers.
One daughter.
One key.
Marco overheard.
"Boss, DNA."
Luca turned.
"What?"
"I got access."
"Already?"
"You don't want to know."
"Tell me."
Marco stared at the screen.
"Ivy's birth records were sealed through a private legal order."
"Who signed it?"
"Judge Nathan Hale."
Luca knew the name.
Hale had died two years earlier.
"Keep going."
"Father listed originally as unknown. Patrick was added six months later through acknowledgment."
Grace looked stunned.
"Patrick never told me."
"Daniel?"
"Wait."
Marco went pale.
"What?"
"There was a genetic profile attached to a federal witness protection file. Male. Classified."
"And?"
"It shares enough markers with Ivy to suggest first-degree relationship."
Grace gripped the altar rail.
"Who?"
Marco looked at Luca.
"Daniel Mercer."
Grace whispered, "No."
Luca's mind raced.
If Daniel was Ivy's biological father, then Grace had known him before.
But she said she found him three days ago.
Unless she didn't know.
Unless something had been done without her knowledge.
Impossible.
Or the profile belonged to someone related to Daniel.
"Confirm."
"I need proper testing."
"Then it's not fact."
"No."
Grace shook her head.
"I never knew Daniel before this week."
Luca believed her.
"Then someone altered records."
"Why?"
"The key."
Roman's voice suddenly burst through Luca's earpiece.
"Boss, we found the vehicle that took Ivy."
"Where?"
"Brooklyn Navy Yard."
"Moving?"
"No."
"Occupants?"
"Empty."
"Ivy?"
"No."
"Anything inside?"
Roman paused.
"A phone."
"Bring it."
"It just started ringing."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"Answer."
Roman did.
Everyone listened.
For several seconds, there was only static.
Then Ivy's voice came through.
"Mr. Luca?"
Grace screamed her name.
"Ivy!" Luca shouted. "Where are you?"
"I don't know."
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Can you see anything?"
"It's dark."
"Anyone with you?"
Ivy whispered.
"Yes."
"Who?"
A man's voice said something near her.
Ivy hesitated.
Then:
"He says he's Daniel."
Luca looked at Grace.
"Put him on."
Footsteps.
Breathing.
Then the voice he had heard on the recording.
"Luca."
"Daniel."
A long silence.
Neither man seemed to know what twelve stolen years should sound like.
Finally Luca said, "If you hurt her—"
"I won't."
"Where are you?"
"Can't tell you."
"You'd better."
"Vale is listening."
"Then let him listen."
Daniel lowered his voice.
"Luca, Ivy isn't my daughter."
"Then why do the records say otherwise?"
"Because Patrick made them say that."
Grace gasped.
"Why?"
"To hide who her father really is."
Luca closed his eyes.
"Who?"
Daniel answered with one name.
"Luca."
Nobody spoke.
Grace stared at him.
Luca felt the word enter the church and change its shape.
"No."
"I'm sorry."
"That's impossible."
"Is it?"
Luca thought seven years back.
One night.
Boston.
A woman he'd known briefly.
A witness named Caroline Reed.
A woman who disappeared weeks later.
Not Grace.
Never Grace.
"Her mother is Grace."
"Biologically?"
Luca looked at Grace.
She backed away.
"What is he saying?"
Daniel continued.
"Grace gave birth to Ivy, but the embryo wasn't hers."
Grace's face emptied.
"No."
"Patrick never told you?"
"No."
"Then he took it to his grave."
Luca's voice was deadly.
"Explain."
"I can't over this line."
"You will."
"Find the medical file Patrick hid."
"Where?"
"Ask Grace about the fertility clinic."
Grace covered her mouth.
Years earlier, after repeated pregnancy losses, she and Patrick had undergone treatment.
She had eventually conceived Ivy.
She had never questioned the details.
Daniel said, "Ivy was created to disappear someone."
Luca gripped the phone.
"Who?"
Another voice entered the call.
Smooth.
Male.
Adrian Vale.
"That's enough, Daniel."
Luca's eyes hardened.
"Adrian."
"Good evening, Luca."
"Where is the girl?"
"Exactly where she belongs."
"You've made the last mistake of your life."
"Maybe."
Vale sounded amused.
"But before you make promises, ask yourself why your father spent millions ensuring Ivy Callahan was born."
Luca stopped.
His father.
Dead six years.
The man Luca had spent his adult life trying not to become.
Vale continued.
"I'll give you a location."
"For Ivy?"
"For the truth."
"I don't want the truth. I want the child."
"Oh, you'll want both."
A text arrived.
Coordinates.
Vale said one final thing.
"Come alone, Luca. Because the person waiting there knows why Ivy was created."
The line died.
Luca looked at the coordinates.
Grace stepped closer.
"Where?"
He showed her.
Her face turned white.
"What?"
May you like
Grace pointed at the address.
"That's where Patrick died."
