Chapter 4 - The Man at Her Mother's Door
Claire was on her feet before anyone could stop her.
“Call my mother.”
Adrian already had his phone out.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Claire grabbed her purse.
“I'm going there.”
Adrian blocked the door.
“No.”
“Move.”
“Claire.”
“That is my mother.”
“And Mercer expects you to react.”
“I don't care.”
“I do.”
She shoved his chest.
He didn't move.
“You cannot keep deciding where I go.”
“You're right.”
The answer surprised her.
Adrian stepped aside.
“But I'm coming with you.”
They left Chicago twenty minutes later.
Claire sat beside Adrian in the back of an armored SUV.
Two security vehicles followed.
Emily remained behind under protection.
Claire called her mother repeatedly.
No response.
Finally, thirty miles outside the city, her phone rang.
Mom.
Claire answered instantly.
“Mom?”
“Claire?”
Her mother's voice sounded normal.
Claire nearly cried.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Is anyone there?”
A pause.
“An old friend stopped by.”
Claire looked at Adrian.
“Who?”
“Thomas.”
Her stomach dropped.
“Mom, listen to me. Walk outside.”
“Claire—”
“Now.”
Silence.
Then her mother whispered:
“He says you found it.”
Claire stopped breathing.
“Found what?”
“The ledger.”
Adrian leaned closer.
Claire put the call on speaker.
Her mother began crying.
“I hoped you'd never see those accounts.”
Claire felt the world shift.
“Mom?”
“I wanted to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
A man's voice entered the call.
Thomas Mercer.
“Good morning, Claire.”
Adrian's face became stone.
“Mercer.”
“Adrian. I wondered how long before you joined us.”
Claire gripped the phone.
“Let my mother go.”
“No one is holding her.”
“Then why won't she leave?”
“Because your mother understands what you don't.”
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“What don't I understand?”
Mercer laughed softly.
“That your family has been connected to the Vales longer than you have.”
The call ended.
Claire stared at the phone.
Adrian ordered the driver faster.
They arrived forty minutes later.
The front door stood open.
Claire ran inside.
“Mom!”
Adrian followed.
The kitchen was empty.
Living room empty.
Then Claire heard crying upstairs.
She found her mother sitting on the bedroom floor.
Alone.
Claire dropped beside her.
“Where is he?”
“Gone.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
Her mother looked at Adrian.
Fear entered her face.
“You shouldn't have brought him.”
Adrian remained near the door.
“Mrs. Bennett.”
“You look like your father.”
Adrian froze.
“You knew him?”
Claire's mother closed her eyes.
“I worked for him.”
Claire stared.
“What?”
“Before you were born.”
Her mother had always said she'd worked as an administrative assistant for a manufacturing company.
That company had been Vale Industries.
She had handled financial records.
Including the accounts Mercer later used.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I wanted you away from them.”
Adrian didn't react.
Claire's mother looked at him.
“Your father discovered Mercer was stealing.”
“When?”
“The week before he died.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“He planned to expose him.”
“And the thirty-seven people?”
“They weren't all involved.”
Claire frowned.
“What?”
“Some were witnesses. Some were paid to remain silent. Some were being blackmailed.”
“Which ones?”
“I don't know.”
She walked to an old dresser.
From beneath a drawer she removed a small brass key.
“I kept this for twelve years.”
Claire took it.
“What does it open?”
“A safe-deposit box.”
“Where?”
“Chicago.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“What is inside?”
Claire's mother looked directly at him.
“The evidence your father died trying to protect.”
Silence.
Then Claire understood.
Mercer hadn't come to hurt her mother.
He had come for the key.
“Why didn't he take it?”
Her mother shook her head.
“He doesn't know where I hid it.”
Adrian looked toward the open front door.
“He'll follow us.”
“Good,” Claire said.
Adrian looked at her.
She closed her fingers around the key.
“Then we'll finally know where he is.”
The plan was dangerous.
Adrian hated it.
Claire insisted.
By afternoon they were back in Chicago.
The safe-deposit box was registered under Claire's mother's maiden name.
Inside they found three things.
A flash drive.
A handwritten letter.
And an old photograph.
Adrian picked up the photograph.
His father stood beside Claire's mother.
Between them was a young Thomas Mercer.
On the back someone had written:
TRUST THE NUMBERS, NOT THE MEN.
Claire inserted the flash drive into an offline laptop.
Hundreds of documents appeared.
Bank transfers.
Audio files.
Scanned contracts.
And one video.
Dated the night Adrian's father died.
Adrian clicked it.
The image was grainy.
His father entered an office.
Thomas Mercer followed.
Then a third person appeared.
Claire leaned closer.
Adrian's face went pale.
“No.”
Claire looked at him.
“Who is that?”
He didn't answer.
The video froze on the third person's face.
May you like
Adrian finally whispered:
“My brother.”
