Chapter 7 - The Colonel's Father
Daniel had imagined his father's voice thousands of times.
Never like this.
Not coming from a phone fifteen years after his funeral.
"Where are you?"
William Mercer chuckled.
"Still impatient."
"You threatened my daughter."
"I invited my granddaughter home."
"You don't have a home."
"I have several."
Daniel looked toward Grant.
The call was being traced.
William seemed to know.
"Don't bother tracing this."
"Then stop hiding."
"Tomorrow. Noon."
An address arrived.
Daniel recognized it.
The cemetery.
His father's grave.
The call ended.
Daniel went.
Not alone.
He no longer confused courage with recklessness.
Federal agents covered every entrance.
Cross watched from a surveillance vehicle.
At noon, Daniel stood before William Mercer's headstone.
A black sedan approached.
An elderly man stepped out.
Daniel knew him instantly.
Older.
Thinner.
Alive.
William Mercer stopped ten feet away.
"Daniel."
Daniel felt nothing he expected.
No joy.
No grief.
Only distance.
"You let me bury you."
"It protected you."
"You let me believe you were dead."
"It made you independent."
"You built the network."
William smiled faintly.
"I built a system."
"People died."
"People always die around power."
"Rachel died."
William's expression changed.
"That was Vale's mistake."
"You created Vale."
"I trained him."
Daniel stared at his father.
William continued.
"Rachel discovered too much."
"So you let Vale kill her."
"I didn't order it."
"You didn't stop it."
Silence.
That was answer enough.
William wanted the evidence.
In exchange, he promised to disappear permanently.
Daniel almost laughed.
"You still think this is a negotiation."
"It always is."
"No."
Daniel touched his collar.
A recording device.
William's eyes dropped.
He understood.
Federal vehicles moved.
William did not run.
He smiled.
"You're making a mistake."
Daniel looked at him.
"My wife asked me not to choose revenge."
"This isn't revenge."
Agents approached.
"This is accountability."
William was arrested.
The case exploded nationally.
Vale cooperated when he realized William would sacrifice him.
Cross testified.
Emily authenticated Rachel's evidence.
Dozens of officials and contractors were investigated.
Daniel spent weeks giving testimony.
Throughout everything, Lily remained his priority.
Sarah pleaded guilty to charges connected to fraud and child endangerment.
Daniel did not ask prosecutors to punish her more harshly.
He also did not ask them for mercy.
Sarah had been manipulated.
She had also made choices.
Both things could be true.
Months passed.
Lily recovered physically.
Emotionally, things took longer.
She became afraid of locked doors.
Daniel removed the lock from her bedroom.
She became frightened whenever he packed a bag.
Daniel requested reassignment.
For the first time in sixteen years, Colonel Daniel Mercer chose a desk.
His superiors offered promotion.
He declined.
He had already missed too many birthdays.
One afternoon, Lily's therapist suggested she might eventually benefit from deciding for herself whether she wanted contact with Sarah.
Daniel agreed.
Not now.
Someday.
That evening, Daniel and Lily baked cupcakes.
They were terrible.
Lily laughed anyway.
Daniel realized it was the first time he had heard that laugh since the night outside Sarah's mansion.
His phone rang.
Grant.
"Daniel, we found another file."
Daniel's smile faded.
"What file?"
"It was hidden in William's private archive."
"About what?"
Grant hesitated.
"Rachel."
Daniel walked away from Lily.
"What about her?"
"There's a video."
"Send it."
His phone chimed.
Daniel opened the file.
Rachel appeared.
But this recording was different.
She wasn't alone.
Someone sat across from her.
The camera showed only the person's hands.
Rachel said:
"If Daniel discovers what happened, he'll believe his father was the last person involved."
The unseen person answered:
"Then make sure he never discovers me."
Daniel froze.
He recognized the voice.
Not William.
Not Vale.
Someone else.
Someone who had been standing beside him throughout the investigation.
Daniel replayed the sentence.
Then slowly looked toward the front window.
A car had just stopped outside.
May you like
The driver's door opened.
Nathan Cross stepped out.
