Chapter 4 - What Patrick Mercer Knew
Grant did not move.
Neither did Marcus.
The room remained black except for Patrick Mercer’s frozen face glowing on the monitor.
The voice came again.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Grant recognized it.
“Dante.”
Silence.
Then emergency lights flickered on.
Dante Russo stood near the entrance.
His shirt was torn.
Blood streaked one side of his face.
His gun was raised.
But it was not pointed at Grant.
It was pointed past him.
At Leon.
Grant turned slightly.
Leon had drawn a weapon.
Marcus immediately aimed at Leon.
For one suspended second, four men stood inside unit 314 with guns aimed in different directions.
Evelyn was against the wall, too weak to move.
Dante spoke first.
“Leon, drop it.”
Leon smiled.
“Should’ve stayed missing.”
Grant’s gaze shifted.
“So it was you.”
Leon laughed.
“You still don’t know what ‘it’ is.”
“Drop the gun.”
“Or what?”
Marcus took a step closer.
“I’ll make the wall behind you reconsider its paint color.”
Leon looked at him.
“Still loyal, Marcus?”
“More than you.”
“That isn’t saying much.”
Dante’s hand trembled slightly.
Grant noticed.
“You’re injured.”
“They jumped me after Marcus ran from the apartment.”
“Who?”
“Vale’s men.”
“And they took your phone.”
“Yes.”
Grant glanced at Leon.
“How did you escape?”
Dante’s expression hardened.
“I didn’t.”
Leon’s smile disappeared.
Dante continued.
“They let me go.”
Marcus swore.
“Why?”
“Because they wanted me to come here.”
Grant understood instantly.
“To deliver you.”
“Maybe.”
“No,” Evelyn whispered.
Everyone looked at her.
She was staring at Leon.
“Not Dante.”
Leon’s eyes narrowed.
Evelyn pushed herself upright.
“The man in my apartment.”
Grant watched her.
“You recognize him?”
“Not his face.”
She pointed at Leon’s shoes.
“His walk.”
Leon glanced down.
A small movement.
A mistake.
Evelyn saw it.
“So did you,” she said.
Grant turned.
Leon fired.
Marcus fired first.
Leon’s weapon flew from his hand as the bullet struck his forearm.
He shouted and hit the floor.
Dante kicked the gun away.
Grant crossed the space in three steps and drove Leon against the wall.
“Who hurt her?”
Leon grinned through pain.
“You think you scare me?”
Grant pressed harder.
“No.”
He glanced at Evelyn.
“But she identified you.”
Leon’s smile faded.
“That scares you.”
For the first time, Leon looked at Evelyn with hatred.
Grant saw everything he needed.
“You were there.”
Leon said nothing.
“You helped frame her.”
Nothing.
“You helped take Anna.”
Leon smiled again.
“You’re running out of time.”
Grant drew back his fist.
Evelyn said, “Don’t.”
He stopped.
Not because Leon deserved mercy.
Because Evelyn had asked.
She looked at the screen.
“We need the video.”
Grant released Leon.
Marcus restrained him.
Dante locked the unit door.
Grant pressed play.
Patrick Mercer continued.
“Grant, if you are watching this, there are things I failed to tell you because I believed silence would protect you.”
Grant’s face hardened.
Patrick had always loved silence.
“Adrian Vale and I built our first company together. He was brilliant. Patient. He understood systems better than people.”
Patrick paused.
“I understood people better than systems.”
A humorless smile.
“That made us dangerous together.”
Images appeared.
Young Patrick.
Young Adrian.
Shipping warehouses.
Contracts.
Political figures.
Banks.
Then Patrick’s expression darkened.
“Adrian wanted more.”
Grant watched.
“He believed fear could control anyone. Judges. Police. Families. Children.”
Evelyn looked toward Grant.
Patrick continued.
“I drew lines. Not enough lines, perhaps. But some.”
Grant almost laughed at the hypocrisy.
Patrick Mercer had ruined men.
Ordered beatings.
Bought officials.
Destroyed businesses.
Yet apparently even he had limits.
“Adrian had none.”
The video changed.
A document filled the screen.
PROJECT HALCYON.
Evelyn whispered, “That’s it.”
Grant looked at her.
“What is Halcyon?”
“A network.”
Patrick answered from the recording.
“Halcyon was Adrian’s insurance policy. Financial accounts, kompromat, surveillance, offshore identities. Enough information to control hundreds of powerful people.”
Grant felt his stomach tighten.
“And enough,” Patrick continued, “to destroy my family.”
More files appeared.
Photographs.
Bank statements.
Audio recordings.
Grant recognized senators.
CEOs.
Police commissioners.
Foreign businessmen.
“If Halcyon survived,” Patrick said, “then Adrian survived.”
Grant looked at the metal case.
A biometric lock.
Evelyn’s handprint reader.
Patrick continued.
“I hid the master index where Adrian could not retrieve it.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Grant knew the next line before Patrick said it.
“With Evelyn Price.”
Grant stared at her.
Patrick smiled sadly.
“She was nineteen when I first met her.”
Evelyn’s eyes filled.
Grant said nothing.
Patrick continued.
“Her father, Thomas Price, was my forensic accountant.”
Grant knew the name.
He had heard it once.
A man killed in a supposed robbery eleven years earlier.
Patrick continued.
“Thomas discovered Halcyon. Adrian murdered him for it.”
Evelyn looked away.
Grant understood.
Her father.
This had never been random.
Patrick said, “I promised Thomas I would protect his daughter.”
Grant felt anger rising.
“You put her near me,” he whispered.
As though the dead man could hear him.
Patrick’s recording continued.
“I arranged scholarships under another name. I ensured she had opportunities. Years later, she applied to Mercer Holdings without knowing any of this.”
Grant looked at Evelyn.
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
“When did you find out?”
“Three months ago.”
Patrick’s voice continued.
“When she joined your company, I was already dead. But contingencies remained.”
Grant’s expression hardened.
Another dead-man switch.
“The master archive recognizes Thomas Price’s genetic markers. His daughter is the only person who can unlock it.”
Evelyn looked at her hands.
Not fingerprint.
DNA.
That explained the blood.
Grant turned toward Leon.
“They needed her alive.”
Leon smiled.
“For a while.”
Grant’s eyes went cold.
Patrick continued.
“There is one final truth.”
The screen flickered.
A countdown appeared.
11:54.
Six minutes until midnight.
Patrick said, “The forty-three million dollars is not payment to Adrian.”
Evelyn looked up.
“It is a bounty.”
Grant frowned.
Patrick’s final words played.
“On you.”
The screen went black.
Marcus stared.
“A bounty funded by Patrick?”
“No,” Evelyn said.
She understood before Grant.
“Funded by everyone Halcyon has leverage over.”
Grant looked at her.
“They want me dead.”
“They want whoever controls the archive dead.”
A phone rang.
Leon’s.
Marcus pulled it from his pocket.
Unknown caller.
Grant answered.
Adrian Vale spoke.
“You’ve seen the recording.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know your father made his final mistake.”
Grant looked at Evelyn.
“No. I think he made many.”
Adrian laughed.
“You always did have Patrick’s mouth.”
“Where are Anna and Sophia?”
“Near.”
“I want proof.”
A camera feed appeared on the monitor.
Anna and Sophia.
Different room.
Same chairs.
Grant studied the background.
A massive old turbine.
Rust.
Yellow railings.
He knew the place.
Mercer Power Station.
Closed fourteen years ago.
His father once owned it.
Adrian said, “Bring the case.”
Grant looked at the metal box.
“Why?”
“Because Evelyn cannot open it without you.”
Grant frowned.
Evelyn looked equally confused.
Adrian continued.
“Your father loved symmetry.”
“Meaning?”
“Price blood.”
A pause.
“And Mercer blood.”
Grant stared at the case.
Two families.
Two keys.
“You need us both.”
“Yes.”
“Then you won’t kill us.”
“Eventually, I will.”
At least Adrian was honest.
Grant said, “Release Sophia.”
“No.”
“She’s twelve.”
“Which is why I know you’ll come.”
The call ended.
Grant turned.
Marcus asked, “Plan?”
Grant looked at Leon.
“First, he talks.”
Leon laughed.
“You’ve got six minutes.”
Grant crouched in front of him.
“I only need one.”
Leon’s smile vanished.
Grant spoke quietly.
“You helped Vale reach Evelyn. You helped frame her. You’ve been feeding him information.”
Leon looked away.
“But you’re not important to him.”
Nothing.
“If you were, you wouldn’t be here.”
A flicker.
Grant saw it.
“Vale left you behind.”
“He didn’t.”
“He sent Dante here knowing Dante would expose you.”
Leon’s jaw tightened.
Grant smiled faintly.
“You were disposable.”
“Shut up.”
“There it is.”
Grant leaned closer.
“You want to hurt him?”
Leon stared.
“Tell me where the failsafe is.”
Silence.
Evelyn frowned.
“What failsafe?”
Grant never looked away from Leon.
“Every man like Vale has one.”
Leon’s eyes moved toward the metal case.
Grant saw it.
Evelyn saw it.
She crawled toward the case.
“Wait.”
Grant moved to stop her.
Too late.
She touched the lid.
A hidden compartment clicked open.
Inside was not a drive.
It was a handwritten letter.
Addressed to Grant.
And beneath his name, in Patrick Mercer’s handwriting, were four words:
ASK EVELYN ABOUT THE BABY.
May you like
Grant slowly turned toward her.
Evelyn’s face had gone completely white.
