Chapter 5 - The Locked Room on Mercer Street
Vincent refused another medical examination.
Elena threatened to sedate him.
He told her that would be illegal.
She informed him she was considering whether the paperwork would be worth it.
Rebecca almost laughed despite the fear on her face.
They reached the storage facility shortly after eight in the morning.
Marco brought four trusted men.
Vincent questioned each one before allowing them inside.
Elena noticed.
“Vale got into your hospital detail.”
“Yes.”
“Meaning you don’t know who you can trust.”
“Yes.”
“That bothers you.”
He looked at her.
“You enjoy stating obvious things.”
“I enjoy hearing you admit them.”
Locker 117 was on the second floor.
Rebecca’s key opened it.
Inside sat one metal filing cabinet.
One chair.
One cassette player.
And a sealed cardboard box.
Nothing else.
Vincent approached the box.
Written across the top in Evelyn’s handwriting were five words.
FOR MY SON, IF NECESSARY.
Vincent stopped.
Elena stood beside him.
Not touching.
Waiting.
He looked at her.
“Open it with me.”
She nodded.
Inside were journals.
Photographs.
Financial records.
A small revolver wrapped in cloth.
And a cassette tape.
Vincent picked it up.
The label read:
NOVEMBER 14 — V.
He placed it in the player.
Static filled the room.
Then Evelyn Mercer’s voice emerged.
“Vincent, if you’re hearing this, I failed to get away.”
Vincent’s face emptied.
Elena felt tears rise in her own eyes.
Evelyn continued.
“I need you to understand something before anyone tells you otherwise. You were never responsible for me.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
“I know you,” the recording said. “You will blame yourself. You will remember every argument, every missed phone call, every moment you were not beside me. Don’t.”
His breathing broke.
Only slightly.
But Elena heard it.
“You were my son,” Evelyn said. “Not my guard. Not my weapon. My son.”
Vincent looked down.
Elena slowly moved her hand toward his.
Paused.
He reached first.
Their fingers closed.
Evelyn’s voice continued.
“Dominic made choices I could no longer defend. Thomas Vale made choices worse than his. Claire made one terrible mistake because she was afraid for her daughter. But there is another person you must know about.”
Vincent looked up.
Static crackled.
Then Evelyn spoke the name.
“Gabriel Mercer.”
Vincent released Elena’s hand.
Rebecca frowned.
“Who is Gabriel?”
Vincent did not answer.
Marco did.
“Vincent’s uncle.”
Elena looked at him.
“Your father’s brother?”
“Yes,” Vincent said.
His face had gone hard.
“Gabriel disappeared ten years ago.”
Marco shook his head.
“We thought he did.”
Evelyn continued.
“Gabriel is the one I feared most.”
Vincent’s jaw tightened.
“He learned about the evidence. He told Dominic that if I went to the authorities, the entire family would fall. Dominic hesitated.”
Vincent looked stunned.
“My father hesitated?”
Evelyn’s voice answered from eleven years earlier.
“Your father was many things, but I believe he did not intend for me to die.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
“Gabriel did.”
Rebecca covered her mouth.
“Gabriel arranged the men who followed me. He arranged the car. He arranged the weapon.”
Then came a pause.
Evelyn’s voice softened.
“But I do not know if he pulled the trigger himself.”
The tape clicked.
Static.
Then silence.
Vincent stared at the player.
“That’s it?”
Marco checked the cassette.
“Yes.”
Vincent grabbed the box.
“There has to be more.”
They searched everything.
Journals.
Receipts.
Copies of phone records.
Photographs.
One picture showed Gabriel Mercer.
He resembled Vincent.
Older.
Thinner.
Cold eyes.
On the back Evelyn had written:
GABRIEL — DO NOT TRUST.
Elena studied Vincent.
“You knew him well?”
“He taught me to drive.”
The answer came too quickly.
“He taught me to shoot.”
Vincent looked at the photograph.
“He gave me my first job.”
Marco added quietly, “He disappeared after Dominic died.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“What does this have to do with my mother?”
Vincent looked at her.
“Claire knew Gabriel.”
Rebecca’s face tightened.
“How well?”
“I don’t know.”
Elena watched Vincent.
He did know something.
“What?”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“You made that face.”
“What face?”
“The one where you decide to keep something to yourself.”
Rebecca stepped forward.
“Mr. Mercer.”
Vincent sighed.
“Gabriel and Claire had a relationship.”
Rebecca went still.
“When?”
“Before you were born.”
Her face drained.
“No.”
Vincent said nothing.
Rebecca stared at him.
“No.”
Marco looked away.
Rebecca’s voice cracked.
“My father died when I was six.”
Vincent’s expression changed.
“What was his name?”
“Daniel Donovan.”
“Did you ever see a birth certificate?”
Rebecca frowned.
“What?”
Vincent looked at Marco.
Marco understood.
“No,” Rebecca said.
“You think Gabriel was my father?”
“I don’t know.”
She backed away.
“My mother would have told me.”
Vincent looked toward the box.
“People hide things when they’re afraid.”
Rebecca stared at him.
He regretted it instantly.
Elena saw that too.
Before anyone could respond, Marco’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
His face tightened.
“Where?”
Another pause.
“Keep him there.”
He hung up.
Vincent waited.
Marco said, “Eddie woke up.”
Everyone moved.
Back at the hospital, Eddie looked older than he had six hours earlier.
Machines surrounded him.
Elena stood at the foot of the bed.
Vincent took the chair.
“Gabriel,” he said.
Eddie’s eyes opened.
“You found the tape.”
“Yes.”
Eddie nodded weakly.
“Then Evelyn finally got to tell you.”
“Did Gabriel kill her?”
Eddie closed his eyes.
“I drove that night.”
Vincent leaned forward.
“You drove who?”
“Gabriel.”
The room went quiet.
“And?”
“Dominic.”
Vincent stared.
“My father was there?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To stop Gabriel.”
Vincent’s expression broke for the first time.
Eddie continued.
“Dominic found out what Gabriel planned. He tried to reach Evelyn first.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Who fired?”
Eddie looked at Vincent.
“I didn’t see.”
Vincent stood.
“You were there.”
“I was in the car.”
“Who went inside?”
“Gabriel.”
“Who else?”
Eddie hesitated.
Vincent saw it.
“Who?”
“Claire.”
Rebecca gasped.
Eddie looked toward her.
“I’m sorry.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“Claire was there when my mother died?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She was protecting someone.”
“Gabriel?”
“No.”
Eddie looked at Rebecca.
Rebecca went pale.
“Me?”
“No.”
Eddie’s voice weakened.
“She was protecting Vincent.”
Everyone froze.
Vincent stared.
“What does that mean?”
Eddie closed his eyes.
“There’s something about that night you don’t remember.”
Vincent’s face hardened.
“I remember everything.”
“No.”
Eddie shook his head.
“You remember Evelyn dying.”
“Yes.”
“But you don’t remember how you got there.”
Vincent stopped.
Elena looked at him.
“Vincent?”
He stared at the floor.
A memory moved behind his eyes.
“What?”
Eddie whispered.
“You were already inside the house.”
Vincent’s breathing changed.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Eddie looked at him.
“You arrived before Gabriel.”
Vincent backed away from the bed.
Elena moved toward him.
He raised a hand.
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
His eyes were distant.
“What happened?” she asked.
He looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
Eddie began coughing.
The monitor alarmed.
Elena called the medical team.
Vincent backed into the hallway.
Marco followed.
Elena came out minutes later.
“He’s stable.”
Vincent stood by the window.
“What don’t I remember?”
Elena said nothing.
He pressed his thumb against the old watch.
Then his phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
COME HOME, NEPHEW.
Beneath it was a photograph taken seconds earlier.
Claire Donovan was tied to a chair.
May you like
Behind her stood Gabriel Mercer.
And on the wall beside them was the same bloodstained staircase where Evelyn had died.
