Chapter 6 - The House Was Never Safe
Adrian slowly lowered the phone.
"Tell me she's wrong."
Claire looked at the brass key in his hand.
"She isn't."
Sofia stepped away from Claire.
Lily did not.
That difference hurt Claire more than accusation.
"You accessed Elena's box?"
"Yesterday."
"How?"
"I had a second key."
Adrian stared.
"Then why did we come here looking for this one?"
"Because I needed to know whether Elena left it."
"You used us?"
"No."
"Then explain."
Police shouted outside.
Claire spoke fast.
"I opened the box yesterday because I received another message."
"From whom?"
"I don't know."
"What message?"
"Three words."
"Which were?"
"Before Friday. Alone."
Adrian's original return date.
Friday.
Someone knew his schedule.
Claire continued.
"I thought the message came from whoever sent me Lily's photograph."
"What was inside the box?"
"A ledger."
"And?"
"A flash drive."
"Where are they?"
"I moved them."
Adrian stepped closer.
"Where?"
"Somewhere Victor couldn't reach."
"Where?"
Claire held his gaze.
"With Maya Cole."
Adrian looked at the phone.
Maya was still connected.
"Maya?"
The prosecutor sighed.
"She's telling the truth."
Adrian closed his eyes.
"Did anyone plan on telling me anything?"
Maya said, "You have a reputation for solving sensitive problems with direct methods."
"You mean violence."
"I mean direct methods."
Despite everything, Sofia nearly smiled.
Adrian did not.
"What's on the drive?"
"Encrypted."
"And the ledger?"
"Transfers connecting Mercer routes to shell companies."
"Nathan's?"
"We believe so."
Claire said, "Tell him the rest."
Maya went silent.
Adrian's patience vanished.
"Maya."
"Some transfers carry your authorization."
"Forged."
"Probably."
"Probably?"
"We need evidence."
A crash came from the front entrance.
Police were entering.
Maya said, "Do not resist."
Adrian ended the call.
Then he did something none of his men expected.
He removed his weapon.
Placed it on the piano.
Removed the backup from his ankle.
Placed it beside the first.
Dante stared.
"Boss."
"We're not fighting police."
"They could be compromised."
"Then we find out."
He looked at Sofia.
"Stay beside me."
Claire whispered to Lily.
"You're safe."
The front door opened.
Officers entered.
Adrian raised his hands.
A detective he recognized stepped forward.
Carla Reyes.
Forty-two.
Major Crimes.
Unimpressed by money.
Good.
He trusted unimpressed people more than loyal ones tonight.
"Adrian Mercer."
"Detective."
"You are being detained."
"For?"
"The suspected kidnapping of Julian Moss and Trevor Lane."
The missing accountants.
"I didn't take them."
"Everyone says that."
"Check Victor Hale."
"We are."
"Check Evan Cross."
"We are."
"Check my mansion."
Reyes stared.
"Why?"
"Because someone attempted to abduct my daughter there tonight."
That changed her expression.
"Lily?"
"Yes."
"Evidence?"
Adrian held up the metal fragment.
Claire stopped him.
"Chain of custody."
He looked at her.
Even now.
She took an evidence bag from the medical kit.
Evelyn muttered, "Of course she carries those."
Claire sealed the fragment.
Reyes accepted it carefully.
"Who was injured?"
"I was."
"How?"
"It struck me instead of Lily."
Reyes looked at Claire's bandage.
Then at Lily.
"Anyone else hurt?"
"No."
A radio crackled.
One officer said, "Detective, we found something."
"Where?"
"Garage."
Everyone followed.
The lake house garage contained Elena's old sedan.
Covered for three years.
An officer stood beside the trunk.
It was open.
Adrian knew he had not opened it.
Inside lay two duffel bags.
Cash.
Documents.
And a bloodstained shirt.
Reyes looked at Adrian.
"This yours?"
"No."
"Your garage."
"Not my shirt."
She lifted the fabric.
Embroidered initials.
A.M.
Adrian almost admired the craftsmanship.
"They're framing me."
Reyes replied, "They've put effort into it."
Claire approached the trunk.
"Don't touch anything."
"I'm aware."
Claire pointed.
"Look under the hinge."
Reyes leaned closer.
A tiny magnetic camera had been attached beneath the trunk lid.
Recording.
Claire smiled for the first time.
"Whoever planted this wanted footage."
Adrian understood.
"If they remotely checked the garage, they'd see us discovering it."
"Unless we block the signal."
Reyes ordered an officer to bag the camera.
Then another officer shouted from outside.
A man had been found near the rear fence.
Unconscious.
Victor Hale.
Adrian ran.
Victor lay on the ground.
Hands zip-tied behind him.
A cut above one eyebrow.
No weapon.
A handwritten note pinned to his jacket.
THE FALCON FAILED.
Sofia stopped beside Adrian.
"If Victor is the falcon..."
Claire finished.
"Then someone higher is removing him."
Victor regained consciousness inside the house.
He looked at Adrian.
Not with betrayal.
With fear.
"You shouldn't have come home."
Adrian crouched.
"Everybody keeps telling me that."
"Nathan wanted Friday."
"Why?"
"The board vote."
Mercer Logistics had a private board meeting Friday morning.
A restructuring.
Adrian planned to remove several old partners.
"Why does Nathan care?"
Victor coughed.
"Because if you died before Friday, control transfers temporarily."
"To Evan."
Victor nodded.
Adrian understood.
Evan was deputy chairman.
"If I died after Friday?"
"You were changing succession authority."
Sofia whispered, "So they needed Dad dead before the meeting."
Victor looked at her.
"No."
Sofia stiffened.
"No?"
"They needed Adrian blamed."
Adrian stared.
"For what?"
"The missing accountants."
Victor swallowed.
"They discovered Nathan's network. Evan took them. The plan was to frame Adrian, force him to flee, remove him from the board, then take Lily."
"Why Lily?"
Victor's eyes moved to the child.
"Because Elena put the ownership trust in her name."
Adrian felt as if the floor vanished.
"What trust?"
Victor laughed weakly.
"The one your wife created before she died."
Claire closed her eyes.
Adrian looked at her.
"You knew?"
"No."
Victor continued.
"Elena discovered Nathan was alive. She changed the controlling shares."
"To Lily?"
"To both girls eventually. Lily's trust activates if criminal interference with the company is proven."
Adrian stared.
"That makes no sense."
"It does if Elena expected you to be framed."
His dead wife had planned around a future betrayal.
Maybe because she understood them all better than they understood themselves.
Adrian asked, "Where are the accountants?"
Victor's eyes closed.
"Nathan has them."
"Where?"
Victor shook his head.
"Evan knows."
"Then we find Evan."
Victor suddenly grabbed Adrian's wrist.
"You don't understand."
"What?"
"Evan isn't working for Nathan anymore."
Adrian leaned closer.
"Then who?"
Victor's eyes widened.
"He wants everything himself."
A phone rang inside Victor's jacket.
Reyes removed it.
The screen displayed a live video.
Evan.
Standing inside Adrian's Chicago mansion.
Behind him were the missing accountants.
Alive.
Bound to chairs.
Evan smiled into the camera.
"Come home, Adrian."
Then he turned the camera.
May you like
Another figure sat beside them.
Nathan Mercer.
