Chapter 6 - Damon’s Second Phone
Nathan Mercer had died in a boating accident at twenty-six.
No body had been recovered.
Julian had spent years believing the Atlantic had taken his older brother.
Now Nathan’s voice was playing through Daniel Miller’s recording.
“We move the money after Richard dies.”
Martin answered him.
“And Julian?”
“Julian inherits the company.”
Nathan laughed.
“We inherit Julian.”
The recording ended.
Julian sat motionless.
Grace understood suddenly that wealth could not protect someone from grief returning in a new shape.
Ruiz reopened Nathan’s case.
The boating accident had been suspicious even then.
Nathan’s blood was found aboard the damaged vessel, but no remains.
Richard Mercer had accepted the presumed-death ruling.
Perhaps Nathan had wanted exactly that.
Damon finally asked for a lawyer.
Then he asked for a deal.
His second phone had been recovered from a locker at Grand Central Terminal.
It contained encrypted messages from someone identified only as N.
Nathan.
Damon admitted Victoria was part of the conspiracy.
But she had not created it.
Nathan had recruited her.
Victoria’s relationship with Julian began as an assignment.
She was supposed to get close enough to access his accounts, routines, signatures, and estate.
Then something changed.
“What?” Grace asked.
Damon smiled through the interview-room glass.
“She wanted everything.”
Victoria decided marrying Julian was easier than merely stealing from him.
Nathan objected.
The partnership fractured.
Damon remained caught between them.
The gala attack had been Nathan’s order.
Kill Grace.
Frame Victoria.
Then eventually remove Julian.
Three problems solved.
Ruiz asked where Nathan was.
Damon gave an address.
Police raided it.
Empty.
On the wall were photographs of Julian.
Victoria.
Grace.
Linda.
And Daniel Miller.
One photograph showed Daniel beside Richard Mercer.
Another showed Nathan watching them from across a parking lot.
Grace stared at it.
“My father knew.”
Julian stood beside her.
“He was trying to protect mine.”
That bond between their fathers had ended in death.
Now their children stood inside the wreckage.
A message suddenly arrived on Damon’s recovered phone.
N: THE WEDDING CONTINUES.
Julian frowned.
“There is no wedding.”
Grace looked at the message again.
Maybe Nathan was not making a prediction.
Maybe it was an instruction.
Then a second message arrived.
Eight days had become five.
FIVE DAYS. SAME PLACE. SAME TIME.
Ruiz traced the signal.
Nothing.
Nathan was moving.
That night, Julian made a decision.
“The wedding continues.”
Grace stared at him.
“You cannot be serious.”
“As bait.”
Ruiz understood immediately.
If Nathan expected a wedding, they could give him one.
Victoria was in custody, but prosecutors lacked enough evidence to hold her indefinitely on the larger conspiracy. Her attorney negotiated temporary release while investigators built the financial case.
Julian met Victoria under police supervision.
“You want Nathan?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“And afterward?”
“You go to prison for whatever you did.”
Victoria smiled bitterly.
“At least you're finally paying attention.”
She agreed to participate.
The wedding would proceed publicly.
Guests would believe Julian and Victoria had reconciled after a misunderstanding.
Privately, the estate would become a trap.
Grace hated the plan.
Not because it was dangerous.
Because Nathan already knew too much.
He had watched them for years.
He might anticipate every conventional move.
The next afternoon, Grace visited Linda.
Her mother listened silently as Grace finally told her about Daniel.
Linda cried.
Then she revealed something Grace never knew.
“Your father left you a key.”
Grace stared.
“What?”
“I promised not to give it to you unless someone named Mercer came asking about Daniel.”
Linda opened a small locked drawer.
Inside was a brass key.
A number had been engraved into it.
Grace took it.
“What does it open?”
Linda shook her head.
Daniel had never said.
Julian helped search old records.
317 matched no room at Mercer Hill.
No company safe.
No storage unit.
Then Grace remembered her father's studio.
The lockers had been numbered.
She returned there with Ruiz.
Locker 317 had been concealed behind drywall during renovations.
The brass key fit.
Inside was a small metal box.
Grace opened it.
There were photographs.
Documents.
And one handwritten letter.
FOR GRACE.
Her hands shook as she opened it.
The first sentence read:
If Nathan Mercer is alive, trust no one who tells you Martin Shaw is the mastermind.
Grace looked up.
Ruiz was reading over her shoulder.
The letter continued.
Martin is frightened of Nathan.
Richard doesn't know his oldest son survived.
If anything happens to me, find the woman in the photograph.
A picture fell from the envelope.
Grace picked it up.
A younger Daniel stood beside a woman.
Julian took one look at her and stepped backward.
Grace asked:
“Who is she?”
Julian’s voice barely emerged.
May you like
“My mother.”
And she had supposedly died five years before Daniel Miller.
