Chapter 2 - The Brother Who Was Dead
For twelve years, Daniel Mercer had believed his younger brother was buried beneath a marble headstone in Connecticut.
Yet Michael Mercer stood twenty feet away.
Alive.
Older.
Thinner.
Watching Claire.
Daniel moved first.
He crossed the corridor and grabbed Michael by the jacket.
"What the hell are you?"
Michael didn't resist.
"Daniel."
"I buried you."
"No. You buried an empty coffin."
Daniel punched him.
Guests near the ballroom doors screamed.
Michael stumbled against the wall.
Claire froze.
Daniel grabbed him again.
"You let Mom mourn you."
Michael looked toward Margaret.
"I didn't have a choice."
Margaret's expression was worse than grief.
It was recognition.
"You knew," Claire said.
Margaret closed her eyes.
Daniel turned.
"Mom?"
She couldn't answer.
Michael wiped blood from his mouth.
"She knew I survived."
Daniel stared at his mother.
The betrayal in his face was immediate.
"For twelve years?"
Margaret whispered, "I was protecting you."
"From my brother?"
"No."
Michael looked at Claire.
"From our father."
That silenced everyone.
Claire felt Daniel's hand loosen.
Michael straightened his jacket.
"Richard found out I discovered what Mercer Capital was hiding. Three shell companies. Offshore transfers. Payments disguised as charitable donations."
Daniel shook his head.
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
"What does that have to do with Claire?"
Michael's eyes went to her purse.
"Everything."
Claire stepped back.
"Why?"
"Because Richard changed his will six weeks before he died."
Daniel frowned.
"I handled his estate."
"No. You handled the estate he wanted you to see."
Michael pulled a small brass key from his pocket.
Engraved on it:
Claire stared.
Michael continued.
"Richard left a second trust."
"For whom?" Daniel asked.
Michael looked directly at Claire.
"For your first child."
The hallway seemed to tilt.
Daniel slowly turned toward his wife.
Claire's secret was no longer safe.
"What child?"
Nobody spoke.
Daniel looked at Claire's stomach.
Then her purse.
Then her face.
"Claire?"
Her eyes filled.
This wasn't how she had imagined telling him.
She reached into her purse.
She removed the ultrasound photograph.
Daniel stared at it.
His face broke.
"You're pregnant?"
Claire said nothing.
Daniel took one step toward her.
"Claire."
She moved back.
That destroyed him.
"I was going to tell you tonight," she whispered.
He looked at the photograph.
Then at her bare finger.
"Oh, God."
Vanessa stepped out of the elevator.
"We don't have time for this."
Claire turned on her.
"You seem to have had plenty of time to dance with my husband."
Vanessa flinched.
Daniel spoke immediately.
"Claire, Vanessa contacted me this morning. She said someone had accessed my father's sealed records."
"And that required her arms around your neck?"
"No."
Vanessa answered instead.
"I saw someone photographing us. I needed it to look personal."
Claire stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because the person watching Daniel believes I'm his mistress."
"That's supposed to make me feel better?"
"No. It's supposed to keep me alive."
Michael stepped between them.
"We need to go to the apartment."
Vanessa shook her head.
"No."
"Richard left the evidence there."
"And whoever killed him knows it."
Daniel stared.
"My father died of a heart attack."
Michael's expression said otherwise.
Claire's phone vibrated.
A new photograph.
This one showed Daniel and Vanessa dancing.
Taken minutes earlier.
Below it:
GOOD. SHE BELIEVES YOU.
Claire showed Daniel.
He went pale.
"They wanted me to think you were cheating."
Vanessa nodded.
"To separate you."
"Why?"
Michael answered.
"Because Richard's trust requires Daniel and his legal spouse to jointly authenticate it after the pregnancy is medically confirmed."
Claire stared.
"So if I leave him—"
"The trust locks."
"For how long?"
"Twenty-five years."
Daniel looked sick.
Someone had engineered the exact scene Claire had witnessed.
But Daniel had still participated.
That mattered.
She looked at him.
"You could have told me."
"I was trying to protect you."
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Claire—"
"No more secrets."
Daniel nodded.
"Agreed."
Michael handed her the key.
"Then start with 1704."
They left the gala separately.
Claire rode with Margaret.
Daniel followed with Michael and Vanessa.
At 11:21, they reached the Park Avenue building.
Apartment 1704 had been untouched for nearly a year.
Dust covered the furniture.
Richard Mercer's books remained on shelves.
A half-empty bottle of bourbon sat beside an armchair.
Claire found the envelope first.
It was inside a desk drawer.
CLAIRE MERCER.
Her name.
Richard had written it before he died.
Her hands shook as she opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Claire,
If you're reading this, then you are pregnant, and someone has already tried to separate you from Daniel.
She stopped.
Daniel read over her shoulder.
Michael locked the door.
Claire continued.
Do not trust what you see first.
Do not trust the person who tells you this is about money.
And most importantly, do not assume my death was the beginning.
Claire looked up.
"What does that mean?"
Michael didn't know.
There was another sheet.
A list of dates.
Payments.
Names.
One name appeared repeatedly.
V. COLE.
Claire looked at Vanessa.
"You were receiving money from Richard."
Vanessa nodded.
"For what?"
"To investigate Mercer Capital."
"Why secretly?"
"Because someone inside the company was moving money."
Daniel scanned the list.
"Who?"
Vanessa hesitated.
Michael suddenly looked toward the hallway.
A floorboard creaked.
Everyone froze.
Daniel moved toward the door.
Michael stopped him.
Another sound.
Closer.
Someone was inside the apartment.
Claire's phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE RING ON.
Then the bedroom door slowly opened.
A man's voice came from the darkness.
"Claire?"
Daniel stepped in front of her.
The man emerged.
Claire recognized him immediately.
He had been standing behind Daniel at their wedding.
May you like
Daniel whispered:
"Uncle Robert?"
