Chapter 4 - The Man Behind the Badge
Gabriel did not lower his weapon.
His father did not raise one.
Commissioner Robert Vale stood at the end of the corridor with four men behind him.
All wore plain dark coats.
All carried themselves like police.
Gabriel stared.
“What are you doing here?”
Robert’s eyes moved toward Evelyn.
“Cleaning up something I should have finished years ago.”
Claire’s stomach turned.
Dominic stepped forward.
“You killed Michael Mercer.”
Robert smiled faintly.
“No.”
Evelyn whispered, “Robert.”
“Don’t.”
Gabriel looked between them.
“Dad?”
Robert’s expression softened.
“Son, come here.”
Gabriel didn’t move.
“You followed me?”
“I protected you.”
“From what?”
“Dominic.”
Gabriel laughed once.
“I’ve worked for him twelve years.”
“And every year I hoped you’d grow smarter.”
Dominic said, “You used him.”
Robert looked at him.
“You’re Victor’s son. Don’t lecture me about fathers.”
Claire stepped out.
Dominic immediately reached back, trying to stop her.
She moved past him.
“My father.”
Robert studied her.
“Claire Mercer.”
“You ordered someone to kill him?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Robert looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Claire turned toward her.
“You changed the car.”
Evelyn whispered, “Yes.”
“Why?”
“Michael told me Victor knew about the ledger. I was supposed to drive him out of Philadelphia.”
“What happened?”
“Robert learned our route.”
Gabriel looked at his father.
Robert sighed.
“This is becoming melodramatic.”
“Answer her.”
Robert’s eyes sharpened.
“I don’t answer to civilians.”
Gabriel raised his weapon slightly.
“You answer to me.”
A flicker of anger crossed Robert’s face.
Dominic said quietly, “Careful.”
Robert smiled.
“Still protecting him, Gabriel?”
“I’m protecting her.”
“Why?”
“Because somebody should have protected Michael.”
Silence.
Evelyn began speaking.
“Michael was supposed to meet Dominic at midnight.”
Claire looked toward him.
Dominic stared at the floor.
“When Dominic didn’t come, Michael panicked. I moved him to another car. Robert was supposed to provide an escort.”
Robert interrupted.
“I did.”
Evelyn’s voice shook.
“You sent the men who ran him off the road.”
Claire’s knees nearly gave way.
Dominic caught her elbow.
She pulled away.
Robert looked annoyed rather than guilty.
“Michael made choices.”
“He had a child,” Claire said.
“So did half the people Victor ruined.”
“And that made it acceptable?”
“No. It made it business.”
Claire stared at him.
She had expected a monster.
Instead, Robert Vale looked ordinary.
That somehow made him worse.
Gabriel whispered, “You did it.”
Robert looked at his son.
“I kept our family alive.”
“By murdering hers?”
“By surviving Victor Raines.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“My father has been dead eight years.”
“Yes.”
“Why keep hunting the ledger?”
“Because records don’t die.”
Robert glanced toward the steel case.
“Where is it?”
Dominic smiled coldly.
“You came all this way without knowing?”
Robert’s face hardened.
Evelyn whispered, “Michael moved it.”
Claire turned.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“The case is empty.”
“That means he stopped trusting me.”
Robert walked closer.
His men followed.
Gabriel said, “Stay there.”
Robert ignored him.
“Claire. Your father had one weakness.”
“What?”
“You.”
Dominic shifted.
Robert continued.
“He would never hide the ledger somewhere you could accidentally discover it as a child. But he would hide the clue with you.”
Claire thought of her childhood.
Nothing made sense.
Photographs.
Toys.
Her father’s desk.
Her mother’s jewelry box.
Then she remembered.
A bedtime book.
A red hardcover book her father read every night.
Treasure Island.
He had written her name inside.
After his death, her mother kept it locked away.
Claire had found it years later.
It was in her apartment.
The apartment someone had already searched.
Robert watched her face.
“You remembered something.”
Claire said nothing.
Dominic saw it too.
“Don’t tell him.”
Robert smiled.
“Then tell me.”
“No.”
One of Robert’s men moved.
Gabriel aimed.
“Stop.”
The man stopped.
Robert sighed.
“Son.”
“Don’t call me that right now.”
“You don’t understand the world you’re standing in.”
“I understand enough.”
“No, you understand loyalty. Dominic pays you. He gave you purpose. Perhaps even friendship.”
Dominic said, “Don’t.”
Robert looked at him.
“But blood is blood.”
Gabriel’s hands shook slightly.
“My blood didn’t help Michael Mercer.”
Robert’s face changed.
Claire saw it.
The father disappeared.
The commissioner returned.
“Take the case.”
Everything happened at once.
One man lunged toward Dominic.
Gabriel struck another.
Evelyn pulled Claire behind the lockers.
Dominic fought with brutal efficiency.
No wasted movement.
No rage.
Just speed.
Claire heard metal crash.
Someone shouted.
Then a gunshot.
Everyone froze.
Gabriel stood with his weapon raised.
A bullet had struck the ceiling.
Robert stared at his son.
“You fired at me.”
“Next one won’t miss.”
Robert’s men hesitated.
Dominic wiped blood from his lip.
“Leave.”
Robert’s smile disappeared.
“This is not over.”
“No.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“It should have been over twenty-three years ago.”
Robert backed away.
His men followed.
Before disappearing, he looked at Claire.
“Ask your mother why she never left Philadelphia.”
Claire shouted, “She’s dead.”
Robert paused.
“I know.”
Then he vanished.
They waited.
Gabriel lowered his weapon.
His entire body seemed to sag.
Dominic approached him.
“Gabriel.”
“Don’t.”
“Your father—”
“I said don’t.”
He walked away.
Claire looked at Evelyn.
“What did Robert mean?”
Evelyn stared after him.
“Anna had chances to leave.”
“Why didn’t she?”
“She believed leaving would make you easier to find.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“She thought hiding in plain sight was safer.”
“From Robert?”
“From everyone.”
Claire remembered Treasure Island.
“We need to go to my apartment.”
Dominic immediately said, “No.”
“The clue is there.”
“What clue?”
She told him.
Dominic rubbed his jaw.
“The building is compromised.”
“The book may already be gone.”
“Then we find out remotely.”
“How?”
Gabriel returned.
His expression was hard again.
“Building security archives.”
Dominic looked at him.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
Gabriel almost smiled.
They drove to a small security office owned by one of Dominic’s companies.
Footage from Claire’s apartment loaded on six monitors.
They watched the intruder search.
Drawers.
Closets.
Storage boxes.
Bookshelves.
Claire leaned forward.
“There.”
Treasure Island sat on the shelf.
The intruder picked it up.
Opened it.
Flipped through the pages.
Then tossed it aside.
Claire exhaled.
“He didn’t find anything.”
Dominic said, “Neither did we.”
“Maybe it isn’t inside.”
Claire remembered her father’s voice.
Every treasure needs a map, Peanut.
He always called her Peanut.
She whispered, “Map.”
Dominic looked at her.
“What?”
“The illustrated map inside the cover.”
They returned just before dawn.
Police tape was nowhere.
Nobody had reported the break-in.
That confirmed Robert’s reach.
Claire entered her bedroom.
Everything had been overturned.
She found the book beneath her dresser.
Her hands trembled.
She opened the cover.
A map of an island filled the inside page.
She had seen it a thousand times.
But now she noticed tiny pinpricks.
Not printing.
Holes.
She held the page toward the lamp.
The holes formed numbers.
Dominic stared.
“An address?”
Claire shook her head.
“My father rented a bank box.”
“How do you know?”
“My mother once mentioned box 427.”
Gabriel said, “Which bank?”
Claire thought.
“First Commonwealth.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“What?”
“Victor owned part of it.”
Claire closed the book.
“Then we go when it opens.”
At 8:30 a.m., they entered the bank.
The manager nearly fainted when he saw Dominic.
Box 427 still existed.
Registered to Anna Mercer.
Claire produced her mother’s death certificate and identification.
After twenty tense minutes, the manager led them downstairs.
The box slid out.
Claire opened it.
Inside was no ledger.
Only a cassette tape.
And a sealed letter.
Her name was written across the front.
Claire opened it.
The first line made her stop.
My dearest Claire, if you are reading this, Dominic Raines finally kept his promise.
She looked at him.
Dominic had gone pale.
“What promise?”
He didn’t answer.
Claire kept reading.
Then she reached the final paragraph.
Her hands began to shake.
Because Michael Mercer had written one sentence twice.
Do not trust Evelyn.
Do not trust Evelyn.
Claire slowly looked up.
May you like
Evelyn stood in the doorway behind them.
She was holding a gun.
