Chapter 9 - The Child Someone Wanted Gone
Elaine had been taken from the guesthouse.
No broken lock.
No alarm.
Someone with Russo clearance had opened the door.
Again.
Dominic shut down every security credential except his own and Liam's.
Victoria called once more.
This time Charles spoke.
“Dominic.”
“What do you want?”
“The original Mercer ledger.”
“You already know we copied it.”
“I want Archive 17 destroyed.”
“No.”
Charles laughed.
“Then the doctor dies.”
Dominic looked at Clara.
“And Clara?”
“Smart girl.”
“Leave her out of this.”
“She was born into it.”
Clara took the phone.
“What do you want from me?”
“Your mother stole something before she died.”
“What?”
“A key.”
Clara touched the number 17 key in her pocket.
Charles knew.
“You have it.”
“What does it open?”
“Not Archive 17.”
Clara froze.
“What?”
“The archive lock was changed years ago. That key opens something else.”
“What?”
“Ask Bradley.”
Charles ended the call.
Liam's father was gone.
His room empty.
On the pillow lay a note.
I’m finishing what I should have finished fifteen years ago.
Liam stared at it.
“He went after Mercer.”
Dominic cursed.
Clara examined the key.
If it had not opened Archive 17, how had the door opened?
Someone had left it unlocked.
Someone had wanted her inside.
They returned to the archive.
Dominic found a tiny number etched beneath the key.
Victoria had mentioned Mercer banks.
Safe-deposit box.
Bank 214 was an old Mercer branch in Pine Valley.
They arrived after midnight.
Dominic had enough influence to gain emergency access.
Box 214 contained no money.
Only a cassette tape and birth certificate.
Clara read the certificate.
Her name.
Clara Margaret Higgins.
Mother: Margaret Elaine Higgins.
Father—
Blank.
Her knees weakened.
“No.”
Dominic caught her.
She pulled away instinctively, then immediately regretted it.
“What does this mean?”
Liam inserted the cassette into an old machine provided by the bank manager.
Margaret's voice filled the room.
Clara began crying before her mother finished the first sentence.
“My darling girl. If you're hearing this, then the truth has become more dangerous than the lie.”
Clara covered her mouth.
“You are Daniel Higgins's daughter in every way that matters. He loved you from the moment you were born. But Daniel was not your biological father.”
Dominic stared at the machine.
Clara could barely breathe.
“Your biological father was Charles Mercer.”
The room tilted.
Dominic caught Clara again.
This time she let him.
Victoria was her half-sister.
Charles Mercer was her father.
The man trying to kill her child.
Margaret continued.
“Charles never knew. If he learns, you must understand that blood will not make him merciful.”
The tape clicked off.
Nobody spoke.
Then Dominic's phone rang.
Charles.
Dominic answered.
“You found it.”
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
Clara took the phone.
“You're my father.”
Silence.
Then Charles laughed.
“No, Clara. I'm the reason you exist. Daniel Higgins was your father.”
For the first time, Charles said something she agreed with.
“Where is Elaine?”
“Come find her.”
A location arrived.
Blackwood Lodge.
Again.
They drove through the night.
The lodge was dark.
Dominic ordered Clara to remain in the vehicle.
She stared at him.
He corrected himself.
“Would you please remain in the vehicle?”
“No.”
He sighed.
Progress had limits.
They entered together.
A chair sat beside the fireplace.
Elaine was tied to it.
Alive.
Liam freed her.
“Where is Mercer?”
Elaine shook her head.
“Gone.”
Dominic searched the rooms.
Clara saw something on the mantel.
An ultrasound photograph.
Not hers.
She had never had one.
Written beneath it:
YOUR MOTHER WASN'T HIS ONLY SECRET.
Elaine looked at the image.
Her face changed.
“Clara.”
“What?”
“I've seen this before.”
“Where?”
“In Isabella Russo’s medical records.”
Dominic turned.
Elaine swallowed.
“Dominic had a brother.”
A floorboard creaked above them.
Then a man's voice spoke from the second floor.
“Half-brother.”
Dominic looked up.
May you like
A stranger stood at the railing.
And he had Dominic’s eyes.
