Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Emergency lighting flickered on.
Daniel moved first.
“Grace, take Lucy.”
“I have her.”
“Bennett, lock the inner door.”
Bennett didn't move.
He was staring through the window.
The black SUV remained beneath the trees.
Daniel grabbed his phone.
No signal.
“That’s impossible.”
Bennett finally moved.
“Someone killed the repeater.”
Daniel tried the landline.
Dead.
Grace’s breathing changed.
“Who is your uncle?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Alexander Mercer.”
Even saying the name felt strange.
Alexander had been Daniel’s father’s younger brother.
Charming.
Wild.
The only adult besides Evelyn who had made Daniel laugh as a boy.
Four years after Evelyn died, Alexander vanished while sailing off Bermuda.
His boat was found.
He wasn't.
Daniel’s father had called it a tragedy.
Bennett looked sick.
“Alexander wore silver wolf cufflinks.”
Grace froze.
“What?”
Bennett opened the blue box again.
Beneath the envelopes was a small folded note.
Maria’s handwriting.
If Robert is not there when you open this, remember the silver wolf.
Grace whispered, “My mother used to say that when she had nightmares.”
Daniel turned.
“Say what?”
“She would wake up and say, ‘The wolf is still hungry.’”
A sound came from the hallway.
Three slow knocks.
Nobody moved.
Then a man’s voice.
“Daniel.”
Daniel went cold.
The voice was older.
Rougher.
But familiar.
He hadn't heard it since childhood.
“Open the door.”
Grace whispered, “Is that him?”
Daniel nodded once.
Alexander Mercer.
Alive.
Daniel reached beneath the desk and removed an emergency pistol from a hidden drawer.
Grace stared.
“You keep guns in libraries?”
“I keep guns in rooms where people bring buried family secrets.”
“That is not reassuring.”
Another knock.
“Daniel, I know you're armed.”
Bennett whispered, “Don't open it.”
Alexander laughed from the hallway.
“You still overestimate doors, Robert.”
Bennett’s face hardened.
Daniel looked at him.
“You two knew each other.”
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“Too well.”
The lock clicked.
Someone outside had a key.
Daniel raised the pistol.
The door opened.
Alexander Mercer stepped inside.
Seventy years old.
Tall.
Silver hair.
A charcoal coat.
And on his cuffs, two silver wolves.
Grace inhaled sharply.
Alexander smiled.
“My nephew.”
Daniel aimed at his chest.
“You're dead.”
“I've heard.”
“What do you want?”
Alexander’s eyes moved toward the cassette player.
Then the blue box.
“So Maria finally betrayed us.”
Grace stepped forward.
“My mother protected you for years.”
Alexander looked at her.
“You must be Grace.”
“Don't say my name.”
He smiled.
“You look like Robert.”
Bennett moved in front of her.
Alexander’s amusement deepened.
“Still heroic after all these years.”
Daniel’s grip tightened.
“Who killed my mother?”
Alexander looked at him.
“That is a complicated question.”
“It isn't.”
“Oh, but it is.”
He removed his gloves slowly.
“Your mother was ill.”
“Because someone poisoned her.”
“She was being medicated.”
“Without consent.”
Alexander sighed.
“Evelyn had become unstable.”
Daniel almost fired.
Grace saw it.
“Daniel.”
That one word stopped him.
Alexander noticed.
His eyes moved between them.
“Interesting.”
“Answer me.”
Alexander looked toward the piano room beyond the hall.
“Your mother discovered your father had been moving money through charitable foundations.”
Daniel frowned.
“What does that have to do with killing her?”
“She intended to expose him.”
Daniel's stomach turned.
“My father poisoned her?”
Alexander smiled faintly.
“I didn't say that.”
“Who did?”
Alexander’s eyes sharpened.
“Me.”
Silence.
Grace pulled Lucy closer.
Bennett cursed under his breath.
Daniel felt strangely calm.
Too calm.
“You poisoned my mother.”
“I gave her medication.”
“You killed her.”
“She was destroying the family.”
Daniel crossed the room before anyone could stop him.
He slammed Alexander against the wall.
The pistol pressed beneath his jaw.
“Daniel!”
Grace’s voice.
Bennett grabbed his shoulder.
“Don't.”
Alexander looked almost pleased.
“There he is.”
Daniel’s hand shook.
“There who is?”
“My brother’s son.”
Daniel released him violently.
Alexander straightened his coat.
“Your father couldn't do what needed to be done.”
Daniel stared.
“My father knew?”
“He suspected.”
“And he protected you.”
“He protected Mercer Global.”
Daniel suddenly remembered every photograph removed from the house.
Every employee dismissed.
Every question his father refused to answer.
“You convinced him she died naturally.”
“He wanted to believe it.”
“You murdered his wife.”
“I saved his company.”
Daniel laughed once.
It sounded empty.
“You think those are comparable?”
Alexander’s face hardened.
“You stand in a forty-million-dollar house because people like me made difficult decisions.”
Grace spoke.
“No.”
Everybody looked at her.
She stepped forward.
“You stand in this house because people like Maria cleaned the blood after men like you called murder a difficult decision.”
Alexander’s expression changed.
“Careful.”
Daniel moved immediately between them.
“You don't threaten her.”
Alexander smiled.
“So the maid matters.”
“She has a name.”
“Grace Reyes.”
Daniel raised the gun again.
“I said careful.”
For the first time, Alexander looked genuinely surprised.
Then he laughed.
“This is almost beautiful.”
“What do you want?”
“The cassette.”
“No.”
“The letters.”
“No.”
“The conservatory key.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“You know what’s there.”
Alexander’s smile disappeared.
“Evelyn kept records.”
“Of your crimes?”
“Of everyone’s.”
Bennett looked toward the brass key.
Daniel understood.
The conservatory didn't contain only evidence about Evelyn's death.
There was something bigger.
Alexander glanced at his watch.
“You have five minutes.”
“Until what?”
“Until the people I brought enter this room.”
Daniel looked outside.
The black SUV wasn't alone anymore.
Two more vehicles had appeared.
Grace’s face went pale.
Lucy started humming again.
Softly.
Little Bird.
Alexander flinched.
Everyone saw it.
Daniel stared.
That melody bothered him.
Why?
Alexander looked toward Lucy with sudden hatred.
“Make her stop.”
Grace’s arms tightened.
“No.”
“Make her stop!”
His composure vanished.
Daniel understood.
“You heard my mother sing it.”
Alexander’s eyes burned.
“Every night.”
“When?”
“While she was dying.”
The room froze.
Alexander stared at the floor.
“She knew.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“She knew you were poisoning her.”
“Yes.”
“And she still let you near her?”
“She wanted proof.”
Bennett whispered, “Evelyn baited him.”
Alexander looked up.
“She recorded conversations.”
Daniel’s pulse jumped.
“Where?”
Alexander stared at the brass key.
“The conservatory.”
Suddenly gunfire erupted outside.
Alexander spun toward the window.
“That isn't mine.”
Daniel’s security team had finally broken through the communications blackout.
Men shouted.
Glass shattered.
Daniel grabbed Grace.
“Down!”
Alexander ran.
Bennett tackled him before he reached the door.
The two older men crashed into a table.
Daniel rushed forward.
Alexander pulled a knife.
Bennett cried out.
Blood spread across his sleeve.
Grace screamed.
Daniel struck Alexander.
The knife fell.
Security flooded the library seconds later.
Alexander was dragged to the floor.
Bennett sat against the wall, clutching his arm.
Grace dropped beside him.
“Dad.”
The word came out accidentally.
Bennett looked at her.
Everything stopped.
Grace seemed startled by herself.
Then she pressed harder against his wound.
“Don't make anything of it.”
Bennett began crying anyway.
Daniel turned toward Alexander.
His uncle was handcuffed.
Still smiling.
“You think this ends anything?”
Daniel stared down.
“No.”
Alexander laughed.
“You don't even know who called me.”
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
“What?”
“I didn't discover Grace by accident.”
Alexander leaned closer.
“Someone inside Mercer Global told me Little Bird had returned.”
Daniel looked toward the hallway.
At the estate.
At the company.
At everyone who knew Grace had brought Lucy to work.
May you like
Then Alexander whispered one name.
“Nathan Cross.”
