Chapter 6 - THE LETTER FROM A COWARD
Daniel waited until Grace’s wound had been cleaned before opening the letter.
She refused the hospital.
The private physician at the estate bandaged her arm while she argued that she needed to check on Lucy.
Lucy woke during the examination.
She saw the bandage.
Her eyes widened.
“Mommy hurt?”
“Just a little.”
Lucy kissed the bandage.
Then pointed at Daniel.
“Fix.”
Grace almost laughed.
Daniel felt his chest tighten.
“I’m trying.”
Later, after Lucy fell asleep again, Daniel sat with Grace, Bennett, and two federal investigators in the library.
Nathan Cross was in custody.
Alexander Mercer was in custody.
The evidence from the conservatory had been secured.
But one letter remained.
Daniel opened it.
Son,
If you found this, then the truth has outlived my cowardice.
He stopped.
Grace sat beside him.
Not too close.
Close enough.
Daniel continued reading silently for several lines.
His face changed.
“What does it say?” Bennett asked.
Daniel handed him the letter.
Bennett read aloud.
Your mother discovered Alexander was stealing from Mercer Global and using company accounts to finance criminal enterprises. I confronted him. He threatened to expose financial crimes I had committed to protect the company during the recession.
Evelyn wanted us both to surrender to authorities.
I refused.
Daniel shut his eyes.
His father had chosen the company.
Again.
Alexander began drugging Evelyn.
I knew she was becoming ill.
I told myself I did not know why.
That lie allowed me to sleep.
The night Evelyn died, I followed her to the conservatory. Maria and Robert were already there.
Alexander gave Evelyn an injection.
I could have stopped him.
I did not.
Grace whispered, “God.”
Bennett’s hands trembled.
Afterward, I helped make her death look natural.
Daniel stood abruptly.
He crossed the room.
Grace watched him.
Nobody tried to stop him.
He reached the window.
His reflection looked like his father.
Same jaw.
Same eyes.
Same Mercer name.
“I spent thirty years defending him.”
Grace spoke quietly.
“You didn't know.”
“I should have.”
“How?”
“He erased her.”
His voice cracked.
“Every photograph. Every recording. I thought it was grief.”
He turned.
“It was guilt.”
Bennett looked devastated.
Daniel faced him.
“You helped.”
Bennett nodded.
“I moved Evelyn’s body.”
Grace inhaled.
Bennett looked at Daniel.
“Your father told me Alexander had men watching Maria.”
“You believed him?”
“Yes.”
“So you helped.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Maria was pregnant with Grace.”
Bennett’s eyes filled.
“I had twenty minutes to choose between getting justice for Evelyn and keeping Maria alive.”
Grace looked down.
Bennett continued.
“I chose Maria.”
Daniel’s anger collided with something else.
Understanding.
Not forgiveness.
But understanding.
Bennett whispered, “I have hated myself every morning since.”
Daniel looked at Grace.
She was watching her father.
Slowly, she reached across the space between them.
She took his hand.
Bennett broke.
Grace's own eyes filled.
“You don't get twenty-nine years back because you suffered.”
“I know.”
“But.”
She squeezed his hand.
“You kept watching over us.”
Bennett nodded.
“I never missed a birthday.”
Grace blinked.
“What?”
“The anonymous cards.”
She stared.
“The grocery gift cards.”
“Yes.”
“The money when Lucy was born?”
“Yes.”
Grace began crying.
“Idiot.”
Bennett laughed through tears.
“Absolutely.”
Daniel turned back to the letter.
One final paragraph.
There is something else you deserve to know.
Daniel read.
Then stopped.
“What?”
Grace stood.
Daniel stared at the words.
He read aloud.
“Daniel was not the reason Evelyn stayed silent.”
Bennett frowned.
Daniel continued.
“She believed she was pregnant.”
The room froze.
Grace whispered, “Your mother?”
“Yes.”
Daniel read further.
“Evelyn told Maria she was six weeks pregnant when she died.”
Bennett covered his face.
“I didn't know.”
Daniel stared.
A brother or sister.
A life that never happened.
Alexander hadn't killed one person.
He had killed two.
Daniel's grief changed shape.
He sank into the chair.
Grace sat beside him.
This time she touched his hand.
No speeches.
No advice.
Just warmth.
After several minutes, Daniel said, “I want everything released.”
Bennett looked up.
“Everything?”
“The financial crimes. My father. Alexander. Nathan. All of it.”
One federal agent shifted.
“Mr. Mercer, that could have enormous consequences for the company.”
“I know.”
“Share prices could collapse.”
“I know.”
“Your board may remove you.”
Daniel looked toward Grace.
She remembered her earlier words.
You still get to choose.
“I know.”
The next morning, Daniel Mercer held a press conference.
News networks carried it live.
He stood behind a podium in New York with no prepared corporate statement.
“My mother, Evelyn Mercer, did not die from natural causes.”
Gasps erupted.
Daniel continued.
“She was murdered by Alexander Mercer with the knowledge and assistance of others, including my father.”
Reporters shouted.
He kept going.
“Mercer Global financial records were manipulated for decades to conceal illegal transactions.”
A board member behind him went pale.
“I am turning over all relevant evidence to federal authorities.”
More shouting.
Daniel’s voice remained steady.
“If that decision costs me control of this company, then it costs me control.”
A reporter yelled, “Why expose your own family?”
Daniel paused.
Then answered.
“Because protecting a name by burying innocent people is not loyalty.”
Grace watched from the estate with Lucy on her lap.
Bennett stood behind her.
Daniel continued on-screen.
“My mother tried to tell the truth thirty-one years ago.”
His voice broke slightly.
“She should not have had to wait this long for her son to listen.”
Grace wiped her eyes.
Lucy pointed at the television.
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“Sad?”
Grace smiled.
“A little.”
Lucy began humming Little Bird.
That evening, Daniel returned home.
Hundreds of reporters were outside the gates.
Company stock had fallen nineteen percent.
Three directors had resigned.
Daniel stepped into the foyer.
Grace was waiting.
“So,” she said.
“So.”
“You lost four billion dollars today.”
“Five, actually.”
She stared.
“That doesn't bother you?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“No.”
Grace laughed.
Daniel looked at her.
“I heard Lucy singing on the security recording.”
“She does that.”
“I think I understand why my mother chose the song.”
Grace tilted her head.
“Why?”
“Birds don't stay in cages.”
Something softened in her expression.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Grace.”
“Yes?”
“You were almost shot because of me.”
“I was shot because Nathan was a lunatic.”
“You were in that room because of me.”
“I was in that room because of my mother.”
He stopped.
“Stop trying to take responsibility for everything.”
“I own most things.”
“You don't own guilt.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
Then a scream came from upstairs.
Grace froze.
“Lucy.”
She ran.
Daniel followed.
The nursery door stood open.
The bed was empty.
The window was unlocked.
On the pillow lay Lucy's pink ribbon.
Grace made a sound that shattered him.
“No.”
Daniel grabbed the security radio.
“Lock every gate!”
Bennett rushed upstairs.
“What happened?”
Grace picked up the ribbon.
Her hands shook violently.
Daniel looked toward the window.
Then he saw the message written on the glass.
One line.
YOU TOOK MY FAMILY. I TOOK YOUR LITTLE BIRD.
May you like
Alexander Mercer had escaped federal transport.
And he had Lucy.
