Chapter 7 - LITTLE BIRD
Grace stopped being afraid.
That was what terrified Daniel.
She didn't scream again.
Didn't collapse.
She simply turned toward him.
“Find my daughter.”
Daniel had never heard three words carry so much force.
“I will.”
“No.”
Grace stepped closer.
“You do not tell me what you're going to do.”
Her eyes burned.
“You do it.”
Daniel nodded.
Within seven minutes, every Mercer security resource was active.
Police issued an emergency alert.
Federal agents shut down airports.
State troopers searched highways.
Alexander's photograph appeared on television.
Then Daniel’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Alexander.”
His uncle laughed.
“You always were quick.”
Grace reached for the phone.
Daniel put it on speaker.
“Where is Lucy?”
Alexander ignored her.
“Daniel, you humiliated our family.”
“You murdered my mother.”
“I preserved what your father built.”
“Where is the child?”
Grace shouted, “Let me hear her!”
Silence.
Then Lucy's voice.
“Mommy?”
Grace broke.
“Baby.”
“Mommy, Birdie man says you're coming.”
Grace covered her mouth.
“I'm coming.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Alexander returned.
“Old greenhouse. Mercer Ridge property. You remember it.”
Daniel did.
A remote hunting estate near the New York border.
“Just you.”
“No.”
Alexander laughed.
“Grace understands.”
Grace looked at Daniel.
He already knew.
“Absolutely not.”
“Daniel.”
“No.”
Alexander spoke.
“If I see police, the child dies.”
Grace turned toward the stairs.
Daniel caught her wrist.
She spun.
“Let me go.”
“No.”
“He has Lucy.”
“I know.”
“You do not know.”
Her voice cracked.
“You don't know what it is to hear your three-year-old say Mommy from a room you can't reach.”
Daniel released her immediately.
She was right.
He didn't.
But he knew something else.
“I know what it feels like to spend thirty-one years wishing someone had reached the person you loved.”
Grace stared at him.
“I won't let that happen to Lucy.”
They made a plan.
Not a good one.
The kind created when every option was terrible.
Grace and Daniel would approach the greenhouse.
Police and federal tactical teams would remain two miles out.
Bennett insisted on joining.
Grace refused.
“You already lost thirty years.”
Her voice softened.
“Don't make me lose you the week I found you.”
Bennett kissed her forehead.
It was the first time.
Grace let him.
The drive took nearly two hours.
Neither Daniel nor Grace spoke much.
Halfway there, Grace asked, “Did your mother ever sing words to Little Bird?”
“No.”
“Mom made some.”
Daniel turned.
“What words?”
Grace looked out the window.
“Fly home, little bird. Night can't hold you.”
His throat tightened.
“She added that?”
“Yes.”
“Sing it.”
Grace looked at him.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
So she did.
Quietly.
The melody filled the car.
Daniel remembered thunder.
His mother's hand in his hair.
A childhood before money became armor.
When Grace finished, he said, “She would have liked that.”
“Your mother?”
“Yes.”
Grace looked down.
“Mine would have liked you.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“Your mother told you not to trust me.”
“She told me to trust you if you became the man Evelyn believed you could become.”
“And?”
Grace looked at him.
“I haven't decided.”
“Comforting.”
She almost smiled.
They arrived shortly before midnight.
The greenhouse was surrounded by dead fields.
One light burned inside.
Daniel removed his jacket.
Grace walked beside him.
“No heroics,” she whispered.
“You realize who you're talking to?”
“A man who thinks owning helicopters counts as a personality.”
Daniel stared.
“That was unnecessarily cruel.”
For one second, she smiled.
Then they entered.
Lucy sat on the floor beneath a blanket.
Alive.
Unhurt.
“Mommy!”
Grace moved.
Alexander appeared with a gun.
“Stop.”
Grace froze.
Daniel’s entire body tensed.
Alexander looked exhausted now.
His suit was dirty.
Blood stained one sleeve.
“You brought her.”
“You asked.”
Alexander stared at Grace.
“You ruined everything.”
“My mother ruined your murder cover-up thirty-one years after the fact. That's impressive.”
“Grace.”
Daniel warned her softly.
Alexander raised the weapon.
“You have Maria’s mouth.”
“Good.”
Lucy started crying.
Grace's face changed.
“Please.”
Her pride vanished.
Everything vanished except motherhood.
“Please don't scare her.”
Alexander glanced toward Lucy.
For one moment, uncertainty entered his face.
Daniel saw it.
“You don't want to kill a child.”
Alexander laughed bitterly.
“You think you know me?”
“I know you spent your entire life telling yourself Evelyn's death was necessary.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Kill Lucy and even that lie dies.”
“Stop moving.”
Daniel stopped.
“Let her go.”
“And then?”
“You take me.”
Grace spun toward him.
“No.”
Alexander smiled.
“Interesting.”
Daniel continued.
“You wanted Mercer.”
“You are Mercer.”
“Then take me.”
Grace grabbed his arm.
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I told you no heroics.”
“This isn't heroic.”
“What is it?”
He looked toward Lucy.
“Useful.”
Grace’s eyes filled.
Alexander laughed.
“There it is.”
Daniel faced him.
“Let Lucy walk to Grace.”
Alexander considered.
Then nodded.
“Slowly.”
Grace crouched.
“Lucy.”
The child ran.
Alexander raised the gun.
Daniel saw it.
Not toward Lucy.
Toward Grace.
“NO!”
Daniel threw himself sideways.
The gun fired.
Glass exploded.
Grace fell over Lucy.
Daniel tackled Alexander.
They crashed through a table.
Alexander struck him with the gun.
Pain split Daniel’s forehead.
They struggled.
Alexander was older.
Daniel was stronger.
But desperation made monsters powerful.
Alexander reached for the fallen gun.
Then four notes sounded.
Lucy.
Humming.
Everyone stopped for half a heartbeat.
Little Bird.
Alexander looked toward her.
And something strange happened.
He whispered, “Evelyn.”
Daniel hit him.
Hard.
The gun slid away.
Grace kicked it across the floor.
Police stormed the greenhouse.
Bennett came with them despite every promise.
Alexander was dragged away screaming.
Grace held Lucy.
Daniel stood several feet away.
Blood ran from his eyebrow.
Lucy saw him.
“Daniel!”
She stretched one hand.
Daniel walked toward them.
Grace looked up.
Their eyes met.
“You're bleeding.”
“So are my feelings. You called helicopters a personality.”
She laughed.
Then cried.
Then did something neither expected.
She leaned forward and wrapped one arm around Daniel while holding Lucy with the other.
Daniel froze.
Slowly, he held both of them.
Lucy pressed her cheek against his chest.
“Birdie home.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Grace’s tears soaked his shirt.
May you like
“Yes, baby.”
Little Bird had come home.
