Chapter 9 - The Trial Before the TrialBy evening, Daniel Mercer’s face was on every television in America.
The bullet passed through her shoulder without striking an artery.
Daniel sat outside her hospital room with Eli asleep against him.
Thomas sat across the hallway.
For several minutes, neither father nor son spoke.
Daniel finally asked the question that had been burning through him.
“Michael.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“What really happened?”
“I don’t know everything.”
“Tell me what you know.”
Thomas leaned forward.
“Two years before my disappearance, Michael discovered Richard was using company trucks at night.”
Daniel remembered his brother.
Nineteen.
Restless.
Always getting into trouble.
“He followed one.”
“What did he find?”
“A warehouse where Richard’s men stored illegal cash and records.”
Daniel stared.
“Why didn’t he tell us?”
“He told me.”
“And then he drowned?”
“No.”
Thomas looked ashamed.
“I arranged the drowning.”
Daniel stood.
“You what?”
“It was the only way to keep him alive.”
“You let me believe my little brother was dead!”
Thomas’s voice cracked.
“I was trying to protect both of you!”
Daniel walked away.
Then back.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was he alive when you were captured?”
“Yes.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“Twenty-two years ago.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“So now we’re searching for another ghost.”
Thomas reached into his pocket.
Federal agents had returned some personal effects from the bunker.
He removed a photograph.
Michael.
Older than nineteen.
Standing outside a hardware store.
The photo was dated nine years ago.
Daniel stared.
“Where did you get this?”
“Richard showed it to me.”
“Why?”
“To prove Michael was alive and remind me Richard could find him.”
“Where was it taken?”
Thomas turned the photograph over.
A store logo.
Bennett Hardware — Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Bennett.
Again.
Daniel’s mind raced.
Rachel.
Rebecca.
Eli.
Was Michael connected?
Marcus flew to Iowa that evening.
By the next morning he called Daniel.
“You need to come.”
“Did you find him?”
“I found Bennett Hardware.”
“And?”
Marcus hesitated.
“The owner’s name is Mike Dawson.”
Daniel stood.
“How old?”
“Forty-three.”
Michael would have been forty-three.
Daniel looked at Thomas.
“We’re going to Iowa.”
Eli refused to stay behind.
This time Daniel didn’t argue.
Two days after being rescued, the boy had become visibly calmer.
Clean clothes.
Warm meals.
A room beside Daniel’s.
But he still checked every lock before sleeping.
Daniel understood.
Trust required repetition.
Cedar Falls was covered in snow when they arrived.
Bennett Hardware sat near a quiet residential street.
Daniel entered first.
The bell above the door rang.
A man stood behind the counter helping an elderly customer.
Dark hair turning gray.
Broad shoulders.
A small scar across his chin.
Daniel knew that scar.
Michael got it falling from a tree at age twelve.
The room tilted.
The man looked up.
His face changed.
The box in his hands fell.
Daniel could not speak.
Neither could Michael.
Thomas entered behind him.
Michael grabbed the counter.
“Dad?”
Thomas began crying.
Michael looked from Thomas to Daniel.
Then whispered, “This can’t be happening.”
Daniel crossed the room.
He hit his brother.
Hard.
Michael stumbled.
Eli’s eyes widened.
Then Daniel hugged him.
Michael broke.
All three Mercer men stood in a small Iowa hardware store holding each other while strangers watched.
Twenty-four years of funerals had become reunions.
Later, Michael explained.
After Thomas staged the drowning, Michael lived under multiple identities.
When Thomas disappeared, Michael assumed Richard had killed him.
Rachel contacted Michael years later.
“She told me about Rebecca,” Michael said.
“And Eli?”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at the boy.
Eli stared.
“You knew me?”
“I knew of you.”
“Why didn’t you come?”
Pain crossed Michael’s face.
“Rachel believed anyone close to the Mercer family would lead Richard to you.”
Eli lowered his head.
Michael continued.
“She brought you here once when you were four.”
Eli frowned.
“I don’t remember.”
“You slept the entire time.”
Michael smiled sadly.
“I gave Rachel money. Fake documents. A place to go.”
Daniel asked, “Why did Richard wait until now?”
“Rachel got sick.”
Michael looked toward Eli.
“She knew she couldn’t keep running.”
“And Vanessa?”
Michael’s expression hardened.
“I never trusted her.”
“She saved Eli.”
“Maybe.”
Daniel bristled.
Michael noticed.
“You still love her.”
“That’s none of your business.”
“You’re my brother. Everything stupid you do is my business again.”
For half a second, Daniel felt twenty-two.
Then Michael opened an old wall safe.
Inside was a metal tube.
He handed it to Thomas.
“The original ledger.”
Thomas stared.
“You had it?”
“Rachel gave it to me.”
Daniel understood.
Richard had spent decades looking in the wrong places.
Michael opened the ledger.
Names.
Payments.
Account numbers.
Dates.
Evidence sufficient to destroy Richard’s entire network.
Marcus photographed every page and transmitted encrypted copies to federal prosecutors.
For the first time, Richard Vale could not erase the evidence by killing one person.
The truth now existed everywhere.
Eli looked relieved.
“So it’s over?”
Daniel wanted to say yes.
His phone rang.
Hospital.
Vanessa.
He answered.
“Daniel?”
Her voice was weak.
“What’s wrong?”
“My father called.”
Daniel went still.
“How?”
“He called the hospital.”
“What did he say?”
“He knows you found Michael.”
Everyone in the room stopped.
Daniel’s blood chilled.
Vanessa continued.
“He said you opened the ledger.”
“How would he know?”
“I don’t know.”
Then someone knocked loudly on the hardware store door.
Michael checked the window.
Police vehicles filled the street.
Daniel frowned.
Marcus answered his phone.
His expression changed.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“There’s a federal warrant.”
“For Richard?”
Marcus looked at him.
“For you.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“What charge?”
“Conspiracy. Fraud. Bribery. Money laundering.”
Thomas stood.
“That’s impossible.”
Marcus shook his head.
“It’s not.”
Daniel stared.
“Who filed the supporting evidence?”
Marcus looked sick.
“Documents signed by Thomas Mercer.”
Daniel turned toward his father.
Thomas went pale.
Then Michael whispered the only explanation that made sense.
“Richard’s not trying to escape anymore.”
Daniel looked through the window as armed agents approached.
“He’s trying to make Daniel look like the man behind everything.”
And before Daniel could respond, the front door opened.
“Daniel Mercer?”
May you like
Agents entered.
“You’re under arrest.”
