Chapter 7 - THE EDGEMy mother disappeared first.
I nearly didn’t answer.
Emma was asleep beside Noah in the hotel bed, one hand resting protectively on his back.
I stepped into the hallway.
“Ethan?”
Mom was crying.
“Where are you?”
“Safe.”
“Where is Dad?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not true.”
A long silence.
Then she whispered, “He’s going to kill Kyle.”
My spine stiffened.
“Why?”
“Because Kyle talked.”
“How do you know?”
“Richard called me.”
She sounded different.
Not arrogant.
Not defensive.
Terrified.
“He said the family was finished because Kyle couldn’t keep his mouth shut.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mom.”
“I swear.”
I closed my eyes.
“Tell me about Daniel.”
Her breathing stopped.
Then came a sound like a sob.
“Who told you?”
“Granddad.”
“He’s dead.”
“So is Daniel.”
She didn’t speak.
I waited.
Finally she said, “Your father told me never to say his name.”
“You obeyed for thirty years.”
“I was afraid.”
“So was my wife when you locked her outside.”
That landed.
“I didn’t know Richard would leave her that long.”
“You were standing there.”
“I thought she would come to her senses and give me Noah.”
“He’s her baby.”
“He’s my grandson.”
“He isn’t your property.”
Her voice cracked.
“I know.”
For the first time, she sounded as if she actually understood.
Then she told me about Daniel.
Richard had been twenty-three when Daniel was born.
Daniel’s mother died years later.
Dad took custody reluctantly.
They fought from the beginning.
Daniel was stubborn, intelligent, and close to Granddad.
At nineteen, he discovered Dad had been stealing from Mercer Construction.
He copied records.
He threatened to go to police.
Dad begged him to meet at the quarry.
Mom followed.
“You were there?”
“I stayed in the car.”
“What happened?”
“They argued.”
“Then?”
“I heard Richard shout.”
Her breathing became uneven.
“Then I heard Daniel scream.”
My blood turned to ice.
“I ran toward them.”
She found Dad alone near the quarry edge.
Daniel was below.
Dead.
“Did you see Dad push him?”
“No.”
“Did you believe he did?”
Mom cried harder.
“Yes.”
I leaned against the wall.
“Why didn’t you tell police?”
“Because Richard said if I accused him, he’d say I did it.”
“And you believed him?”
“He had already prepared things.”
False letters.
Statements.
Financial records showing Mom supposedly stole money from the company.
Dad had trapped her before the quarry meeting even happened.
His pattern.
Always documents.
Always leverage.
Always fear.
“What does this have to do with us now?”
“Everything.”
Mom explained that Dad had believed Samuel possessed Daniel’s notebook.
He searched for it after Granddad died.
Never found it.
When he learned the military trust would activate, he became convinced Samuel had left evidence with the same attorney.
“He said if he controlled your legal affairs, he could force Margaret to turn over everything.”
“And Noah?”
Her silence told me enough.
“Mom.”
“Richard said taking Noah overseas would only be temporary.”
I nearly threw the phone.
“You prepared to kidnap my son.”
“I told myself we were protecting him.”
“From what?”
She had no answer.
Then she whispered, “There’s another account.”
“What account?”
“Richard has been moving money there for years.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where?”
“Cayman Islands, maybe. Or Panama. Carolyn helped him.”
Carolyn Price.
The notary.
Ortiz needed this.
“Mom, will you testify?”
Silence.
“If I do, Richard will destroy me.”
“He already has.”
Another pause.
“He knows something about me.”
“What?”
“I signed documents.”
“Which documents?”
“All of them.”
My mother had notarized some forms herself before Carolyn took over.
She knowingly lied on custody declarations.
She had participated.
If she cooperated, she could still face charges.
“I’m going to prison.”
“Maybe.”
She started crying again.
“I’m your mother.”
“And Emma is my wife. Noah is my son.”
“I know.”
“No, you didn’t. Not when it mattered.”
Then I heard something behind her.
A door.
Mom gasped.
“Richard?”
The line went quiet.
“Mom?”
Whispering.
“He’s here.”
I immediately texted Agent Ortiz.
“Get out.”
“I can’t.”
“Go through a window.”
“He’s downstairs.”
“Mom, move.”
I heard footsteps.
Then Dad’s voice.
Faint.
“Diane?”
My mother started sobbing.
“Ethan, I’m sorry.”
The call ended.
Police reached the house six minutes later.
The back door was open.
The kitchen was empty.
My mother was gone.
There was blood on the staircase.
For the second time in two days, someone had disappeared.
But this time Dad made a mistake.
My mother’s car had built-in GPS.
Investigators traced it north.
Toward the quarry.
Ortiz ordered me to stay behind.
I refused.
“You’re emotionally involved.”
“He has my mother.”
“He may be armed.”
“He’s also been hunting my family.”
She studied me.
Then pointed at a tactical vest.
“You stay behind law enforcement at all times.”
We arrived near dawn.
Snow covered the old access road.
Mom’s vehicle sat near the quarry entrance.
Empty.
Dad’s truck was farther ahead.
We followed footprints.
Two sets.
One dragged.
The quarry opened before us, a vast white basin surrounded by black rock.
Then we saw them.
Dad stood near the edge.
Mom was on her knees.
He held a gun.
Officers spread out.
“RICHARD MERCER!”
Dad spun.
For one terrible second, his gun moved toward Mom.
I stepped forward.
“DAD!”
His eyes found me.
He smiled.
“There you are.”
Ortiz grabbed my arm.
“Stay back.”
Dad shouted across the snow.
“You always did ruin everything by coming home early.”
My mother cried.
“Ethan, don’t—”
Dad pressed the gun against her shoulder.
“Where’s the notebook?”
I understood.
This wasn’t about escape.
Not yet.
He believed I had Daniel’s evidence.
“You want it?”
His eyes sharpened.
“Bring it.”
“I don’t have it.”
His face changed.
“Then she dies.”
Mom began shaking.
Ortiz whispered, “Keep him talking.”
I looked at the man who raised me.
The man who taught me how to ride a bike.
How to throw a baseball.
How to shave.
And suddenly I saw every memory differently.
Not because every memory was false.
Because good moments did not erase what he had become.
“Did you kill Daniel?”
My father laughed.
My mother screamed, “Don’t answer him!”
Dad looked almost insulted.
“Daniel killed himself with stupidity.”
“Did you push him?”
“He should have handed over the notebook.”
That was enough.
Everyone heard it.
Ortiz slowly raised her weapon.
Dad realized what he had said.
His expression changed.
May you like
Then he pulled Mom backward toward the cliff.
And the frozen ground beneath them cracked.
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