Chapter 9 - GRANDPA’S SECOND CHANCEI don’t remember the drive.
I agreed before they finished asking.
Ortiz hated the idea.
Dad hated it more.
“You have a five-year-old son.”
“That’s exactly why I’m doing it.”
“You let trained people handle this.”
“They need Merrick to believe I still control the original ledger.”
“They do.”
“He won’t surface for anyone else.”
Dad slammed his palm against the table.
“I already lost Claire!”
The room fell silent.
His voice cracked.
“I will not lose you too.”
I looked at him.
For months, Dad had been the person everyone tried to protect.
Now I saw the father underneath the patient.
“I’m not trying to be a hero.”
“Then don’t act like one.”
The operation was carefully planned.
A message would reach Merrick through Rachel.
She would claim I discovered the hidden ledger but refused to hand it to police because it implicated her.
I would supposedly trade the card for Merrick agreeing to leave my family alone.
Absurd.
But desperate people believed desperate bargains.
Merrick responded.
LOCATION COMES LATER.
COME ALONE.
Police prepared trackers.
Surveillance.
Backup teams.
Ethan remained with Dad at the safe location.
Before I left, Ethan hugged me.
“Don’t get poisoned.”
I laughed despite myself.
“I’ll try.”
He held out something.
A leaf.
One healthy green leaf from Claire’s recovering plant.
Dad had managed to save it.
“For luck.”
I put it in my wallet.
The meeting location arrived at 8:41 p.m.
An abandoned garden center outside Dayton.
The irony felt deliberate.
Greenhouses.
Plants.
Glass.
A place Claire would have loved.
I entered carrying a duplicate memory card.
Microphone taped beneath my shirt.
Agents positioned nearby.
For ten minutes, nothing happened.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
“Michael.”
Samuel Merrick stepped from behind a row of dead shrubs.
He looked ordinary.
That disturbed me most.
Late fifties.
Gray jacket.
Glasses.
No monster face.
No obvious evil.
Just a man.
“You look like Claire,” he said.
My fists tightened.
“You knew her.”
“She was persistent.”
“You killed her.”
“No.”
“You paid Brandon Ellis.”
“I paid many people.”
“For what?”
“To solve problems.”
“She was a problem?”
Merrick smiled faintly.
“She thought truth mattered more than survival.”
I wanted to attack him.
Instead I held up the card.
“You want this?”
“Yes.”
“You leave my family alone.”
“You know I can’t promise that.”
My stomach tightened.
That wasn’t the script.
“You threatened my son.”
“I made contingency plans.”
“You photographed him.”
“Michael, your wife made everything unnecessarily dramatic.”
“She exposed you.”
“She died.”
The words hit harder than a punch.
Then Merrick held out his hand.
“Card.”
“Tell me who damaged Claire’s steering.”
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
“So you know.”
“Who?”
“Caldwell hired the mechanic.”
Dad’s lawyer.
Another piece.
“Did Rachel know?”
“No.”
Relief and disgust collided inside me.
Rachel had betrayed Claire.
But she had not known the full plan.
“Why poison Dad instead of just stealing from him?”
“Because competent people object when you steal their property.”
“You’re insane.”
“No.”
Merrick sounded almost offended.
“I’m practical.”
Sirens erupted.
Merrick froze.
Then smiled.
“You brought police.”
He reached into his jacket.
I dove behind a concrete planter.
Agents shouted.
A gunshot cracked.
Glass exploded above me.
Merrick ran.
Officers pursued.
I heard shouting.
Another shot.
Then tires screamed outside.
He had prepared an escape vehicle.
By the time agents reached the road, Merrick was gone.
But we had the confession.
Claire.
Caldwell.
The steering.
Everything.
Then Ortiz rushed toward me.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
She touched her earpiece.
Her face changed.
“What?”
No answer.
“What happened?”
She looked at me.
“Michael…”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“The safe house.”
I stopped breathing.
“What about it?”
“There was an incident.”
“Ethan?”
May you like
“He’s missing.”
The world disappeared.
Related Stories
