Chapter 13 - The Family Hunt
Daniel disappeared before noon.
By one o’clock, three judges had issued conflicting orders regarding his detention, the Bellweather property, and the seizure of Mercer accounts.
Someone was trying to bury the case beneath legal confusion.
Rebecca returned to the federal courthouse despite Sarah’s warning.
“I know which orders are legitimate,” she said. “And which judges Charles owns.”
Emma accompanied her.
Reporters crowded the entrance.
News of the Mercer arrests had leaked. Photographs of Emma’s stained face from the dinner were already circulating online.
The public story changed hourly.
Some outlets called her a whistleblower.
Others described her as a disgruntled wife who orchestrated a family dispute to seize millions.
Daniel’s attorney released a statement claiming Emma had “a history of emotional instability.”
The plan continued even without him.
Inside Rebecca’s chambers, Emma watched the dinner recording for the first time.
The hidden camera captured everything clearly.
Vivian grabbing her hair.
Her face striking the salad.
Daniel laughing.
Nathan removing the detector.
But the recording began forty minutes before dinner.
It showed Daniel arranging seats with Olivia.
“Margaret sits near Emma,” he said. “She’ll look concerned. That helps.”
Olivia asked, “What if Emma doesn’t react?”
Vivian answered, “Everyone reacts when properly humiliated.”
The video documented the conspiracy.
It also captured Charles entering alone after the others left.
He stood beneath the smoke detector and made a phone call.
“Proceed with the psychiatric hold whether she signs or not,” he said. “If she resists, sedate her.”
Rebecca paused the footage.
“This is enough to establish kidnapping conspiracy.”
“Then why are they free?”
“Because evidence means little if the system handling it is compromised.”
Sarah entered with new information.
Peter Lang had been located at a freight terminal. He was attempting to ship Robert’s remains out of state in a sealed construction container.
“Daniel took the body to obtain the waterproof case,” Sarah said. “Lang handled transportation.”
“Did they recover the case?” Emma asked.
“No. The chain around Robert’s wrist had been cut.”
“Nathan or Daniel has it.”
A courthouse clerk knocked and handed Rebecca a sealed notice.
She read it once.
Then again.
“What is it?” Emma asked.
“I’ve been suspended pending investigation for concealing my relationship to a material witness.”
“You withdrew from the case.”
“The complaint claims I influenced the TBI investigation through you.”
“Who filed it?”
“United States Attorney Graham Holt.”
One of the names on Daniel’s corruption list.
The door opened.
Holt himself entered with two federal officers.
He was a polished man in his late fifties, known publicly as a reform prosecutor.
“Judge Vale, I need your credentials and courthouse access card.”
Rebecca stood.
“You released Daniel Mercer.”
“I complied with a lawful order.”
“Signed by a compromised judge.”
Holt looked toward Emma.
“Mrs. Mercer, you are under investigation for wire fraud, document falsification, and obstruction.”
Sarah stepped forward.
“She is a cooperating witness.”
“Not in my jurisdiction.”
He handed Emma a surrender notice.
“This is intimidation,” Rebecca said.
“It is procedure.”
Emma read the allegations.
The document listed transactions she had never seen, all authenticated with her electronic signature.
Daniel had prepared them months earlier.
Holt smiled without warmth.
“You may surrender voluntarily or be arrested.”
Sarah’s phone vibrated.
She read the message and showed Emma discreetly.
Nathan requests meeting. Claims he has Robert’s case. Will exchange for Emma.
Emma looked at Holt.
He expected her to panic.
Instead, she handed back the surrender notice.
“I’ll appear with counsel at five.”
“You may not leave the state.”
“I’m going to the cafeteria.”
Holt studied her, then left with Rebecca’s credentials.
Once the door closed, Sarah spoke.
“Nathan chose an abandoned church outside Murfreesboro.”
“Why exchange the case for me?”
“He says only you can open it.”
Rebecca frowned.
“Biometric lock?”
“Possibly.”
Emma remembered Robert’s trust.
He had designed everything around Thomas’s heir.
Around her.
They traveled to the church with a covert team.
Emma entered alone wearing a tracking device.
The sanctuary smelled of dust and rain. Broken stained-glass windows scattered colored light across the pews.
Nathan sat near the altar.
His wounded shoulder was wrapped. A metal case rested beside him.
“You look terrible,” he said.
“So do you.”
He almost smiled.
“Daniel has Vivian’s old account ledger. I have Robert’s confession.”
“Why need me?”
Nathan opened the outer lid.
Inside, a scanner displayed a handprint symbol.
“Robert registered the trust beneficiary through an old biometric security company. Margaret tested your DNA for him years ago.”
Emma felt another violation.
“Everyone in this family collected pieces of me.”
“Because you were the only person Charles couldn’t legally erase.”
She placed her hand on the scanner.
The case unlocked.
Inside were three drives, a ledger, and a small video camera.
Nathan reached for them.
Emma closed the case.
“Not until you tell me where Daniel is.”
“I don’t know.”
“Then no deal.”
A voice came from the balcony.
“She always was difficult.”
Daniel stepped into view holding Rebecca at gunpoint.
Emma’s heart stopped.
Her mother’s hands were bound.
Daniel smiled down at them.
“The family is together again.”
Nathan raised his weapon.
Daniel pressed the gun against Rebecca’s head.
“Put it down.”
Nathan obeyed.
Daniel descended the stairs.
“You used Holt to take Rebecca from the courthouse,” Emma said.
“Holt believes he’s protecting himself.”
“You’re going to kill him too?”
“Eventually.”
Daniel took the metal case.
Emma looked at Rebecca.
A small cut marked her temple, but she appeared alert.
“What do you want now?” Emma asked.
“A confession.”
“To what?”
“Everything.”
Daniel placed a document on the altar.
Emma would admit she designed the foundation fraud, manipulated Daniel into signing transfers, and murdered Robert to conceal her theft.
“This is insane.”
“It becomes credible when Nathan testifies.”
Nathan stared at him.
“You promised me immunity.”
“I promised you survival.”
Daniel handed him the gun.
“Shoot Rebecca. Then Emma signs.”
Nathan raised the weapon slowly.
Emma looked into her cousin’s eyes.
He had lied, stolen, and helped plan her imprisonment.
But he had also spent his life serving a family that never allowed him to belong.
“You don’t have to become him,” she said.
Daniel laughed.
“He already is.”
Nathan turned the gun.
He fired at Daniel.
The shot struck Daniel’s hand, sending his weapon across the floor.
Rebecca dropped.
Police stormed the church.
Daniel ran toward the sacristy.
Emma followed despite the shouting.
She found him beside an open trapdoor leading into a drainage tunnel.
He held Robert’s case.
“Don’t,” she said.
Daniel looked at her one final time.
“I did love you.”
Then he jumped into the tunnel and disappeared with the evidence.
Seconds later, floodwater surged beneath the church.
May you like
A storm drain alarm began screaming.
Daniel had entered a tunnel filling rapidly with water.
