Chapter 13 - The Truth Grace Left BehindAudrey learns why her father hid everythingMy mother's voice was calm.
Too calm.
Like she had recorded the message after thinking about it a hundred times.
“Audrey, your father loves you.”
I looked at Dad.
He didn't move.
“But love is not the same as truth.”
I felt my heartbeat in my throat.
“When I began investigating Meridian, I discovered something I couldn't prove.”
The recording paused.
Then:
“Someone inside our circle was feeding information to Mercer.”
Dad lowered his head.
My mother continued.
“I suspected Charles.”
I stared at my father.
The room went silent.
“You have to understand,” she said. “I did not believe Charles was evil. I believed he had been compromised.”
I looked at Dad.
He closed his eyes.
“Did Mom think you betrayed her?”
“Yes.”
The answer was barely a whisper.
“Did you?”
“No.”
The recording continued.
“I was wrong about one thing. Charles wasn't the traitor.”
A pause.
“The traitor was someone much closer.”
I felt cold.
“Who?”
The recording didn't answer immediately.
Instead, my mother said:
“If Mercer ever reaches Audrey through another person, that person may not know who is using them.”
I immediately thought of Dominic.
My mother continued.
“The danger will not look like danger.”
Then another pause.
“It will look like love.”
My eyes filled with tears.
She had understood everything before I was old enough to understand anything.
“There is one final truth.”
Her voice became softer.
“The Brooks family does not hold Meridian.”
I looked at Dad.
“We destroyed it.”
Then:
“We thought we did.”
The recording stopped.
A second file activated automatically.
A man's voice.
Mercer.
I froze.
“You are listening to an old recording.”
Dad stepped toward the machine.
Mercer's voice continued.
“Charles Brooks thinks he won.”
I stared.
“He didn't.”
Then the recording revealed something impossible.
Mercer had known my mother had hidden information.
He had spent years searching for it.
And Dominic had been recruited because he could get close to me without triggering suspicion.
The final sentence was clear.
“The husband is disposable.”
My skin went numb.
Dominic had never been the mastermind.
He was only the doorway.
I turned toward Dad.
“Then who is behind all of this?”
Dad looked at the recorder.
“We don't know.”
A phone rang.
Security.
Dad answered.
His expression changed.
“What happened?”
He listened.
Then:
“When?”
Another pause.
“Send me the footage.”
He hung up.
“What?”
“Dominic has disappeared.”
I felt no sadness.
“Where?”
“From his apartment.”
“Did he go to Switzerland?”
“No.”
Dad turned the phone toward me.
Security footage showed Dominic entering a private parking facility.
He wasn't carrying luggage.
He was carrying a small black case.
Then someone else walked into frame.
I recognized him immediately.
Mercer.
The two men entered a vehicle together.
I stared.
“They're working together.”
Dad shook his head.
“No.”
“What do you mean?”
“They're fighting.”
I looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because Dominic is holding the case.”
“What is inside?”
Dad didn't answer.
Then the footage zoomed in.
The case had a label.
A faded military code.
M-17.
Dad's face went white.
“What?”
He whispered:
“That's Meridian.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“You said it was destroyed.”
“It was supposed to be.”
The footage ended.
Then another image appeared.
Dominic standing beside Mercer.
Both men were looking toward the camera.
As if they knew they were being watched.
Mercer raised one finger.
Then pointed directly at the lens.
The screen went black.
My phone buzzed.
One message.
Audrey, your father has been lying to you.
Then another.
Ask him what happened the night your mother died.
I looked at Dad.
May you like
He already knew.
End of Chapter 13For twenty years, Charles Brooks had hidden the darkest night of his life from his daughter.
