Chapter 13 - TOMMY'S LAST LIEJames couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Tommy's hands were shaking.
But the gun was steady.
Connor stared at him.
"Uncle Tommy?"
Tommy's face crumpled.
"I'm sorry."
James stepped in front of Connor.
"Put it down."
Tommy shook his head.
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because they'll kill him."
"Who?"
Tommy looked toward Victor Hale.
Hale smiled.
"I told you."
James refused to move.
"You said you protected Connor."
"I did."
"By working for them?"
Tommy's eyes filled with tears.
"I never worked for them."
"Then why are you holding a gun?"
"Because I was told to."
"By who?"
Tommy looked at James.
"Your mother."
The world went silent.
James stared at him.
"My mother is alive?"
Tommy nodded.
"She saved Connor the night Elena died."
"What happened to Elena?"
"She trusted the wrong person."
Tommy looked at Hale.
"She thought Victor was helping her."
Hale's smile disappeared.
Tommy continued:
"Victor was just another layer."
James looked at the drive.
"Who is the mastermind?"
Tommy whispered:
"The person who built the Mirror."
James waited.
Tommy looked directly at him.
"Richard Mercer."
James's jaw tightened.
"My uncle."
Tommy nodded.
"But he's dead."
"No."
Tommy's voice dropped.
"He's been alive the whole time."
James remembered the photographs.
The false identity.
The payment records.
The fake signatures.
His uncle wasn't missing.
He had been running the operation.
"Where is he?"
Tommy looked behind James.
James turned.
Adrian stood several feet away.
Adrian slowly lowered his head.
James stared.
"No."
Adrian looked up.
His expression had changed.
He no longer looked like an old family friend.
He looked cold.
Calculated.
"Richard."
James stepped backward.
The man smiled.
"Finally."
Connor gasped.
"You look like Grandpa."
Richard laughed softly.
"Your grandfather taught me everything."
James felt sick.
"You killed my father."
"Your father refused to join me."
"You killed Elena."
"Elena stole from me."
"She stole evidence."
"She stole property records."
Richard shook his head.
"She thought the poor deserved the land."
James stared at him.
"And my mother?"
Richard looked toward the road.
"Your mother tried to expose me."
"Did you kill her?"
"No."
"Then where is she?"
Richard smiled.
"She's the only one who can stop me."
James understood.
The entire operation had been designed around one final move.
Richard needed Marianne to appear alive.
He needed James to find the drive.
He needed the ledger.
And he needed Connor to lead him to the final evidence.
James looked at the federal agents.
"He's manipulating all of us."
Richard laughed.
"That's what the Mirror does."
Then sirens screamed from the opposite side of the yard.
Another convoy arrived.
A woman stepped from the first car.
James froze.
Marianne.
His mother.
Alive.
She looked at him.
Then at Richard.
May you like
And whispered:
"Run."
