Chapter 2 - The BruisePolice sirens could already be heard in the distance when Daniel tried to leave.
He didn't run.
That would have made him look guilty.
Instead, he walked toward the restaurant's side entrance with the controlled confidence of a man who believed he could talk his way out of anything.
Valerie watched him.
"Where are you going?"
Daniel turned.
"Home."
"This is your home too."
"Then why are you interrogating me in front of a room full of strangers?"
Valerie felt something inside her harden.
"Because my son says you hurt him."
Daniel sighed.
"Thomas is confused."
Nick spoke from behind her.
"He wasn't confused last night."
Daniel's eyes snapped toward him.
Nick froze.
That same look.
Thomas had seen it too.
He quietly moved closer to Nick.
Daniel noticed.
"Thomas."
The boy's body stiffened.
"Come here."
Thomas didn't move.
Daniel's voice became softer.
"Son. Come here."
Valerie heard the manipulation in his tone now.
She wondered how she had missed it for so long.
"No."
Daniel stared.
"What?"
Thomas's eyes were wet.
"I don't want to."
A murmur moved through the restaurant.
Daniel's face tightened.
"This is ridiculous."
A police officer entered.
"Mr. Mercer?"
Daniel straightened.
"Yes."
"We need you to stay here."
Daniel laughed.
"Of course. Officer, I am happy to cooperate. But I need to tell you something. That homeless boy attacked me last night."
The officer looked at Nick.
"Did you?"
Nick shook his head.
"No."
Daniel pointed toward his face.
"Look at me."
The officer's eyes narrowed.
"Where did you get the injuries?"
Nick lowered his gaze.
Daniel answered for him.
"He jumped me."
Thomas suddenly stepped forward.
"He didn't."
The room fell silent again.
Thomas's voice shook.
"Dad did it."
Daniel turned pale.
"Thomas, stop."
Thomas shook his head.
"You told me nobody would believe me."
Valerie closed her eyes.
For a brief second, she wished she could go back six months.
Back to the first unexplained bruise.
Back to the first time Thomas had stopped laughing.
Back to the night Daniel told her, "He's just going through a phase."
But there was no going back.
"Thomas," the officer said gently, "tell me exactly what happened."
Thomas inhaled.
"Last night I saw messages on Dad's phone."
Daniel interrupted.
"Don't listen to him."
The officer raised a hand.
"Sir, let him finish."
Thomas continued.
"Dad was planning to take money from Mom's company."
Valerie stared at Daniel.
"What?"
Daniel shook his head.
"It's nonsense."
Thomas spoke faster.
"He had documents. Bank information. He said he was leaving with another woman."
The restaurant erupted into whispers.
Daniel suddenly looked cornered.
"You went through my phone?"
Thomas nodded.
"I wanted to know why you kept locking your office."
Daniel took a step toward him.
Valerie grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
Daniel looked down at her hand.
Then at Thomas.
Then at Nick.
Something inside him seemed to calculate his next move.
He softened his face.
"Valerie, you're making a mistake."
Nick finally spoke.
"Tell her about the garage."
Daniel's eyes widened.
Valerie turned.
"The garage?"
Nick nodded.
"That's where it happened."
He looked at the officer.
"Thomas was crying."
Daniel clenched his fists.
"That child is lying."
Nick's voice grew stronger.
"He had Thomas against the wall."
Valerie felt sick.
"What did you do?"
"I saw them."
"And?"
"I stepped in front of Thomas."
Nick's fingers trembled.
"Daniel told me to move."
"You didn't."
"No."
"What happened next?"
Nick looked toward the floor.
"The first punch knocked me down."
Thomas started crying.
"The second one..."
Nick stopped.
Valerie couldn't make him continue.
"That's enough."
But Nick shook his head.
"No."
He reached into his pocket.
"I need to show you something."
He pulled out an old cracked phone.
Daniel suddenly lunged forward.
The officer caught his arm.
"Don't move."
Daniel shouted, "That's stolen!"
Nick flinched.
Thomas grabbed his hand.
Nick looked at the phone.
Then at Valerie.
"I recorded it."
Daniel went completely still.
Valerie heard her own heartbeat.
"Recorded what?"
Nick pressed the screen.
The phone crackled.
Then Daniel's voice filled the restaurant.
"You tell your mother nothing."
Thomas's voice followed.
"She's going to find out."
Daniel's recorded voice became colder.
"Then you'll make sure she doesn't."
Valerie covered her mouth.
The recording continued.
And then came Nick's voice.
"You'll have to go through me first."
A loud impact sounded.
Thomas screamed.
The restaurant went silent.
Valerie looked at Daniel.
He no longer looked like her husband.
He looked like a man whose entire life had just cracked open.
But the recording didn't end there.
A second voice appeared.
A woman's voice.
Frightened.
"Daniel, you said he wouldn't be there."
Valerie's head snapped toward the phone.
Daniel stared at the floor.
Valerie whispered,
"Who was that?"
Daniel didn't answer.
The officer reached for the phone.
"Mr. Mercer, you are coming with us."
Daniel looked at Valerie one last time.
Then he smiled.
Not because he was winning.
Because he knew something she didn't.
And as he was led away, he leaned toward her and whispered:
"You should have asked who hired Nick to save your son."
Valerie froze.
May you like
Because she had never heard of Nick before that night.
And suddenly she wondered whether his appearance in their lives had been an accident at all.
