Chapter 8 - The woman in the photograph was named Evelyn Mercer.Not Hale.
Mercer.
Daniel's family.
My attorney's sister.
I stared at him.
He couldn't speak.
Claire looked between us.
“Why didn't you tell us?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Because Evelyn disappeared twenty-two years ago.”
I remembered that name.
Once.
At a family dinner.
Daniel had mentioned a sister who died young.
We'd never discussed it again.
Now the photograph was on my table.
Alive.
Smiling beside Rebecca.
Daniel picked it up.
“Where did you get this?”
Claire pointed to the black notebook.
“It was inside.”
He flipped it over.
Written on the back:
PROJECT ECHO.
Daniel sat down.
“I've heard that name.”
“From where?”
“My father.”
“What did it mean?”
“A private identity program.”
I stared at him.
“What kind of program?”
“People used to disappear.”
“What do you mean, disappear?”
“New names. New documents. New lives.”
Claire whispered, “Why would anyone do that?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Protection.”
“From whom?”
He hesitated.
“People powerful enough to make the law irrelevant.”
That answer changed the shape of the entire case.
Maybe my family wasn't stealing money simply for greed.
Maybe there had been something much older.
Something involving Rebecca.
Something involving Evelyn.
Something that had started before Claire was born.
Then Daniel found a hidden file inside the notebook.
A coded list.
Thirty-seven names.
Each name had a number beside it.
Some were politicians.
Some were business owners.
Some were judges.
One name stood out.
Robert Hale.
My name.
Next to it:
ASSET VALUE: $42.8M.
And underneath:
PRIMARY TARGET.
I stared at my own name.
“What the hell is this?”
Daniel shook his head.
“This isn't a theft list.”
“What is it?”
“It looks like a succession list.”
“Meaning?”
“Who gets what when someone dies.”
I felt sick.
“Whose death?”
Daniel turned the page.
There were three names.
Mine.
Claire's.
Noah's.
All marked with the same designation.
LIQUIDATION.
Claire covered her mouth.
“No.”
I stood.
“They planned to kill us.”
Daniel said nothing.
Then the house phone rang.
Nobody moved.
It rang again.
I answered.
A distorted voice said:
“You found the list.”
“Who are you?”
“You were never supposed to find it.”
“Where is my brother?”
A pause.
“Samuel made his choice.”
“What choice?”
“He chose you.”
The line went dead.
Then Daniel's laptop chimed.
An incoming file.
A video.
We opened it.
Samuel was on screen.
Still tied.
Still alive.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Robert, listen to me.”
I leaned toward the screen.
“I lied to you.”
His voice shook.
“I thought I was protecting Claire.”
“From who?”
“From your wife.”
I froze.
“Rebecca wasn't a victim.”
Claire stared at the screen.
Samuel continued.
“She was the architect.”
Daniel whispered:
“No.”
Samuel looked directly into the camera.
“She built the network.”
The video cut.
I stared at the black screen.
Claire whispered:
“My mother?”
Then a second video opened automatically.
Rebecca appeared.
This time she was standing inside my study.
The same study we were sitting in.
Except the room looked different.
Behind her was a safe.
She opened it.
Inside was a file.
She said:
“Robert will believe I died.”
Then she smiled.
“He'll believe Samuel betrayed him.”
“And he'll believe Derek stole Claire's money.”
“He'll believe Leonard is the enemy.”
“But he won't understand.”
She leaned closer to the camera.
“The person he should fear most has always been himself.”
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
I looked at Daniel.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Instead, he opened the black notebook again.
Near the final page was one line we had missed.
PROJECT ECHO SUBJECT 001.
Then another name.
Robert Hale.
I stared at it.
“No.”
Daniel whispered:
“Maybe your wife wasn't protecting your family from someone.”
May you like
He looked at me.
“Maybe she was protecting someone from you.”
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