Chapter 10 - THE SECOND NAMEEmily's name had been written in Derek's records before she was born.
That was the first thing we discovered.
The second was worse.
Her social security number had already been registered.
Months before her birth.
Someone had prepared a complete identity for her.
Derek claimed it was protection.
Daniel called it criminal.
I called it terrifying.
“You said she wasn't supposed to exist,” I told Derek.
He looked at me.
“Not like this.”
“What does that mean?”
“You were supposed to leave me before you became pregnant.”
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
“Because once you had a child, you became harder to move.”
“Move where?”
He looked toward my mother.
“She knows.”
My mother stepped forward.
“No.”
Derek smiled.
“You've hidden long enough.”
He turned to me.
“Your father created a trust with one condition.”
“What condition?”
“Your child had to be born inside the Mercer bloodline.”
I shook my head.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does to the people who built it.”
“What people?”
Derek didn't answer.
Daniel moved toward the recorder.
Derek raised the gun.
“Don't.”
Then the vault lights flickered.
A security alarm sounded.
Derek looked toward the door.
He hadn't expected that.
Daniel had triggered the emergency system.
The bank police were already on their way.
Derek turned toward me.
“I can still get you out.”
“No.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
He stared at me.
Then he said something so quiet only I heard it.
“Ask your mother what happened the night your father died.”
He dropped the gun.
Not because he surrendered.
Because he knew the police were coming.
Within seconds, officers flooded the corridor.
Derek was arrested.
For the first time in three years, he stood somewhere I wasn't afraid to follow him.
But the victory lasted less than an hour.
At the police station, Daniel sat beside me.
The detective placed a file on the table.
“We have serious concerns about this case.”
“Because of Derek?”
“Because of what he was involved in.”
“What?”
The detective opened the file.
Inside were photographs.
People.
Meetings.
Bank transfers.
Then one photograph.
My mother.
Standing beside a man.
Not Derek.
Not Samuel.
A stranger.
The detective pointed.
“That man was seen with your father the night he died.”
I looked at my mother.
“Who is he?”
She didn't answer.
The detective did.
“His name is Lucas Mercer.”
I frowned.
“Who is Lucas?”
My mother's face crumbled.
“He's your brother.”
Silence.
I stared at her.
“I don't have a brother.”
“You did.”
“What happened?”
She closed her eyes.
“He disappeared when he was sixteen.”
“Where is he now?”
The detective looked at the file.
“We don't know.”
Rachel whispered:
“Why was he at your father's death scene?”
My mother began to shake.
“Because he was the reason your father was killed.”
I stared at her.
“How?”
She looked directly at me.
“Lucas was the one who sold your location.”
“To Derek?”
“No.”
“To whom?”
My mother didn't answer.
A phone on the detective's desk rang.
He answered.
Then his face changed.
He looked at me.
“Ms. Mercer?”
“Yes?”
“They found a body.”
My heart stopped.
“Whose?”
He swallowed.
“Lucas Mercer.”
I stared at him.
“Where?”
“In Derek's old storage facility.”
Then came the detail that made the room go silent.
“According to the preliminary report, he was killed approximately two years ago.”
I looked at my mother.
She had known.
May you like
She had known for two years.
And she had never told me.
