Chapter 7: The Brother Who Vanished
Morning sunlight filtered through the stained-glass windows of Mercer Manor, but it brought no warmth.
Arthur Mercer remained motionless, staring at the surveillance image on Hayes' tablet.
A black sedan.
Old enough to escape attention.
Ordinary enough to disappear into city traffic.
Yet Arthur recognized it immediately.
"It belonged to Victor..."
Julian folded his arms.
"Are you certain?"
Arthur nodded without hesitation.
"I gave him that car on his fortieth birthday."
Hayes zoomed in on the license plate.
"It's fake."
Arthur gave a bitter smile.
"Victor always preferred using fake identities."
Hayes looked toward Julian.
"I've already sent teams to search the city."
Julian shook his head.
"No."
Hayes frowned.
"Sir?"
"If Victor is involved..."
"...he already expected we'd search."
Hayes understood.
Victor Mercer wasn't an ordinary fugitive.
He had grown up inside the Mercer organization.
He knew every protocol.
Every safe house.
Every emergency route.
Finding him wouldn't be easy.
Meanwhile...
Emma wandered through the estate gardens with Claire.
The rain had stopped, leaving tiny drops of water sparkling on the roses.
Emma skipped happily along the stone path.
"Mommy!"
"Look!"
She pointed excitedly.
A butterfly had landed on her stuffed elephant's trunk.
Claire smiled.
"It likes Ellie."
Emma giggled.
"Ellie makes friends everywhere."
For a few precious minutes...
The world felt normal.
Not far away...
A groundskeeper trimmed hedges near the fountain.
No one paid much attention to him.
He had worked at the estate for almost six months.
Quiet.
Reliable.
Forgettable.
Exactly as he intended.
Hidden beneath his gardening gloves was a tiny transmitter.
He pressed it once.
Miles away, a signal activated.
A calm voice answered through an earpiece.
"Report."
The gardener kept clipping branches.
"The child is alive."
A pause.
"And?"
"The old man knows."
"What about Julian?"
"He suspects Victor."
Another pause.
Then the voice replied,
"Good."
"Let him."
The line went dead.
The gardener calmly continued working.
Inside the mansion...
Arthur unlocked another compartment in his study.
Unlike the first, this one contained old journals.
Leather-bound.
Handwritten.
He handed one to Julian.
"I never wanted you to read these."
Julian opened it.
The first page was dated twenty-eight years earlier.
Victor Mercer.
Age thirty-five.
Arthur began explaining.
"When we were young..."
"Victor and I built everything together."
"He was brilliant."
"More charismatic than me."
"He could convince anyone."
Julian looked up.
"So what happened?"
Arthur's eyes darkened.
"He stopped believing in limits."
Arthur walked toward the fireplace.
"He believed power should never be restrained."
"He sold information."
"Made secret alliances."
"Accepted contracts I refused."
Julian listened silently.
"I confronted him."
"He denied everything."
"But the evidence kept growing."
Arthur sighed.
"Eventually..."
"I gave him a choice."
"Leave the organization..."
"...or face judgment."
Julian already knew the answer.
"He left."
Arthur nodded.
"At least..."
"...that's what everyone believed."
A knock interrupted them.
Hayes entered.
"We finished checking employee records."
Julian looked up.
"Anything?"
Hayes placed several files on the desk.
"The gardener."
Arthur frowned.
"What about him?"
Hayes opened the folder.
"No birth certificate."
"No military record."
"No tax history before seven months ago."
Julian's expression hardened.
"A ghost."
Hayes nodded.
"We searched the gardens."
"He's gone."
Arthur looked toward the window.
"He was never our gardener."
Outside...
The abandoned gardener drove calmly toward the harbor.
He removed a fake beard at a red light.
Then peeled away a layer of synthetic skin from his cheeks.
His appearance changed dramatically.
The man looked into the rearview mirror.
Blue eyes.
Scar along the jaw.
Professional.
Disposable.
He smiled faintly.
"They're faster than expected."
His phone vibrated.
One message.
Phase Two.
No sender.
No signature.
He deleted it immediately.
Back at the estate...
Emma had discovered the mansion's old music room.
Rows of forgotten instruments lined the walls.
A dusty grand piano occupied the center.
She climbed onto the bench.
Her tiny fingers randomly pressed the keys.
One note.
Then another.
Terribly off-key.
She laughed.
Julian, passing by the open doorway, stopped.
Emma looked over.
"Mister!"
"Can you play?"
Julian answered honestly.
"A little."
"Show me!"
"I haven't played in years."
"That's okay."
She patted the bench beside her.
Julian hesitated.
Then sat down.
His fingers rested lightly on the keys.
For several seconds...
Nothing happened.
Then...
A gentle melody filled the room.
Soft.
Melancholy.
Beautiful.
Claire, walking nearby, froze.
Arthur stopped in the hallway.
Even the house staff quietly gathered outside.
No one had heard Julian play since Isabella's death.
Emma listened with wide eyes.
When the final note faded, she clapped enthusiastically.
"Again!"
Julian almost refused.
Then she smiled.
And somehow...
He played another song.
Arthur watched silently.
Samuel stepped beside him.
"I've never seen him like this."
Arthur answered softly.
"Neither have I."
Samuel hesitated.
"Do you believe she's really Aurora?"
Arthur looked through the doorway.
Julian smiled as Emma confidently struck the wrong piano keys.
"I don't know."
"But..."
"...I do know one thing."
Samuel waited.
Arthur whispered,
"She has already saved my grandson."
The peaceful moment shattered when every phone in the mansion vibrated simultaneously.
Hayes checked his screen first.
His face instantly hardened.
"What is it?" Julian asked.
Hayes turned the phone around.
A photograph filled the display.
Taken only moments earlier.
Emma...
Laughing beside the piano.
Inside Mercer Manor.
Someone had photographed her from within the house.
Beneath the picture was a single sentence.
You protected her once.
Try doing it again.
At the bottom...
A signature.
Not a name.
Just a black phoenix.
Arthur slowly closed his eyes.
"They're inside..."
Hayes looked confused.
"We already searched every room."
Arthur shook his head.
"No."
His voice became grave.
"I don't mean inside the mansion."
He looked at every servant gathered in the hallway.
"I mean..."
May you like
"...inside the family."
End of Chapter 7
