CHAPTER 13 The Man Who Never Died
A cold wind swept through the abandoned chapel.
Broken stained glass rattled softly.
Nathan instinctively moved Grace and Lily behind him.
Jonathan Mercer stood in the center of the courtyard with one hand resting on his ebony cane.
He didn't look like a crime lord.
He looked like someone's grandfather.
Calm.
Elegant.
Patient.
The dozens of armed operatives surrounding the chapel never moved.
Neither did he.
He smiled warmly.
"You've grown into your father's eyes."
Nathan answered without hesitation.
"I'd rather have my mother's."
Jonathan chuckled.
"Good answer."
Arthur took one step forward.
"I buried you."
Jonathan nodded.
"You buried exactly who I wanted you to bury."
Arthur's jaw tightened.
"Thirty years..."
Jonathan looked toward the distant mountains.
"Time passes quickly when everyone believes you're dead."
Grace watched him carefully.
There was something unsettling about him.
Richard ruled through fear.
Jonathan ruled through certainty.
He didn't need to threaten anyone.
He behaved as though every outcome had already been calculated.
Lily tugged on Nathan's sleeve.
"Daddy."
"Yes?"
"The old man is smiling."
Nathan kept his eyes on Jonathan.
"I know."
"I don't like his smile."
Neither did Nathan.
Jonathan slowly removed his gloves.
His hands showed the scars of an old burn.
Arthur recognized them instantly.
"The warehouse fire..."
Jonathan smiled.
"It was real."
"You survived."
"Barely."
Arthur stared in disbelief.
"I searched for you."
"I know."
"You never contacted me."
Jonathan sighed.
"Because by then..."
"...I had learned the truth."
Nathan frowned.
"What truth?"
Jonathan looked directly at Arthur.
"Our organization was already compromised."
Arthur shook his head.
"No."
Jonathan nodded sadly.
"It began before Richard."
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes.
"Someone else?"
Jonathan smiled.
"Many someone elses."
He turned toward Sarah Bennett's agents emerging cautiously from the tunnel behind the chapel.
Several had survived the firefight.
Sarah herself stepped into the sunlight, bruised but alive.
She raised her pistol.
"Jonathan Mercer."
Jonathan inclined his head politely.
"Director Bennett."
Nathan looked between them.
"You know each other?"
Sarah answered quietly.
"We've never met."
Jonathan laughed.
"Not in person."
Jonathan's gaze settled on the black ledger beneath Nathan's jacket.
"I've spent thirty years looking for that book."
Nathan held it tighter.
"You won't get it."
Jonathan nodded.
"I expected that answer."
"You murdered Richard."
Jonathan didn't deny it.
"Richard made a fatal mistake."
"He failed?"
"He became emotional."
Jonathan glanced toward Lily.
"The moment he pointed a gun at his own granddaughter..."
He shook his head slightly.
"...he stopped being useful."
Grace felt a chill.
To Jonathan...
Richard's death wasn't revenge.
It was a performance review.
Arthur stepped between Nathan and Jonathan.
"If you wanted Richard dead..."
"...why wait twenty years?"
Jonathan smiled.
"Because he was an excellent accountant."
Arthur closed his eyes.
"You're insane."
Jonathan answered calmly.
"No."
"I simply separate usefulness from affection."
Nathan looked at him in disbelief.
"You don't care about anyone."
Jonathan's smile softened.
"On the contrary."
He looked toward Lily.
"I care deeply about legacy."
A helicopter appeared above the trees.
Then another.
Then a third.
Nathan looked up.
Federal markings.
Sarah smiled faintly.
"My backup."
Jonathan didn't even bother looking.
"They're late."
The helicopters circled once.
Suddenly, their engines sputtered.
One after another...
They veered away.
Their radios had gone silent.
Nathan looked at Sarah.
"What happened?"
She whispered,
"They're being jammed."
Jonathan finally looked skyward.
"I dislike noisy meetings."
The elderly man took another slow step forward.
"No more games."
He extended one hand.
"The ledger."
Nathan shook his head.
"No."
Jonathan sighed.
"I was hoping to avoid this."
He snapped his fingers.
Every operative raised their weapons simultaneously.
More than fifty rifles.
All aimed at Nathan.
Grace.
Arthur.
Elizabeth.
Sarah.
Even Lily.
Jonathan's smile disappeared.
"The ledger."
Nathan's heartbeat thundered in his ears.
He looked at Lily.
She looked back.
Trusting him completely.
He couldn't surrender.
But he couldn't risk everyone else's lives.
Grace saw the conflict in his eyes.
She quietly whispered,
"Don't."
Nathan looked at her.
"If I don't..."
"They'll kill us."
Grace shook her head.
"If you do..."
"...they'll kill everyone after they read it."
She was right.
Jonathan would erase every witness.
Lily suddenly spoke.
"Daddy."
Nathan knelt beside her.
"What is it?"
She pointed at the black ledger.
"It keeps buzzing."
Nathan frowned.
He carefully pulled the book from beneath his jacket.
A faint vibration pulsed through the cover.
The silver emblem marked 7 glowed softly.
Then...
Without anyone touching it...
The book opened by itself.
Pages began turning rapidly.
One.
Ten.
Fifty.
A hundred.
Until they stopped near the middle.
Nathan stared.
Every page before had been blank.
Now...
Lines of ink slowly appeared as though an invisible hand were writing.
Jonathan's calm expression finally changed.
"What..."
Sarah whispered,
"It's updating."
Nathan looked at the page.
At the very top...
One sentence formed.
Current Chairman: Jonathan Mercer
Below it...
Hundreds of names.
Photographs.
Bank accounts.
Governments.
Corporations.
Everything.
Jonathan took one involuntary step forward.
"So..."
His voice had lost its certainty.
"...it really exists."
Arthur frowned.
"You've never seen it?"
Jonathan slowly shook his head.
"I only knew the legend."
Nathan looked up sharply.
"You've spent thirty years searching..."
"...for something you've never opened?"
Jonathan smiled bitterly.
"Power doesn't require certainty."
"It only requires belief."
Suddenly...
A loud BEEP echoed from inside the ledger.
A new line appeared at the bottom of the page.
Unauthorized viewing detected.
Sarah looked confused.
"What does that mean?"
Before anyone could answer...
Every smartphone in the courtyard vibrated simultaneously.
Nathan's.
Sarah's.
The agents'.
Even Jonathan's.
Each screen displayed the same message:
THE LEDGER HAS BEEN OPENED.
ALL MEMBERS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED.
Jonathan's face went completely still.
For the first time since meeting him...
He looked genuinely alarmed.
Nathan frowned.
"Members?"
Jonathan whispered,
"No..."
He stared at the glowing pages.
"...it wasn't a ledger."
Arthur looked at him.
"What?"
Jonathan slowly backed away.
His voice was barely audible.
"It was an invitation."
The ground beneath the chapel suddenly began to shake.
In the distance...
Black vehicles appeared from every direction.
Not dozens.
Hundreds.
Driving toward the estate.
Nathan watched in disbelief.
They weren't federal agents.
They weren't Jonathan's men.
Every vehicle carried the same silver emblem.
A perfect circle.
With the number 7.
Jonathan looked toward the approaching convoy.
His face had turned pale.
He whispered,
"They're coming..."
Nathan asked quietly,
"Who?"
Jonathan answered with a trembling voice.
May you like
"The real members."
END OF CHAPTER 13
