Chapter 5 - Sloan stared at the woman.“No.”
Victor moved before the shooter could fire.
He kicked the weapon upward.
The shot exploded into the night.
Victor slammed the gunman's wrist against the wreckage and twisted.
The man screamed.
Sloan crawled from the SUV.
Another gunman appeared.
Victor grabbed Sloan and pulled her behind the overturned vehicle.
“Run.”
They ran into the trees beside the road.
Rain soaked them.
Branches tore at Sloan's arms.
Behind them, men shouted.
“Don't let her escape!”
Sloan looked back.
“Why do they keep calling me the girl?”
Victor didn't slow.
“Because they know exactly who you are.”
“I don't!”
“You are the daughter of Daniel Mercer.”
“I've known that my whole life.”
“Not the whole truth.”
They reached a drainage tunnel beneath the bridge.
Victor motioned her inside.
They crouched in darkness.
Footsteps thundered above.
Sloan pressed her hand over her mouth.
Victor took a phone from his pocket.
No signal.
He tried anyway.
Nothing.
Then footsteps stopped directly above them.
A man's voice carried through the concrete.
“Victor Rainer.”
Victor looked up.
The voice continued.
“Give us the girl.”
Victor smiled faintly.
Sloan stared at him.
“What?”
“They made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“They think I'm trapped.”
Victor pulled a small device from his coat.
A faint red light blinked.
“What is that?”
“A tracker.”
“You were tracking us?”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“I was tracking whoever was tracking you.”
Sloan's stomach twisted.
“You knew this would happen.”
“Not exactly.”
“You knew someone was watching me.”
“Not until tonight.”
The footsteps above moved away.
Victor waited.
Then he stood.
“Your father didn't disappear after he died.”
Sloan frowned.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“Your father staged his death.”
She stared.
“No.”
“I saw him after the funeral.”
Sloan felt the world shift.
“You saw him?”
“Three months later.”
“Where?”
“Seattle.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“He made me promise.”
“Why?”
“Because someone was listening.”
Victor stepped toward the tunnel exit.
Sloan followed.
“What was he hiding?”
“A ledger.”
“You said that.”
“I didn't tell you what was inside.”
They emerged behind an abandoned warehouse.
Elias was waiting.
Sloan froze.
The real Elias raised both hands.
“Easy.”
“You were in the crash.”
“I escaped.”
Victor looked at him.
“Where's the car?”
“Burning.”
Elias glanced at Sloan.
“She needs to see something.”
They entered the warehouse.
A laptop sat on a folding table.
Elias turned it toward Sloan.
A photograph filled the screen.
Her father.
Alive.
Older.
Standing beside another man.
Victor.
Sloan stared.
“When was this taken?”
“Six months ago.”
“That isn't possible.”
Victor said nothing.
The photograph changed.
A second picture.
Her father sitting inside a restaurant.
A third.
Her father walking through an airport.
A fourth.
Her father entering a courthouse.
Sloan's hands began trembling.
“He's alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“We don't know.”
“Then why do you have these?”
“Someone sent them to us.”
“Who?”
Elias closed the laptop.
“A dead man.”
Sloan stared.
“What?”
Elias looked at Victor.
Victor nodded.
Elias opened a drawer.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
On it was written:
SLOAN MERCER.
Her breath caught.
“That was delivered two days ago.”
“By whom?”
“Courier.”
“Who hired him?”
“He was dead before he reached the building.”
Sloan stepped forward.
Her hand shook as she opened the envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
She was in it.
Working at Aurelio's.
A man stood across the street watching her.
On the back were three words.
HE FOUND YOU.
Sloan looked up.
“Who?”
Victor's voice was quiet.
“Your father.”
She stared at him.
“Why would my father watch me?”
Victor didn't answer.
Instead, Elias stepped toward the laptop.
“Boss.”
He looked at the screen.
A new file had appeared.
None of them had opened it.
The file was named:
MERCER_FINAL.
Victor's expression changed.
“Don't touch it.”
Elias stopped.
The laptop screen suddenly went black.
Then a video began playing automatically.
Daniel Mercer appeared.
Older.
Scar across his left cheek.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Sloan.”
She stopped breathing.
“If you're watching this, Victor Rainer has finally found you.”
Sloan looked at Victor.
Her father's voice continued.
“I need you to understand one thing.”
The video flickered.
“Everything Victor tells you is true.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
Then Daniel said:
“But he is still lying to you.”
The screen went black.
A second later, a message appeared.
TRUST NO ONE AT TABLE SEVEN.
Sloan stared.
“Table Seven?”
Victor looked at Elias.
Elias looked back.
Then both men realized something.
Table Seven had been reserved under a name.
Daniel Mercer.
May you like
Sloan's father hadn't been dead.
And he had been expecting her to sit there tonight.
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