Chapter 4
Michael Mercer stood at the bottom of the staircase.
Alive.
Daniel couldn’t move.
For seven years, his younger brother had drifted in and out of the family like a ghost.
He hadn’t disappeared completely.
But after their mother’s death and Claire’s disappearance, Michael had changed.
Rehab.
Isolation.
Months without answering calls.
Then two years ago, he vanished from Daniel’s life entirely.
No address.
No explanation.
Daniel thought he was running from addiction again.
Now Michael stood inside the hidden prison beneath their childhood home.
And he didn’t look surprised to see Claire.
That was the worst part.
Claire whispered, “Michael.”
Michael’s face crumpled.
“Oh God.”
He rushed forward.
Claire backed away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Michael stopped.
“I came as soon as I heard.”
“Heard what?” Daniel snapped.
Michael looked at his brother.
“You opened the room.”
“How did you know?”
Michael didn’t answer.
Daniel grabbed him by the jacket.
“How did you know?”
“Daniel—”
“Lily has been kidnapped!”
Michael’s eyes widened.
“What?”
“Vanessa too.”
“By Victor?”
Daniel’s grip tightened.
“You know Victor is alive?”
“Yes.”
“You know about Claire?”
Michael closed his eyes.
Daniel shoved him against the wall.
“You knew she was down here?”
“No!”
Claire shouted.
“He knew something.”
Daniel looked at her.
Michael shook his head.
“Claire, please.”
“You knew your father was after us.”
“I tried to save you.”
“You left me!”
“I went back to get documents!”
“And I spent seven years in a cage!”
Michael’s voice broke.
“I thought you were dead.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“Convenient.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“Enough.”
He pointed at Michael.
“You explain everything right now.”
Michael looked older than his forty-one years.
“I got a message this morning.”
“From who?”
“Victor.”
Daniel went still.
“What did it say?”
“That the wall had been opened.”
“Why would Victor contact you?”
Michael looked toward Claire.
“Because he’s been threatening me for years.”
“With what?”
“The video.”
Their mother’s video.
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“Show me.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Then what do you have?”
Michael pulled out his phone.
“Messages.”
Daniel snatched it.
Several texts from an unknown number.
YOU KEEP QUIET.
YOU STAY AWAY FROM THE HOUSE.
IF DANIEL FINDS HER, YOUR PART COMES OUT.
The newest message had arrived thirty minutes earlier.
THE DOOR IS OPEN.
COME HOME.
Daniel looked up.
“What part?”
Michael stared at the floor.
“What did you do?”
“I was high.”
“Michael.”
“I was high that night!”
“WHAT DID YOU DO?”
Michael’s eyes filled with tears.
“I gave Mom something.”
Daniel stopped.
Claire stared at Michael.
“What?”
Michael looked sick.
“She was panicking after Dad forced her into the car.”
Daniel’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“You followed them.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“An old cabin Dad owned near Ridgeway.”
Daniel remembered the property.
It had been sold after Charles died.
Michael continued.
“Dad made me come. He said Mom was hysterical. He said she might hurt herself.”
“What did you give her?”
“A sedative.”
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were a doctor!”
“I was an addict stealing pills! I wasn’t thinking!”
Claire covered her mouth.
Michael cried openly now.
“Dad told me she just needed to sleep. I injected her.”
Daniel stumbled backward.
Their mother had been afraid.
Drugged.
Trapped with her husband and son.
“What happened after that?”
“She got weak.”
“You overdosed her?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“She was conscious when Dad carried her back to the car.”
“Carried her?”
Michael nodded.
“He told me to leave.”
“And you did?”
“I was terrified.”
Daniel looked at him with disgust.
“You left Mom with him?”
“I came back.”
“When?”
“About twenty minutes later.”
Michael’s breathing shook.
“The car was gone.”
Daniel already knew the ending.
Guardrail.
Mountain road.
Dead mother.
“Dad staged the accident.”
Michael nodded.
“I think so.”
“You think?”
“I never saw him drive the car over the edge.”
“But you knew.”
“I suspected.”
“You stayed quiet.”
“He showed me footage from the cabin. Me injecting her.”
Daniel’s eyes hardened.
“He threatened to make it look like you killed her.”
“Yes.”
“And Claire?”
Michael looked at her.
“I told Claire everything.”
Claire’s jaw tightened.
“You told me we were running.”
“I meant it.”
“But you went back.”
“I thought I could get the video.”
“You left me alone.”
“I was gone twenty minutes.”
“That was enough.”
Michael whispered, “I know.”
Claire looked away.
Daniel felt rage building.
At his father.
At Michael.
At Vanessa.
At himself for not seeing anything.
Then his phone rang.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
He answered immediately.
“Lily.”
The man laughed.
“Family reunion?”
Daniel looked at Michael.
Michael went pale.
Victor.
“You’re watching us.”
“Of course.”
Daniel’s eyes moved to the camera mounted in the corner.
He grabbed the hammer and smashed it.
CRACK!
The lens shattered.
Victor chuckled through the phone.
“There are twelve more.”
Daniel looked around.
“Where is my daughter?”
“Safe.”
“Put her on.”
“No.”
“Victor.”
Silence.
Daniel continued.
“I know who you are.”
“Then you know I don’t bluff.”
“I know you worked for my father.”
“I did much more than work for Charles.”
“What do you want?”
“Something your brother has.”
Daniel looked at Michael.
Michael shook his head.
“I don’t have anything.”
Victor heard him.
“Yes, you do.”
Daniel put the phone on speaker.
“What?”
“The original ledger.”
Michael frowned.
“I never found it.”
Victor’s voice hardened.
“Your mother gave it to Claire before she died.”
Claire stared at the phone.
“No.”
Victor laughed.
“You’ve had seven years to remember.”
“I never had a ledger.”
“You carried a red folder out of this house.”
Claire shook her head.
“That was my audit report.”
“Inside the folder was a flash drive.”
Claire froze.
Daniel saw it.
“You remember.”
Claire whispered, “Eleanor gave me something.”
Michael stepped closer.
“What?”
“A small drive.”
Daniel’s pulse jumped.
“Where is it?”
“I hid it.”
Victor’s voice became calm.
“Tell us.”
Claire looked at Daniel.
“No.”
Victor sighed.
Then Lily screamed through the phone.
“DADDY!”
Daniel nearly dropped the device.
“LILY!”
She cried.
“Daddy, please!”
A loud slap sounded.
Daniel’s face changed.
“VICTOR!”
Claire shouted.
“Don’t hurt her!”
Victor replied coldly.
“Tell Daniel where the drive is.”
Claire was shaking.
Daniel grabbed the phone.
“If you touch Lily again—”
“You have thirty minutes.”
“Where do we bring it?”
“I’ll tell you after Claire finds it.”
The call ended.
Daniel rounded on Claire.
“Where?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know if it’s still there.”
“Where?”
“In the nursery.”
Daniel blinked.
“What nursery?”
“Lily’s room.”
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
Claire continued.
“Before your mother died, that room was being prepared for Michael and me.”
Michael looked crushed.
Claire ignored him.
“I hid the drive inside the old window seat.”
Daniel ran upstairs.
Claire and Michael followed.
They entered Lily’s bedroom.
Pink curtains.
Stuffed animals.
Books.
A small white window seat beneath the east window.
Daniel ripped the cushion away.
Nothing.
He pulled open the storage compartment.
Blankets.
Toys.
He threw them aside.
Claire knelt.
“There used to be a loose board.”
Michael pushed his fingers along the interior.
“Here.”
He lifted a thin wooden panel.
Inside was a narrow cavity.
Daniel reached in.
His fingers touched plastic.
He pulled out a small black flash drive.
Everyone froze.
Seven years.
Hidden in his daughter’s room.
Daniel stared at it.
“This is what Victor wants?”
Claire nodded slowly.
“Your mother said it could destroy everything.”
Daniel looked at the drive.
Then at his laptop sitting on the desk.
“We see what’s on it first.”
Michael grabbed his arm.
“No.”
Daniel shoved him away.
“My daughter is missing.”
“If Victor thinks we accessed it—”
“He kidnapped a six-year-old!”
Daniel inserted the drive.
A password box appeared.
Claire stared.
“I don’t know the password.”
Daniel tried his mother’s birthday.
Wrong.
His father’s name.
Wrong.
Michael stepped closer.
“Try Lily.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Lily wasn’t born then.”
“Mom always said if you ever had a daughter, you’d name her Lily.”
Daniel’s throat tightened.
Their mother loved lilies.
It had been her favorite flower.
Daniel typed LILY.
Wrong.
Claire whispered, “Try EleanorLily.”
Wrong.
Michael suddenly said, “The cabin.”
Daniel typed RIDGEWAY.
The drive opened.
Folders appeared.
BANK RECORDS.
CONTRACTS.
PAYMENTS.
VIDEO.
Daniel clicked VIDEO.
One file.
ELEANOR_FINAL.
Michael backed away.
“No.”
Daniel pressed play.
The video opened.
Their mother appeared on screen.
Alive.
Sitting in the cabin.
Weak.
Terrified.
Michael’s younger voice could be heard arguing off camera.
Then Charles Mercer entered the frame.
Daniel stopped breathing.
His father leaned toward Eleanor.
And said—
“If you expose us, both our sons lose everything.”
Eleanor stared at him.
“You mean if I expose YOU.”
Charles smiled.
“No.”
He looked directly toward someone standing behind the camera.
“The woman Daniel is going to marry loses everything too.”
Daniel froze.
Claire whispered, “What?”
The camera shifted.
For one second—
a young Vanessa appeared in frame.
Standing beside Charles.
Then another person stepped into view.
Victor.
May you like
And Vanessa said something that made Daniel’s heart stop.
“Charles, you promised Daniel would never learn that Lily is yours.”
