Chapter 9
The lake house stood at the edge of black water beneath a gray afternoon sky.
Police vehicles blocked the road.
Tactical officers surrounded the property.
Raymond had fired no shots.
Taken no hostages.
But he claimed the house was wired with explosives.
No one knew if he was bluffing.
Bennett met me behind an armored vehicle.
“You are not going inside alone.”
“He asked for me.”
“He also kidnapped your daughter.”
“And he has the ledger.”
“We can negotiate.”
I looked at the cabin.
Rachel used to come here when she needed peace.
We spent our first anniversary on that porch.
Now the man involved in her death was hiding inside.
“Give me a vest.”
Bennett frowned.
“Daniel.”
“He wants to talk.”
“He may want to kill you.”
“He’s had chances.”
“That doesn’t make him safe.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“But if Robert ordered people after him, Raymond is scared.”
“Scared men are dangerous.”
“So are desperate ones.”
After several minutes, Bennett agreed under strict conditions.
I wore body armor.
A hidden microphone.
Officers remained close.
The front door opened when I approached.
Raymond stood inside with empty hands.
“Come in.”
I did.
The living room looked almost exactly as I remembered.
Old fireplace.
Wooden beams.
Rachel’s mother’s blue couch.
Except now boxes of papers covered the floor.
Raymond shut the door.
“You brought police.”
“Obviously.”
He laughed.
“At least you’re honest.”
“Where’s the ledger?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Not here.”
“Then why am I here?”
“Because I want a deal.”
“You kidnapped my child.”
“Vanessa took her.”
“You helped.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened me.”
“Yes.”
“You hit Rachel’s car.”
His expression changed.
“Yes.”
No denial.
No excuses.
“Why?”
“Money.”
“Who paid you?”
“That’s the question everyone wants answered.”
“Tell me.”
“Get me protection.”
“You think I control the police?”
“You control enough people.”
“Not anymore.”
Raymond walked toward the window.
“Robert owns cops, lawyers, politicians.”
“Robert’s in custody.”
Raymond smiled.
“You really think Robert is the top?”
My blood chilled.
“Who is?”
“That’s why he went after Rachel.”
“Answer me.”
Raymond turned.
“Mercer Industries was built on a partnership.”
“My father and Robert.”
“No.”
“What?”
“Your father and someone outside the family.”
“Who?”
“He’s dead.”
“Name.”
“Victor Cole.”
I stared at him.
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
“My father borrowed money from yours.”
“That came later.”
Raymond gestured toward the boxes.
“Victor helped Charles build the company thirty years ago.”
“Why was his name never listed?”
“Because my father’s money wasn’t clean.”
I felt sick.
“Organized crime.”
“Call it whatever you want.”
“Then why did they become enemies?”
“Charles wanted out.”
“And Victor?”
“Wanted ownership.”
“So your father blackmailed mine.”
“Eventually.”
“How does Rachel fit into it?”
“She found old accounting records.”
“What records?”
“Payments from Mercer companies into Victor’s businesses.”
“Why would that matter after thirty years?”
“Because some of those businesses were laundering money.”
I stared at him.
“And Robert continued it.”
“Yes.”
“So Rachel could expose the entire company.”
“Exactly.”
“Who ordered her killed?”
Raymond looked at me for a long time.
Then he said,
“Claire.”
I actually laughed.
“No.”
“She paid me.”
“Claire had no money.”
“Robert’s money.”
“That makes no sense.”
“She was protecting Michael.”
“From prison?”
“From Victor.”
I frowned.
Raymond sat down.
“Michael stole because Victor threatened Claire and their boys.”
My anger faltered.
“What?”
“Victor knew Michael had access to company accounts. He forced him to move money.”
“Michael said Dad had gambling debts.”
“Also true.”
“So there were multiple thefts.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t Michael tell me?”
“Because Victor sent photographs of his children at school.”
I felt cold.
“Rachel discovered the transfers.”
“She thought Michael was stealing for himself.”
“Claire knew the truth.”
“Yes.”
“Why kill Rachel instead of telling her?”
“She tried.”
“Rachel wouldn’t believe her?”
“Rachel believed evidence.”
Raymond shrugged.
“Claire didn’t have enough.”
“So she paid you to kill her?”
Raymond shook his head.
“No.”
I stared at him.
“You just said Claire paid you.”
“She paid me to scare Rachel away from the investigation.”
The same pattern.
Everyone ordered a warning.
Someone turned it into murder.
“Then who told you to hit her car?”
“My father.”
Victor Cole.
I remembered Vanessa saying Raymond knew the name.
She had assumed it was someone Michael protected.
Michael had been protecting Claire because her payment initiated the chain.
But Victor had escalated it.
“Why?”
“Rachel found something she wasn’t supposed to find.”
“What?”
Raymond reached into a box.
Slowly.
I tensed.
He pulled out a photograph.
My father.
Victor.
Robert.
And a fourth man.
A young prosecutor who later became a federal judge.
Behind them was the original Mercer Industries warehouse.
“Your company was funded with dirty money.”
I looked at him.
“Rachel found proof?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“She told me she copied it.”
“Did you recover it?”
“No.”
“Then maybe it’s still out there.”
“It is.”
“How do you know?”
Raymond smiled faintly.
“Because Rachel told someone where she hid it.”
“Who?”
“Emily.”
I stared at him.
“Emily was a baby.”
“Not your Emily.”
I frowned.
Raymond pointed to a name written on the back of the photograph.
Emily Hart.
Rachel’s younger sister.
I had almost forgotten.
Rachel had a half sister she rarely discussed.
They had been separated as teenagers after their parents’ divorce.
Emily Hart had moved abroad years before I met Rachel.
“You’re saying Rachel gave evidence to her sister.”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how do you?”
“Because I heard Rachel make the call.”
“When?”
“At Bellweather before the crash.”
“Why was that not on the recording?”
“She used another phone.”
My mind raced.
Rachel had hidden evidence with her sister.
And my daughter had the same name.
I suddenly remembered something.
Rachel chose Emily’s name.
I had assumed she simply liked it.
Maybe it was a message.
Maybe Rachel had been trying to keep her sister’s name alive.
“Does Robert know?”
“He knows there was another copy.”
“Does he know Emily Hart has it?”
“No.”
“Vanessa?”
“No.”
“Michael?”
“No.”
“Why tell me?”
Raymond’s smile vanished.
“Because Robert’s people found out yesterday.”
My stomach dropped.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Emily Hart?”
“Last record I found put her in Portland.”
Bennett’s voice came faintly through my hidden earpiece.
We’re checking.
Raymond looked toward my collar.
“You’re wired.”
I froze.
He laughed.
“I assumed.”
He raised both hands toward the window.
“I’m done running.”
“Where’s the ledger?”
“Bus station locker downtown.”
“Key?”
He removed it from his pocket and placed it on the table.
“Code is Rachel’s birthday.”
“Why?”
“I have a dark sense of humor.”
I wanted to hit him.
Instead I took the key.
“Did you kill Rachel?”
Raymond looked at me.
“I hit her car.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“I hit her once after the crash.”
“Did that kill her?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you return later?”
“No.”
“Did Victor?”
Raymond’s face changed.
“My father died two years ago.”
“I’m asking about that night.”
“No.”
“Robert?”
“You saw the video.”
“He left her alive.”
“Yes.”
“So how did she die?”
Raymond stared toward the lake.
“Maybe injuries from the crash.”
“The original report said blunt-force trauma complicated the crash injuries.”
“Then maybe me.”
His voice was quieter now.
“For what it’s worth, I wish I hadn’t done it.”
“It’s worth nothing.”
He nodded.
“I figured.”
Bennett entered with officers.
Raymond surrendered.
No explosives were found.
Just another bluff.
Outside, Bennett handed me her phone.
“We located Emily Hart.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“She returned to the United States three years ago.”
“Portland?”
“No.”
Bennett’s expression was strange.
“She lives twenty minutes from you.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“She changed her last name after marriage.”
“To what?”
“Maria Santos.”
The world stopped.
“No.”
Bennett nodded.
“Your housekeeper Maria is Rachel’s half sister.”
I couldn’t speak.
Every memory changed at once.
Maria arriving three years ago.
Maria becoming protective of Emily.
Maria staying even when Vanessa threatened her.
Maria risking her life at Bellweather.
“She knew?”
“We don’t know yet.”
I called the hospital.
Maria answered.
“Mr. Mercer?”
I couldn’t breathe.
“Emily Hart.”
Silence.
Then Maria began crying.
“Daniel…”
“You’re Rachel’s sister.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Rachel made me promise.”
“Promise what?”
“That I would protect her daughter if anything happened to her.”
My eyes burned.
“You came into my house for Emily.”
“Yes.”
“And the evidence?”
Silence.
“Maria.”
She whispered,
“I still have it.”
“Where?”
“In the one place Vanessa never thought to look.”
“Where?”
May you like
Maria’s voice trembled.
“Inside Emily’s stuffed rabbit.”
