Chapter 5: The Uncle Who Disappeared
Adrian ordered Marco to trace the call.
But the number disappeared before the tracking software could identify its location.
"Try again," Adrian snapped.
Marco shook his head.
"Whoever called used a temporary routing service.""
Adrian turned to me.
"Did you recognize his voice?""
I nodded.
"Not exactly. But I remember the way he said sweetheart.""
Eleanor sat down.
"That was Daniel's favorite word.""
Adrian paced across the room.
"If Thomas is alive, why hasn't he contacted Isabella?""
"Maybe he couldn't," Eleanor answered.
"Why?""
She looked at the medical documents.
"Because someone wanted him dead. If he returned, Vincent would have known immediately that the girl survived.""
I stared at the floor.
"Then where has my father been?""
Nobody answered.
For the next hour, Marco worked through property records, old hospital files, and banking information.
Finally, he turned his laptop around.
"I found Daniel Mercer.""
A photograph appeared.
A man in his late fifties stood outside a small hardware store.
He had gray hair, a beard, and tired eyes.
I recognized him immediately.
Not from his photograph.
From the nightmares.
"That's him," I whispered.
Adrian examined the screen.
"Where was this taken?""
"Albany, New York. Six months ago.""
"Find the address.""
Marco shook his head.
"The store closed. His last registered residence is an old farmhouse outside the city.""
Adrian grabbed his coat.
"We're leaving.""
I stood.
"I'm coming.""
"No.""
I stared at him.
"You don't get to decide that.""
"Wren, we don't know if this is a trap.""
"He's my uncle. He might know what happened to my father.""
"And someone might be waiting to kill you.""
I stepped closer.
"Someone has been trying to control my life since I was eight. I'm done hiding.""
Adrian studied my face.
Then he nodded.
"Marco, prepare the car.""
Eleanor stood.
"Take me with you.""
Adrian shook his head.
"You're staying here.""
"Adrian, Daniel won't speak to you unless I'm there.""
He stopped.
"Why?""
"Because he knows what happened to your family. And he knows something about your mother that I never told you.""
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"What?""
Eleanor swallowed.
"Margaret had another child.""
Silence filled the room.
Adrian stared at her.
"That's impossible.""
"I saw the baby.""
"Where?""
"At St. Vincent's Hospital. A few months before Thomas disappeared.""
Adrian's voice became colder.
"Why didn't my mother tell me?""
"Because the child wasn't Thomas's.""
I looked between them.
"Then whose child was it?""
Eleanor lowered her eyes.
"Vincent's.""
Adrian went completely still.
His uncle.
His mother.
An affair.
A second child.
For a moment, he looked like someone had pulled the ground out from beneath him.
Then he turned away.
"Get the car.""
We left twenty minutes later.
The drive to Albany was tense.
I sat beside Adrian in the back seat while Marco drove.
Outside, the city slowly gave way to highways, trees, and gray autumn fields.
Adrian kept looking at the documents.
I watched him.
"Are you okay?""
He gave a humorless smile.
"Do I look okay?""
"No.""
He folded the papers.
"My entire childhood was built around a story my uncle told me. My mother died when I was young. My sister died in a fire. My father was a criminal who abandoned us.""
He looked out the window.
"What if none of it was true?""
I didn't know what to say.
So I placed my hand over his.
He looked down.
For a moment, the feared crime boss disappeared.
There was only a man who had spent twenty years grieving people who might never have been dead.
Two hours later, we reached the farmhouse.
It stood at the end of a narrow gravel road.
The windows were boarded up.
A rusted swing hung from an old oak tree.
My heart began racing.
"The blue house," I whispered.
Adrian looked at me.
"What?""
I pointed.
"That's the house from my memory.""
Marco parked.
Adrian stepped out first.
He approached the front door and knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again.
"Daniel Mercer! We need to talk!""
A curtain moved upstairs.
Then the door opened slightly.
An elderly man stood behind it.
His face was thinner than the photograph.
His eyes widened when he saw me.
"Isabella?""
I felt tears fill my eyes.
"Do you know me?""
He opened the door completely.
Then he looked at Adrian.
"You shouldn't have brought her here.""
Adrian stepped forward.
"Why?""
Daniel's gaze moved toward the road.
"Because Vincent knows this place.""
Marco immediately drew his weapon.
"What do you mean?""
Daniel grabbed my wrist.
"Get inside. Now.""
We rushed through the doorway.
Daniel locked the door and pulled the curtains shut.
Then he led us into a small kitchen.
The room smelled of coffee and old wood.
On the wall hung dozens of photographs.
Some showed Daniel as a younger man.
Others showed a little girl.
Me.
I approached one.
It showed me sitting on the wooden swing beneath the oak tree.
I was wearing a yellow dress.
My hair was short.
And I was smiling.
I touched the photograph.
"I was happy here.""
Daniel's eyes filled.
"You were.""
I turned toward him.
"Why did you leave me?""
He lowered his head.
"Because someone found us.""
"Who?""
"Vincent.""
Adrian stepped forward.
"Where is Thomas?""
Daniel looked at him for a long moment.
Then he walked to an old cabinet and removed a metal box.
He opened it with a small key.
Inside were photographs, letters, and a hospital bracelet.
He handed Adrian a photograph.
It showed two men standing outside a hospital.
One was Thomas Whitmore.
The other was Vincent Kane.
Written across the back was a date.
October 14.
The night before the fire.
Adrian stared at it.
"What is this?""
Daniel swallowed.
"Your father wasn't planning to run away.""
He placed another document on the table.
"He was planning to expose Vincent.""
I looked at the photograph.
"Where is my father?""
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
"I don't know.""
Adrian slammed his hand against the table.
"You told her he was alive!""
"He was alive when I took her from the hospital!""
"Then where did he go?""
Daniel looked toward the window.
"After I left the farmhouse with Isabella, I returned to the mansion. I found blood in the carriage house and a bullet hole in the wall.""
He paused.
"But there was no body.""
My throat tightened.
"Did you search for him?""
"For years.""
"Then why didn't you tell me?""
Daniel looked at me with unbearable sadness.
"Because the last time I tried to find him, I received a photograph of you sleeping in a hospital bed.""
He pointed to a picture in the box.
It showed me as a child.
A red circle had been drawn around my face.
Beneath it was a handwritten warning.
One more search, and the girl dies.
I stepped backward.
Adrian took the photograph from my hands.
His jaw tightened.
"Vincent.""
Daniel nodded.
"Yes.""
Then he reached into the box and removed a small cassette recorder.
"Your father left this with me. He said if anything happened to him, I was to give it to Adrian.""
Adrian pressed the play button.
Static filled the kitchen.
Then a familiar voice emerged.
Thomas Whitmore.
"If you're hearing this, Vincent has probably taken control of the estate.""
A pause.
Then my father's voice became urgent.
"Adrian, listen carefully. Your mother is not the person you think she is.""
Adrian leaned closer.
"Margaret has been helping Vincent. But there's one thing neither of them knows.""
The recording crackled.
"Isabella isn't the only child they took.""
The tape stopped.
Adrian looked at Daniel.
"What does that mean?""
Daniel's face had turned pale.
Before he could answer, three loud knocks shook the front door.
A man's voice came from outside.
"Daniel? It's the police. Open up.""
Marco raised his weapon.
Daniel backed away from the window.
"That's not the police.""
Then a second voice spoke.
One I recognized from my nightmares.
May you like
"Come outside, little Isabella.""
Vincent Kane had found us.
