Chapter 7
Daniel called Thomas before leaving the storage facility.
No answer.
He called again.
No answer.
His pulse jumped.
“Dad.”
Claire looked at him.
“What?”
“He isn’t answering.”
Daniel called the house phone.
Nothing.
Then he called Emma’s tablet.
It rang six times.
Seven.
Eight.
Finally, Emma answered.
“Daddy?”
Daniel exhaled so hard his knees almost weakened.
“Emma. Where is Grandpa?”
“In the garage.”
“Why?”
“He went to get a box.”
Daniel froze.
“What box?”
“The blue one.”
Claire’s eyes widened.
Daniel tightened his grip on the phone.
“Sweetheart, listen to me carefully. Stay inside the house.”
“Okay.”
“Lock the door.”
“Grandpa said I’m not supposed to lock him out.”
“Do it anyway.”
Emma hesitated.
“Daddy?”
“Do it now.”
He heard little footsteps.
Then the click of a deadbolt.
“Done.”
“Good. Go upstairs.”
“Why?”
“Because I need you to find the safest room.”
“Is Mommy coming?”
The fear in her voice cut through him.
“No.”
He had no idea if that was true.
“Go to Grandpa’s bedroom and lock that door too.”
Emma started moving.
Daniel heard her breathing.
“Take Bunny.”
“I have him.”
“Good.”
A crash came through the phone.
Emma gasped.
Daniel’s blood froze.
“What was that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Emma, go.”
She ran.
Daniel could hear her feet pounding upstairs.
Then another sound.
Glass.
Breaking.
“Daddy!”
“I’m here.”
Claire was already speaking to Ramirez.
“Send units to Thomas Mercer’s house now.”
Daniel heard the bedroom door slam.
“Lock it!”
Click.
“I did!”
“Get inside the closet.”
Emma began crying.
“Daddy, I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“Are you coming?”
“Yes.”
He ran toward the car.
Claire followed.
Ramirez shouted behind them.
“Patrol is closer!”
Daniel didn’t care.
He drove.
Too fast.
Claire kept one hand on the dashboard and the other on her phone.
“Police are four minutes out.”
“That is too long.”
“It is four minutes.”
“My daughter is alone.”
“She is locked upstairs.”
“In a house somebody just entered.”
Claire said nothing.
Daniel kept Emma on speaker.
“Talk to me, baby.”
“I hear something.”
“What?”
“Someone downstairs.”
Daniel’s heart hammered.
“Stay quiet.”
Emma whispered, “I think Grandpa came back.”
“Do not open the door.”
“But—”
“No matter who says your name, do not open.”
Silence.
Then a man’s voice floated faintly through Emma’s tablet.
“Emma?”
Daniel stopped breathing.
Not Thomas.
Emma whispered, “That’s not Grandpa.”
Daniel accelerated.
Claire called out the intersection.
“Two minutes.”
The voice downstairs grew louder.
“Emma, sweetheart?”
Daniel recognized it.
His stomach dropped.
Martin Vale.
Emma whimpered.
Daniel nearly crushed the steering wheel.
“Do not answer him.”
“Daddy, he knows I’m here.”
“Stay in the closet.”
Martin’s voice echoed upstairs.
“Emma, your father asked me to come get you.”
Daniel shouted into the phone.
“That is a lie!”
Emma cried silently.
“Do you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Do not believe him.”
Martin tried the bedroom door.
The handle rattled.
Emma gasped.
Daniel could barely see the road.
“Police are almost there.”
Martin knocked.
“Emma, open the door.”
No answer.
“Your grandfather got hurt.”
Emma whispered, “Grandpa?”
Daniel’s chest seized.
“Do not move.”
Martin continued.
“He needs you.”
Emma was crying harder.
“Daddy.”
“Stay with me.”
Sirens became audible through Emma’s tablet.
Then through Daniel’s open window.
Police.
Martin heard them too.
The bedroom handle stopped moving.
Fast footsteps crossed the hall.
Then silence.
Daniel reached the street as three patrol cars surrounded Thomas’s house.
Officers ran toward the backyard.
Daniel jumped from his car.
An officer blocked him.
“My daughter is upstairs!”
“We know.”
“My father was in the garage.”
“We’re checking.”
A shout came from behind the house.
Then another.
Daniel stood helplessly on the lawn.
Every second felt impossible.
Finally an officer appeared at the front door.
“Mr. Mercer?”
Daniel pushed forward.
“Your daughter is safe.”
His legs almost gave out.
“And my father?”
“Alive.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“He was struck in the garage. Paramedics are with him.”
“Martin?”
The officer’s expression hardened.
“He fled through the back.”
Daniel looked toward the woods behind the property.
Police dogs were already moving.
He ran upstairs.
Emma’s bedroom door was still locked.
“Emma.”
Silence.
He touched the door.
“It’s Daddy.”
Nothing.
He swallowed.
“You do not have to open until you’re sure.”
A tiny voice answered.
“What did you tell me when Cooper died?”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
He understood.
A password.
Something only they knew.
“I told you love doesn’t disappear just because we can’t see where it went.”
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Emma launched herself into his arms.
Daniel dropped to his knees.
“I’ve got you.”
She wrapped herself around him.
“He said you sent him.”
“I know.”
“I didn’t believe him.”
“You did exactly right.”
“Grandpa?”
“He’s alive.”
“Can I see him?”
“Soon.”
Downstairs, paramedics placed Thomas on a stretcher.
Blood darkened his gray hair near the temple, but he was conscious.
Daniel grabbed his hand.
“Dad.”
Thomas opened one eye.
“You drive too fast.”
Daniel laughed and cried at the same time.
“Are you okay?”
“I’ve had better mornings.”
“What happened?”
Thomas’s face became serious.
“I remembered the music box.”
“So did we.”
“I went to the garage.”
“Why was it there?”
“You gave it to Emma after Margaret died. Vanessa told me last month Emma had outgrown it. Asked me to store it.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Vanessa had moved it out of the house.
Not destroyed it.
Hidden it somewhere she could still access.
Thomas continued.
“I found it. Then somebody hit me from behind.”
“Martin.”
“You saw him?”
“He was inside.”
Thomas’s eyes sharpened.
“Where’s the box?”
Daniel froze.
Police searched the garage.
Nothing.
Martin had taken it.
Daniel slammed his hand against the ambulance door.
“He got it.”
Thomas gripped his wrist.
“Maybe not everything.”
“What?”
“Your mother never trusted one hiding place.”
Daniel stared.
Thomas winced as paramedics worked around him.
“When you were a boy, Margaret hid birthday presents in three different rooms because she said thieves always stop looking after they find the first treasure.”
Daniel almost smiled despite everything.
“That sounds like her.”
“The music box might only point somewhere else.”
“But Martin has it.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“Then we need to remember what it played.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“The song.”
The blue music box had sat on Margaret’s dresser for as long as Daniel could remember.
A little silver ballerina turned when the lid opened.
The melody was simple.
Daniel hummed it once.
Claire, standing nearby, recognized it.
“Blue Moon.”
Thomas opened his eyes.
“Yes.”
Daniel’s mind raced.
Blue Moon.
His mother loved clues.
She loved word games.
During Daniel’s childhood, she had turned Christmas mornings into elaborate treasure hunts.
Blue.
Moon.
Daniel whispered, “The lake house.”
Thomas stared at him.
“What?”
“The bedrooms.”
Margaret’s lake house had named rooms.
Sun Room.
Rose Room.
Moon Room.
And the Moon Room had been painted blue.
Thomas’s expression changed.
“You think she hid something there?”
“I think she wanted us to.”
Claire said, “Where is the lake house?”
“Two hours north.”
Thomas grabbed Daniel’s sleeve.
“Do not go alone.”
“I won’t.”
Emma heard them.
“I want to go.”
“No.”
Her face crumpled.
“Daddy—”
“No, sweetheart.”
“You said you choose me.”
“I do.”
“Then don’t leave me again.”
The words stopped him.
Daniel looked at her.
She wasn’t manipulating him.
She was terrified.
Every time he left, something happened.
Because every person who had hurt her had used his absence.
Daniel knelt.
“I’m not going anywhere without telling you exactly where and why.”
“I don’t want you to go.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
“Then stay.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
At the police.
At Thomas.
Then he made a decision.
“We don’t go to the lake house.”
Claire frowned.
“What?”
“Not yet.”
“But if the evidence is there—”
“Martin expects me to chase it.”
“So?”
“So he has already been one step ahead because we keep reacting.”
Daniel lifted Emma.
“We make him react.”
At the hospital, Thomas received twelve stitches and was admitted overnight for observation.
Emma stayed beside him.
Daniel remained too.
At 3:20 p.m., Claire entered with new information.
“Martin’s gone.”
Daniel looked up.
“What do you mean gone?”
“His phone is off. His home is empty. His accounts show a large cash withdrawal yesterday.”
“He planned this.”
“Yes.”
“What about Graham?”
“Lawyered up.”
“Vanessa?”
“Still in custody. Bail hearing delayed after new fraud evidence surfaced.”
Daniel glanced at Emma.
She was asleep beside Thomas.
“Does Vanessa know Martin attacked Dad?”
“Possibly.”
“Can I speak with her?”
Claire studied him.
“That could be dangerous.”
“I want to know if she’ll help us find him.”
“She may lie.”
“She will.”
Daniel stood.
“But now I know that.”
An hour later, Daniel sat across from Vanessa in a secure interview room.
No glass between them.
Just a metal table.
Her wrists were cuffed in front.
She looked smaller than she had yesterday.
Tired.
No makeup.
Hair tied back.
For several seconds, they simply stared at each other.
Vanessa spoke first.
“Is Emma okay?”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“You don’t get to ask that.”
Her eyes filled.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
She looked down.
“I saw what I did.”
“After fourteen years?”
“I saw it before.”
“Then why didn’t you stop?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Because I was scared.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Emma was scared.”
“I know.”
“You had power. She didn’t.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I know.”
He leaned forward.
“Martin attacked my father.”
Her eyes snapped open.
“What?”
“He entered Dad’s house.”
Vanessa went pale.
“He tried to get Emma to unlock a bedroom door.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Her breathing changed.
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“You will never know where she sleeps again unless a court decides you deserve that privilege.”
Vanessa’s face crumpled.
Daniel did not look away.
“He took the blue music box.”
She stared.
“Oh, God.”
“What’s in it?”
“Nothing.”
“Wrong answer.”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“Then why did your letter say the proof was there?”
Vanessa’s voice dropped.
“Because it wasn’t in the box.”
Daniel remembered Thomas’s guess.
“A clue.”
She nodded.
“To the lake house?”
Vanessa looked surprised.
Then frightened.
“You figured it out.”
“What is there?”
She leaned forward.
“Daniel, listen to me.”
“What is there?”
“Margaret recorded Martin.”
Daniel froze.
“Doing what?”
“Admitting he had been stealing.”
“What else?”
Vanessa hesitated.
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“What else?”
“She confronted him about her medication.”
His breathing stopped.
“And?”
“Martin told her nobody would believe a sick woman whose memory was failing.”
Daniel’s throat tightened.
“Was her memory actually failing?”
“Sometimes.”
“Because of cancer?”
Vanessa started crying.
“I don’t know.”
“You knew enough to write that letter.”
“She asked me to help her.”
Daniel stared.
“My mother trusted you?”
“Yes.”
“After Martin paid you to get close to me?”
Vanessa covered her face.
“She found out.”
“When?”
“Before Emma was born.”
“What did she do?”
“She gave me a choice.”
Daniel waited.
“Tell you everything,” Vanessa whispered, “or help her expose Martin.”
Daniel’s voice became cold.
“You chose not to tell me.”
“I was afraid you’d leave.”
“So you helped my mother?”
“For a while.”
“For a while?”
Vanessa lowered her hands.
“Then she got sick.”
Daniel stared.
“And Martin offered you something.”
She nodded.
“What?”
“Money.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“Enough for what?”
“To leave.”
“But you didn’t leave.”
“I had Emma.”
“So you stayed and helped him instead.”
Vanessa’s tears continued.
“At first I only gave him information.”
“Then?”
“He needed the recordings.”
“Did you find them?”
“No.”
“That’s why you searched my office.”
“Yes.”
“That’s why you used Emma.”
Vanessa shook her head violently.
“I never planned to use her.”
“But you did.”
“I know.”
“You told her to steal papers.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened her.”
Vanessa’s voice broke.
“Yes.”
“You locked her in the doghouse.”
Silence.
Daniel waited.
Vanessa whispered, “Yes.”
He looked away.
Hearing it admitted felt worse than seeing it.
“Why?”
“She refused to keep helping.”
Daniel looked back.
“She finally told me she was going to tell you everything.”
His chest tightened.
“So you punished her.”
“I panicked.”
“You imprisoned a six-year-old because she was going to expose you.”
Vanessa sobbed.
“Yes.”
Daniel stood.
“I’m done.”
“Wait.”
He stopped.
Vanessa leaned forward desperately.
“Martin doesn’t just want the lake-house evidence.”
“What else?”
“He wants Emma.”
Daniel turned slowly.
“What did you say?”
“He believes Margaret put something in Emma’s name.”
“The trust?”
“Not just the trust.”
Vanessa’s voice became a whisper.
“There is another account.”
Daniel’s heartbeat quickened.
“What account?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Martin found an old letter.”
“What letter?”
“Margaret wrote that her final safeguard would belong to the one person Martin could never control.”
Daniel stared.
Vanessa looked directly at him.
“She meant Emma.”
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
“She was a baby.”
“Yes.”
“What could she own?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Martin thinks it contains the original evidence and enough money to take control of Mercer Dynamics.”
Daniel’s mind raced.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does Martin?”
“No.”
“Then why Emma?”
Vanessa looked terrified.
“Because he thinks Margaret left the access code hidden in something Emma owns.”
Daniel thought of toys.
Books.
Jewelry.
The old stuffed rabbit.
Bunny.
His mother had held Bunny the day Emma came home from the hospital.
Margaret had stitched a tiny blue heart onto its chest after one seam tore.
Daniel suddenly remembered something.
The heart had always felt stiff.
He had assumed it was extra fabric.
His face changed.
Vanessa saw it.
“What?”
Daniel was already moving toward the door.
“What did you remember?”
He didn’t answer.
“Daniel!”
He opened the door.
Behind him, Vanessa shouted one last thing.
“If you found it, Martin may already know!”
Daniel stopped.
“How?”
May you like
Vanessa’s face went white.
“Because the rabbit has a tracker.”
