Chapter 7 - The Boy Who Refused to Wait
Daniel reached the estate in twenty-three minutes.
The front gate was open.
Two security guards were searching the grounds.
Margaret stood on the front steps.
Her hands shook.
"He was upstairs."
"When did you last see him?"
"Twenty minutes ago."
"What happened?"
"He asked where you went."
"And?"
"I told him you had business."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Noah knew adults used the word business when they were hiding something.
"Then what?"
"He went quiet."
Marcus returned from the side of the house.
"Back gate."
"What?"
"Opened manually."
Daniel ran.
A small bicycle was missing from the maintenance shed.
Noah had seen it that afternoon.
Daniel knew where he was going.
Emily's apartment.
Twelve miles away.
Daniel drove.
Marcus called police contacts without officially reporting a kidnapping.
Because this was not a kidnapping.
It was an angry eight-year-old trying to solve the disappearance of his mother.
That did not make Daniel less terrified.
They found the bicycle outside Emily's building.
Daniel took the stairs two at a time.
The apartment door remained sealed with police tape.
"Noah!"
A noise came from inside.
Daniel pushed through the tape.
The child stood in the bedroom.
"What were you thinking?"
Noah jumped.
Then his face hardened.
"You went to see Claire."
Daniel stopped.
"How do you know?"
"You left the computer open."
Marcus muttered something under his breath.
Daniel walked closer.
"You cannot leave without telling anyone."
"You did."
"I'm an adult."
"That doesn't make it okay."
Daniel had no immediate answer.
Noah turned away.
"I came for Mom's notebook."
"What notebook?"
"She hid it."
"Where?"
Noah pulled a loose wooden panel from beneath the dresser.
Inside was a composition book.
A flash drive.
And a small velvet pouch.
Daniel stared.
Noah handed him the notebook.
Emily's handwriting filled every page.
Dates.
Names.
Questions.
Hospital employees.
Payments.
Adoption agency records.
Claire Alden.
Richard Mercer.
At the back was one sentence underlined three times.
IF DANIEL FINDS OUT, RICHARD WILL LOSE CONTROL OF THE TRUST.
Daniel flipped backward.
There.
A copy of a trust summary.
Created by Thomas Mercer eighteen years ago.
Beneficiary:
Olivia Mercer.
Birth date matching Daniel's daughter.
Current estimated value:
$486 million.
Daniel stared.
Noah whistled.
"That's a lot."
Marcus read over Daniel's shoulder.
"Richard is trustee."
Daniel understood.
His father had stolen Daniel's child.
Then, perhaps out of guilt or obsession with legacy, created a fortune for her.
But because she had been given a new identity, the money remained under Richard's control.
If Claire were legally established as Olivia Mercer, Richard would lose authority over nearly half a billion dollars.
And potentially face questions about what he had done with it.
Marcus turned pages.
"There are withdrawals."
Daniel examined the figures.
Millions had moved through shell companies.
Some connected to Mercer Holdings.
Some to Richard personally.
This was no longer only about a stolen adoption.
It was financial fraud.
Noah opened the velvet pouch.
Inside was a silver necklace.
Tiny oval pendant.
Daniel recognized it.
He had bought it for Emily when he was nineteen.
He sat down.
For twenty years he thought she had thrown away everything connected to him.
She had kept the necklace.
The photograph.
The letters.
The truth.
Noah watched him.
"Did you love my mom?"
The question was so direct Daniel almost laughed.
"Yes."
"Do you still?"
Daniel looked at the necklace.
"Some feelings don't disappear just because you don't know what to do with them."
Noah considered this.
"That sounds like yes."
Daniel smiled faintly.
"You're too smart."
"Mom says that when she doesn't want to answer me too."
Marcus interrupted.
"There's a number written here."
Daniel looked.
Beside Claire's name, Emily had written a phone number and one note.
Susan knows more than she admits.
Daniel called.
Susan Alden answered.
"Please stop calling us."
"I haven't called before."
Silence.
That told him someone else had.
"Who contacted you?"
"Mr. Mercer—"
"Daniel."
"No."
Susan's breathing changed.
"Richard."
Daniel stood.
"What did he tell you?"
"That a woman named Emily was trying to destabilize Claire."
"Emily is Claire's biological mother."
Susan began crying.
"I know."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"You knew?"
"Not at first."
"When did you find out?"
"Seven years ago."
"Why didn't you tell Claire?"
"Because we were afraid."
"Of Richard?"
"No."
Susan whispered the next words.
"Of Thomas Mercer."
Daniel stared at the wall.
"My father died thirteen years ago."
"I know."
"Then seven years ago—"
"I found letters."
"From whom?"
"Thomas."
Susan took a trembling breath.
"He wrote to my husband every year after the adoption."
Daniel felt sick.
"What did they say?"
"Mostly questions."
"About Claire?"
"Her health."
"School."
"Photographs."
Susan's voice cracked.
"Your father watched her grow up."
Daniel could barely process it.
Thomas Mercer had told his son the child was dead.
Then secretly followed her life.
"Where are the letters?"
"Safe."
"Emily knew?"
"I showed her."
"When?"
"Last week."
"Where is she, Susan?"
"I don't know."
"Please."
"I really don't."
Daniel believed her.
Then Susan added something.
"But she gave me an envelope."
Daniel's heart quickened.
"For Claire?"
"No."
"For you."
"Where is it?"
"I didn't want to meet you."
"I understand."
"But after what happened tonight—"
Daniel stiffened.
"What happened tonight?"
"Someone came to our house."
"Who?"
"I didn't see him."
Susan's voice dropped to a whisper.
"But he left a photograph on our porch."
"Of what?"
"Claire."
"Where?"
"Taken through her bedroom window."
Daniel looked at Marcus.
Susan was crying now.
"Mr. Mercer, whoever did this knows where my daughter sleeps."
Daniel answered immediately.
"I'm coming."
Noah grabbed his coat.
Daniel turned.
"No."
Noah stared back.
Daniel pointed toward the sofa.
"Not this time."
"You can't—"
"I can."
"She's my sister."
The room went completely silent.
Noah's eyes widened.
He had said it without thinking.
Daniel realized something at the same moment.
If Claire was Emily's daughter and Noah was Emily's son, then yes.
They were half siblings.
Noah slowly sat down.
"She's my sister."
Daniel nodded.
"Yes."
The boy looked at Claire's photograph on the notebook.
Then at Daniel.
"Bring her home."
Daniel did not correct him.
May you like
Because for the first time, the word home sounded like something larger than a house.
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