Chapter 2 - WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT BLACK
People screamed.
Someone knocked over a table.
Glass exploded across the floor.
“NOAH!”
Daniel reached into the darkness.
His hand caught nothing.
“Noah!”
A child screamed somewhere near the wall.
Then Hannah shouted.
“DON’T TOUCH HIM!”
There was a thud.
A man cursed.
Daniel charged toward the sound.
His shoulder hit someone hard.
“Get off me!”
Emergency lights flickered red along the floor.
For half a second, Daniel saw Hannah fighting a man in a black security uniform.
The guard had one hand wrapped around Noah’s arm.
Hannah smashed the silver tray across his face.
The guard dropped.
Daniel grabbed Noah and pulled him against his chest.
“Who the hell is that?”
Hannah stared at the unconscious guard.
“Not one of your regular security guys.”
Daniel looked around.
Celeste was gone.
“Where’s my wife?”
Nobody answered.
Daniel pulled out his phone.
No service.
“Dad,” Noah whispered. “We have to go.”
Daniel looked down.
“Go where?”
“She knows.”
“Knows what?”
“That I took the recorder.”
Daniel crouched.
“Noah, listen to me. Nobody is taking you anywhere again.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then help me understand.”
The boy glanced at the dark hallway.
“There are cameras everywhere.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“This is my house.”
Noah shook his head.
“No. It’s hers.”
Daniel felt a chill.
Hannah grabbed his sleeve.
“Mr. Mercer, we need to move.”
“You know something.”
Hannah didn’t answer fast enough.
Daniel grabbed her arm.
“You heard my son inside that wall before anyone else did. Why?”
“I’ll explain.”
“Explain now.”
A door slammed somewhere upstairs.
Hannah looked toward the sound.
“If we stand here, we might not get the chance.”
Daniel stared at her.
Then at Noah.
“Where?”
“The old library.”
Daniel hesitated.
Hannah leaned closer.
“There’s a service passage behind the bookcase. It locks from the inside.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“How do you know that?”
“I’ve worked in this house eleven years.”
“You’ve worked here six.”
Hannah went silent.
Daniel’s anger sharpened.
“Who are you?”
Noah grabbed his hand.
“Dad, please.”
Footsteps thundered down the hallway.
Daniel made a decision.
“Move.”
They ran.
Hannah led them through the dining room, past terrified guests, and into the old library.
Daniel locked the door.
Hannah pulled a copy of Moby-Dick from a shelf.
A section of bookcase clicked open.
Daniel stared.
“Jesus Christ.”
They slipped inside.
The hidden passage smelled like dust and cold stone.
Noah suddenly began coughing.
Daniel knelt beside him.
“When did you last eat?”
“Breakfast.”
“Today?”
Noah shook his head.
“Yesterday.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
His jaw tightened until it hurt.
He looked at Hannah.
“If Celeste did this—”
“She didn’t do it alone.”
Daniel stared at her.
“How do you know?”
Noah raised the recorder.
“There’s more.”
He pressed PLAY again.
A man’s voice filled the narrow passage.
“His father signed the trust when the kid was born. If Noah dies, Daniel controls it. If Noah is alive, billions stay protected until he turns eighteen.”
Celeste answered.
“Then Daniel must believe Noah is dead.”
Daniel went still.
The man continued.
“And the hospital?”
“Pike handled it.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Dr. Leonard Pike.
The surgeon who had personally told Daniel that Noah died.
Noah pressed STOP.
Daniel whispered, “That bastard looked me in the eyes.”
Then another voice suddenly came through the recorder.
One Daniel recognized immediately.
He stared at Noah.
“No.”
Hannah whispered, “What?”
Daniel took the recorder with shaking hands.
He pressed PLAY.
The voice said:
“We should have killed the boy three years ago.”
Daniel’s face emptied.
May you like
Because the man speaking on the recording wasn’t a doctor.
He was Daniel Mercer’s own brother.
