Chapter 7: The Missing Man
Daniel counted the people in the darkness.
Sophie was pressed against his leg.
Mara was beside the locked door.
Victor stood near the archive table.
Three adults.
One child.
The voice outside had said something impossible.
Someone who had been standing beside Daniel all day was no longer inside the room.
But Victor was here.
Mara was here.
Daniel suddenly understood.
The investigator.
Detective Owen Mercer.
He had been inside Hawthorne House since morning.
He had questioned employees, collected financial records, and walked through nearly every room.
More importantly, Daniel had given him access to the security system.
"Mara," Daniel whispered.
"Move away from the door.""
She obeyed.
Victor lowered his voice.
"Who was that?""
"Mercer.""
Victor went silent.
Sophie tugged Daniel's sleeve.
"Daddy.""
"I'm here.""
"The man from Grandma's picture.""
Daniel crouched.
"What about him?""
"That wasn't Uncle Victor.""
Daniel's heart jumped.
"What?""
"The watch was the same.""
She sniffed.
"But the man who came to my room had a little cut here.""
She touched her eyebrow.
Daniel remembered Mercer.
A thin scar crossed his left eyebrow.
Victor exhaled sharply.
"Dear God.""
Daniel turned toward the door.
"Mercer!""
Silence.
Then footsteps retreated down the hallway.
Daniel slammed his shoulder against the archive door.
It barely moved.
Again.
Nothing.
"We need another way out," Mara said.
Victor switched on his phone flashlight.
Rows of old shelves appeared.
Daniel searched the walls.
His mother had hidden compartments throughout the mansion.
Why not here?
"Sophie," he said, "did Grandma ever bring you into this room?""
"No.""
"Think.""
Sophie looked around.
Then she pointed toward an old portrait.
"That's the lady.""
A painting of Daniel's great-grandmother hung crookedly against the far wall.
The woman held a silver key.
Daniel pulled the frame aside.
Behind it was a brass lever.
He pressed it.
A section of shelving released.
Cold air rushed into the archive.
A narrow service passage waited beyond it.
Mara stared.
"How many secrets does this house have?""
Daniel picked Sophie up.
"Apparently one too many.""
They entered the passage.
Victor went first with his flashlight.
Daniel followed with Sophie.
Mara came last.
The corridor descended behind the walls.
Halfway down, Sophie whispered:
"Daddy, I'm scared.""
Daniel kissed her forehead.
"So am I.""
She looked surprised.
"Grown-ups get scared?""
"All the time.""
"Then how do you know what to do?""
Daniel held her tighter.
"You do the next right thing anyway.""
At the bottom, the passage opened behind the pantry.
Daniel pushed the hidden panel.
They emerged into the kitchen.
The mansion was silent.
Too silent.
Daniel checked his phone.
Signal returned.
Three missed calls.
All from the bank investigator.
Then a text:
DO NOT GIVE MERCER ANY MORE EVIDENCE. CALL ME IMMEDIATELY.
Daniel called.
The investigator answered on the first ring.
"Daniel, where are you?""
"At the house.""
"Is Mercer there?""
"He was.""
"Listen carefully. Owen Mercer is not assigned to your family's financial investigation.""
Daniel stared at Victor.
"What?""
"He showed credentials this morning, but we verified them after something felt wrong. Mercer left the department eleven months ago.""
"Why?""
"Evidence tampering.""
Mara whispered:
"Oh my God.""
Daniel continued.
"What connection does he have to my mother?""
"We're still checking.""
Then the investigator hesitated.
"But we found something else.""
"What?""
"The shell companies receiving money from the trust were created by the same law office.""
Daniel looked at Victor.
Victor's face tightened.
"Lang & Mercer.""
Daniel repeated it.
Victor closed his eyes.
Mara stared at him.
"Mercer was your partner?""
"Twenty-two years ago," Victor said.
"You never mentioned him.""
"Because he nearly destroyed my career.""
Daniel lowered the phone.
"Explain.""
Victor leaned against the counter.
"Owen Mercer wasn't a police officer then. He was a forensic accountant.""
"For the family?""
"For your father.""
Daniel's blood went cold.
"My father?""
Richard Hawthorne had died when Daniel was nineteen.
For years, Daniel had believed his father had been the simplest part of the family history.
A businessman.
A distant husband.
A demanding father.
Nothing more.
Victor continued.
"Richard hired Mercer to restructure portions of the trust. When your father died, Mercer disappeared.""
"And later became a detective?""
Victor nodded.
"Apparently.""
Daniel looked toward the hallway.
"Why would my mother work with you if your former partner was involved?""
"Because I told her what I knew.""
"Which was?""
Victor hesitated.
"Your father's finances were never clean.""
Daniel stared.
Before he could respond, Sophie spoke.
"Grandma had his picture.""
Everyone turned.
"Whose?""
"The man with the cut.""
Daniel crouched again.
"Where?""
"In her room.""
"Show me.""
They moved upstairs.
Evelyn's bedroom had remained untouched since her death.
Sophie went directly to the dresser.
She opened the bottom drawer and pulled out an old family photograph.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
His parents stood at a charity gala.
Behind them were Victor and several business associates.
Sophie pointed.
There.
A younger Owen Mercer.
Daniel flipped the photograph over.
Writing covered the back.
One line had been underlined twice.
OWEN KNOWS WHAT RICHARD DID.
Mara whispered:
"Richard.""
Daniel looked at Victor.
"What did my father do?""
Victor's eyes dropped.
"Daniel—"
"What did he do?""
Victor finally answered.
"Your father started the theft.""
Daniel felt as though the room had shifted beneath him.
"The missing money?""
"Not this money.""
Victor shook his head.
"The first money.""
Before Daniel could demand more, a car engine roared outside.
They rushed to the window.
Mercer's black sedan tore down the driveway.
Daniel's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Mercer's voice came through.
"You should have left the ledger buried.""
Daniel gripped the phone.
"Where are you going?""
Mercer laughed softly.
"To finish what Evelyn interrupted.""
Then Sophie pointed through the window.
"Daddy.""
Daniel looked down.
Mercer's car had stopped at the mansion gates.
Someone was standing beside it.
A woman.
Mercer opened the passenger door.
She got inside.
Mara staggered backward.
"No.""
Daniel stared at the woman through the rain.
He knew her too.
She had attended Evelyn's funeral.
She had kissed Sophie on the forehead.
And according to the Hawthorne family, she had been living in Europe for the last two years.
Daniel whispered her name.
"Aunt Caroline.""
His father's sister.
May you like
The last surviving Hawthorne from Richard's generation.
And the woman who had become sole trustee immediately after Evelyn died.
