Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT DANIEL FORGOT
Daniel was released that evening.
No charges were filed.
The evidence against him had collapsed when investigators discovered the original warehouse records.
Emma met him outside.
He looked at her.
“You found her.”
“Yes.”
“Your mother?”
“Yes.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“She's alive.”
“She is.”
He breathed slowly.
“I thought I was losing my mind.”
“You weren't.”
Emma handed him the photograph of the warehouse.
“Do you remember this?”
Daniel looked at it.
His face changed.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“I was seventeen.”
Emma stared.
“You were there.”
Daniel nodded.
“My father took me.”
“What happened?”
“I don't remember everything.”
“Try.”
He closed his eyes.
“There was a red door.”
Emma waited.
“My father argued with someone.”
“Who?”
“Richard.”
“What did they argue about?”
“Money.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Then I saw your mother.”
Emma's heart stopped.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She told my father to leave you alone.”
Daniel's voice became unsteady.
“Then Richard hit her.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“What happened next?”
“My father told me to run.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“I ran.”
“Where?”
“To the parking lot.”
“And?”
“I saw a man get into my father's car.”
“Who?”
“I couldn't see his face.”
Emma looked at him.
“Why don't you remember?”
Daniel touched his temple.
“My father made me drink something.”
Emma frowned.
“He said it would help me sleep.”
Noah stepped forward.
“That may explain the missing memory.”
Daniel looked at him.
“But I remember one thing.”
“What?”
Daniel looked toward Emma.
“Your mother gave me something.”
“What?”
“A watch.”
Emma's eyes widened.
“The watch.”
Daniel nodded.
“She told me to give it to you when you were older.”
Emma remembered the watch in the warehouse.
Her mother's watch.
But perhaps it wasn't hers.
Daniel continued.
“I kept it.”
“Where?”
He reached inside his coat.
A silver watch appeared.
Emma stared.
It was identical to the one found in the warehouse.
There were two.
Noah examined it.
“This has a hidden compartment.”
Luke opened it.
Inside was a tiny photograph.
Emma's mother.
Daniel's father.
Richard.
And Eleanor.
All standing together.
But behind them was a fourth man.
His face was visible.
Emma stared.
“That's not Richard.”
Daniel nodded.
“No.”
“Who is he?”
Daniel's expression changed.
“My father's brother.”
Emma looked at him.
“Your uncle?”
“He disappeared before I was born.”
“What was his name?”
Daniel whispered:
“Samuel Mercer.”
Noah checked the old corporate records.
Samuel Mercer had been listed as dead.
But the death certificate had been filed by Richard.
Luke searched deeper.
“Guys.”
Everyone turned.
Samuel had never died.
He had been living under another name.
And he was the person who had controlled the trust for twenty years.
Emma stared at the screen.
“Where is he?”
Luke hesitated.
“Boston.”
“Where?”
Luke looked at Daniel.
“At Mercer House.”
Daniel went pale.
“My house?”
Luke nodded.
“He's been living there.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That house has been empty for years.”
“No.”
Luke showed him a security feed.
A man walked through the old mansion.
Samuel Mercer.
He stopped before a portrait of Daniel's father.
Then he looked directly at the camera.
And smiled.
Emma's phone rang.
This time, she answered.
Samuel spoke.
“You finally found the family.”
Emma said nothing.
“I've been waiting for you.”
“What do you want?”
“Not money.”
“Then what?”
Samuel laughed softly.
“I want the truth.”
Emma looked at Daniel.
Samuel continued.
“And when you hear it, you'll understand why your mother protected me.”
Emma froze.
“My mother never protected you.”
Samuel replied:
“She did.”
Then the call ended.
Luke looked at the screen.
A new file had appeared on his laptop.
One video.
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Title:
THE NIGHT EMMA'S MOTHER DIED.
