Chapter 5 - THE FAMILY SECRET
The name Victor Mercer meant nothing to me.
But it meant something to Detective Collins.
She left my hospital room immediately.
When she returned two hours later, she carried a file thick enough to make my stomach turn.
"Your husband's father died twelve years ago."
I frowned.
"Then how is he involved?"
"He isn't."
"Then why did Rachel say his name?"
Detective Collins opened the file.
"Because Victor Mercer wasn't Luca's biological father."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"Luca was adopted."
I felt confused.
"Why does that matter?"
"Because Victor Mercer had another son."
She placed a photograph in front of me.
A young man.
Dark hair.
Sharp eyes.
I stared.
I had seen him before.
Not personally.
In Luca's old photographs.
"Who is he?"
"Daniel Mercer."
"His brother?"
"Half-brother."
Detective Collins leaned closer.
"Daniel disappeared fourteen years ago."
My heart began pounding.
"Why?"
"He was accused of embezzling money from the Mercer family business."
"Did he?"
"Never proven."
I looked at the photograph again.
"Where is he now?"
Detective Collins didn't answer.
That frightened me.
"We believe he's alive."
"Where?"
"Boston."
The room seemed suddenly smaller.
"Why would he want me dead?"
"He may not."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"We believe Daniel may be the person who exposed your husband's financial activity."
She showed me another document.
It was a transfer record.
Money had moved from an offshore account into Luca's account.
The sender was listed as D.M.
Daniel Mercer.
I felt dizzy.
"Why would Daniel pay Luca?"
"We don't know."
Then Detective Collins showed me something else.
A photograph from a security camera.
Daniel stood outside a financial office.
Beside him was Rachel Monroe.
I stared at them.
"Rachel worked for him."
"Apparently."
Everything was becoming more complicated.
I had thought Luca was the villain.
Now there were other people.
Other motives.
Other secrets.
That evening, my mother brought me my laptop.
"I found something."
"What?"
She placed it on the bed.
"Your old encrypted drive."
My heart stopped.
I had forgotten about it.
Years earlier, I had worked in corporate compliance.
Before marrying Luca, I had spent years auditing financial systems.
The encrypted drive contained copies of documents from my old work.
I had kept it because something about Luca's finances had never made sense to me.
I had never opened it.
Now I did.
The password took me several attempts.
When the files opened, I saw hundreds of documents.
Bank transfers.
Corporate structures.
Shell companies.
And one name repeated over and over.
Mercer Holdings.
I stared.
"Luca never told me he was involved with them."
Detective Collins read the screen.
"Maybe he wasn't."
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe someone was using him."
I scrolled further.
Then I found a folder.
The title was simple.
PROJECT ECLIPSE.
I opened it.
Inside were photographs.
My house.
My car.
My workplace.
Even photographs of my mother.
My blood turned cold.
Someone had been watching me.
For months.
There was also a document titled FINAL PHASE.
I opened it.
The first line said:
"After Jessi's death, Luca assumes control of the accounts."
The second line said:
"Daniel receives the remaining transfer."
The third line made my stomach twist.
"Rachel handles the medical narrative."
I stared at Detective Collins.
"That's the whole plan."
She nodded.
"Looks like it."
"But why me?"
She scrolled further.
Then she stopped.
"There."
A document contained my name.
Not as a victim.
As a witness.
I had unknowingly reviewed a financial transaction years earlier that exposed a massive fraud.
I had forgotten it because the company involved had been sold and the case closed.
But someone hadn't forgotten.
Someone had spent years trying to make sure I never remembered.
My hands trembled.
"That's why Luca married me?"
Detective Collins looked at me.
"We don't know."
But I knew.
At least I knew enough.
Maybe the marriage had never been accidental.
Maybe Luca had chosen me because he knew my work.
Maybe every kiss, every promise, every night beside me had been part of something much darker.
I cried.
Not because I loved him.
Because I had loved someone who might never have loved me.
The next morning, Detective Collins received a call.
Her expression changed.
"What?"
She listened.
Then looked at me.
"They found Luca."
My heart stopped.
"Where?"
"At an airport."
"Is he running?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Zurich."
I felt the air leave my lungs.
"Can they stop him?"
"They already have."
I closed my eyes.
For the first time, I felt something that wasn't fear.
Relief.
But it lasted only seconds.
Detective Collins looked at me.
"Luca asked to speak with you."
"No."
She nodded.
"That's what I expected."
Then she added,
"He says he knows who ordered the attack."
I opened my eyes.
"Who?"
Detective Collins lowered her voice.
"Luca says it wasn't Daniel."
"Then who?"
May you like
She looked toward the door.
"The person who wanted you dead is someone you know."
