Chapter 13 - The House Was Burning
Smoke was already pouring from the second floor when we reached my mother’s house.
“Call the fire department!”
Marcus was out of the car before it stopped.
I ran toward the front door.
Rachel grabbed my arm.
“Adam!”
“My mother’s inside.”
“She may have started this!”
“I don’t care.”
That was only partly true.
I cared.
I was furious enough to hate her.
But I wasn’t going to stand outside and watch her burn.
Marcus kicked the front door open.
Smoke rolled through the foyer.
“Eleanor!”
No answer.
We covered our faces and moved inside.
The fire seemed concentrated near the library.
Exactly where my mother kept financial records.
Of course.
I found her in the hallway.
She was trying to drag a metal document box toward the back door.
She looked at me through the smoke.
For the first time in my life, Eleanor Mercer looked afraid.
“Help me.”
I grabbed her arm.
“Leave the box.”
“No.”
“Mom!”
She clung to it.
“It has everything.”
“Then let it burn.”
Her face twisted.
“You have no idea what I did to protect this family.”
I ripped the box from her hands.
“You stole from a child.”
“I saved Mercer Holdings.”
“You threatened Nora.”
“Nora was reckless.”
My body went cold.
“Did you kill her?”
My mother stared at me.
Sirens wailed outside.
“Answer me.”
“She gave me no choice.”
Those six words silenced every sound around me.
I stepped backward.
“What did you do?”
Eleanor’s eyes flicked toward the doorway.
Too late.
Marcus stood there.
So did Rachel.
Both had heard her.
My mother realized it.
Her shoulders dropped.
“The company was collapsing.”
“So you killed my wife?”
“I didn’t touch her.”
“What did you do?”
“I told someone to make sure she never reached Vermont.”
I could barely speak.
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“I won’t.”
The ceiling cracked above us.
Marcus grabbed her.
“We need to move.”
We rushed outside as firefighters took over.
Police arrived minutes later.
My mother sat on the curb wrapped in a blanket.
Handcuffs went around her wrists.
She stared at me.
“You think you won.”
I looked at her.
“This was never about winning.”
“You’re destroying your family.”
“No.”
I looked toward Leo sitting safely in Rachel’s car.
“You did that years ago.”
Police searched the metal document box.
Most papers were damaged by smoke.
But one small ledger survived.
Inside were payments.
Dates.
Initials.
Transfers.
One name appeared beside a payment made the day before Nora died.
D.M.
Daniel Mercer.
My stomach dropped.
My phone rang again.
Daniel.
I answered.
“You killed her.”
His voice was quiet.
“No.”
“Your initials are in the ledger.”
“Then look at the amount.”
“Why?”
“Because Eleanor didn’t pay me to kill Nora.”
“What did she pay you for?”
“To stop the man she hired.”
I stared at the burning house.
“Did you?”
Daniel was silent for a long moment.
“No.”
My throat tightened.
“Then who was he?”
Daniel exhaled.
“The final envelope in Nora’s safety deposit box has his name.”
I froze.
We had left one envelope unopened.
The one marked:
DO NOT OPEN UNLESS LEO IS IN DANGER.
May you like
Daniel whispered, “Open it, Adam.”
Then the line went dead.
