Chapter 8 - NATHAN
I stared at the message.
Tessa read it over my shoulder.
“No way.”
Another message came.
Do not call Margaret. Do not tell Evan where you are until we speak.
Tessa said, “This could be Mom.”
Dad shook his head.
“Maybe.”
I typed:
Prove who you are.
A photo arrived.
Three children stood beside a lake.
Evan.
Tessa.
And an older teenage boy.
I recognized Margaret instantly.
She was younger.
But it was her.
Tessa sat down hard.
“I remember him.”
“What?”
“I thought he was a cousin.”
Her voice shook.
“He came to the lake house once.”
Nathan called.
I answered.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Nathan Hale.”
“Margaret told everyone you were dead.”
“I know.”
His voice sounded exhausted.
“Why?”
“Because I refused to keep her secrets.”
Dad leaned closer to the phone.
“What secrets?”
Nathan paused.
“Who’s there?”
“My father.”
“Daniel Mercer?”
I looked at Dad.
His eyebrows rose.
“You know him?”
Nathan said:
“I know a lot about your family.”
My skin crawled.
“Start talking.”
Nathan told us Margaret had been controlling money for decades.
Her husband, Thomas, had planned to leave.
Before he could, he died of a heart attack.
Nathan had accused Margaret of hiding financial documents.
She cut him off.
Then convinced Evan and Tessa that Nathan had moved overseas after a breakdown.
Later, she told Tessa he had died.
“She paid me to disappear,” Nathan said.
“You accepted?”
“At twenty-two? Yes.”
He sounded bitter.
“I was angry. Scared. Stupid.”
“Why come back now?”
“Because she contacted me three weeks ago.”
My eyes moved to the $75,000 transfer.
“What did she want?”
“She wanted me to sign a statement.”
“About what?”
“You.”
My throat tightened.
“She wanted me to say Daniel Mercer threatened Margaret years ago.”
Dad swore under his breath.
“And?”
“I refused.”
“So why did she send you seventy-five thousand dollars?”
“She didn’t.”
We all looked at the transfer.
Nathan continued.
“She sent it to an account she controls in my name.”
Dad whispered, “Money laundering.”
Nathan said, “Probably.”
I pressed a hand against my forehead.
“How does this connect to Maisie?”
“That’s why I contacted you.”
My heart began pounding.
“What?”
“Margaret has a storage unit.”
“Where?”
“Westbridge Industrial Park.”
“What’s inside?”
“Documents. Recordings. Old computers.”
“Have you seen it?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
I almost stopped breathing.
Nathan continued.
“There’s a box labeled MAISIE.”
Tessa covered her mouth.
“What’s in it?”
“I didn’t open it.”
“Why not?”
“Because Margaret arrived.”
My skin went cold.
Nathan lowered his voice.
“And she wasn’t alone.”
“Who was with her?”
A pause.
May you like
Then:
“Your husband.”
