Clara read the name again.
Daniel Mercer.
Victor had called him something else.
She placed the photograph beside the one they had found in the hidden room.
The young man in the first photograph was perhaps sixteen.
The man outside the courthouse looked nearly forty.
The eyes were the same.
The scar was gone.
Clara looked at Evan.
“Who is Daniel?”
“I don't know.”
“Victor said Jonah might not know who he is.”
Evan shook his head.
“Then why does he have a photograph of him?”
Clara's phone rang.
Ruth.
She answered immediately.
“Ruth, we found the room.”
Silence.
Then Ruth said, “You shouldn't have opened it.”
“We found records.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because Victor called me.”
Clara frowned.
“He knows what we found?”
“He knows what Thomas left.”
Evan leaned closer.
Clara put the phone on speaker.
“Ruth, who is Daniel Mercer?”
The line went silent.
Then Ruth whispered, “Where did you see that name?”
“In my father's files.”
Another pause.
“He's Jonah.”
Clara's breath caught.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“But Victor said—”
“Victor lies when he thinks the truth will get someone killed.”
Evan stepped away.
Clara gripped the phone.
“Why would Jonah use another name?”
“Because Lydia changed it.”
“When?”
“When he was six.”
Ruth's voice trembled.
“Jonah was moved between families. He grew up believing his name was Daniel Mercer.”
Clara sat down.
“So my brother is alive.”
“Yes.”
“Does he know about me?”
“I don't know.”
“What about Elise?”
“She knows.”
Clara looked at Evan.
“Where is she?”
Ruth hesitated.
“Closer than you think.”
The call ended.
Clara immediately called back.
No answer.
Evan looked at the documents spread across the desk.
“There's an address in the trust papers.”
He found it.
A woman's name.
Elise Hart.
Boston.
Clara stared.
“That's her.”
They left within the hour.
The road was slick, and the sky had begun to clear by the time they crossed the state line.
Neither spoke much.
Clara kept the photograph in her lap.
For thirty-seven years, she had believed she had no siblings.
Now she knew two people existed who had been connected to her from birth.
One was apparently living under another name.
The other knew enough to recognize the truth.
The question was why neither had found her.
They reached Boston after dark.
The address led to a narrow brick building near the river.
A woman opened the door before they knocked.
She was about Clara's age.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
A faint scar across her left eyebrow.
Clara stared.
The woman stared back.
Neither moved.
Then the woman whispered, “Clara?”
Clara's knees nearly failed.
“Elise?”
The woman covered her mouth.
Evan stepped away.
This was not his moment.
Elise opened the door.
“Come in.”
Her apartment was simple.
Bookshelves.
A small desk.
A photograph of an older woman.
Ruth.
Clara touched the frame.
“She raised you?”
“For a while.”
“What happened?”
Elise looked down.
“Lydia moved me when I was six.”
“Why?”
“Because someone found us.”
Clara sat.
“Did you know about me?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you find me?”
Elise's eyes filled.
“Because every time I tried, someone made sure I stopped.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Evan spoke.
“Did you know about Jonah?”
Elise looked at him.
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“I haven't seen him in seventeen years.”
Clara's heart sank.
“But he's alive.”
“Yes.”
“Daniel Mercer.”
Elise's expression changed.
“You found him.”
“We found a photograph.”
She stood.
“Show me.”
Clara handed it over.
Elise studied it.
“That was taken three months ago.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“He works for a property law firm.”
Evan frowned.
“Which one?”
Elise named it.
Clara recognized the name.
Barton, Reed and Pike.
The same firm that had contacted Evan.
Clara's mouth went dry.
“Jonah works there?”
“He doesn't know he's Jonah.”
“Then why is that firm searching for the house?”
Elise looked frightened.
“Because someone knows the trust exists.”
Clara stood.
“Who?”
Elise went to her desk.
She opened a drawer and removed a letter.
“I received this last year.”
The letter was unsigned.
“Give us the original ledger, and the three heirs will never be troubled again.”
Clara looked at the date.
A year before Evan received the first legal notice.
“They've been searching for years.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you keep this?”
“Because I thought it might be a bluff.”
Evan shook his head.
“It wasn't.”
Elise looked at him.
“Your father was involved.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She looked directly into his eyes.
“You don't know how deeply.”
She pulled out another document.
It showed payments from Martin Hale to Barton, Reed and Pike.
Evan read it.
His face tightened.
“They've been maintaining the trust records.”
“Exactly.”
Clara understood.
“They're not trying to take the house.”
“They're trying to locate the heirs.”
“And if they find all three?”
Elise looked at her.
“They can force the trust open.”
Clara frowned.
“Why would that help them?”
“Because the trust contains evidence of the original land theft.”
Evan stared at the documents.
“If the heirs claim the property, the entire scheme becomes public.”
Elise nodded.
“They need the heirs either controlled or discredited.”
A knock sounded.
Everyone froze.
Three knocks.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Clara looked at Elise.
“Were you expecting someone?”
“No.”
Evan moved toward the door.
Elise grabbed his arm.
“Don't.”
The knock came again.
Then a man's voice.
“Clara.”
Victor.
Clara stepped forward.
“Why are you here?”
“I need you to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because Barton, Reed and Pike knows you're here.”
Evan opened the door.
Victor stood outside alone.
“You followed us,” Evan said.
“No.”
“Then how did you find us?”
Victor looked at Clara.
“Because Elise called me.”
Elise shook her head.
“I didn't.”
Victor's expression changed.
He looked at the apartment.
“Then we're already too late.”
A car screeched somewhere below.
Victor stepped inside and closed the door.
“Listen carefully.”
He looked at Clara.
“Daniel is not the only person working at that firm who knows about the Mercer children.”
“Who else?”
Victor's voice dropped.
“Your ex-husband.”
Clara stared.
Evan turned toward him.
“What did you say?”
Victor looked at Clara.
“Evan didn't come to you because of the house.”
Clara's stomach tightened.
Victor continued.
“He came because Barton, Reed and Pike hired him six months ago.”
Silence filled the apartment.
Clara looked at Evan.
“Is that true?”
Evan said nothing.
Elise backed away.
Victor's face hardened.
“Tell her.”
Evan closed his eyes.
“I was hired to locate the missing heirs.”
Clara stared at him.
“You knew.”
“I didn't know you were one of them.”
“You knew there were three children.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my father was involved.”
“Yes.”
“You knew the firm wanted the house.”
“Yes.”
Clara stepped backward.
“And you married me.”
Evan's face crumpled.
“I didn't know then.”
“But you came back knowing.”
“Yes.”
The truth landed harder than any accusation.
Victor looked toward the window.
“They're downstairs.”
Clara turned.
Several shadows moved across the lobby below.
Victor reached for the folder.
“We have minutes.”
Clara looked at Evan.
Then at Elise.
Then at the photograph of Daniel.
She picked it up.
“Then we stop running.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 8: My Brother Was Working for the People Hunting Us, and the Only Way Forward Required Trusting the Man I Had Every Reason to Hate
My Ex-Husband Appeared at My Door After Midnight, Carrying One Envelope and a Reason I Couldn’t Afford to Ignore
Part 7 of 20
