Graham walked through the cemetery alone.
I had spent years imagining what I would say if I ever saw him again.
None of those words came.
He looked exhausted.
His cheek was bruised from the night before, and one sleeve of his coat was torn.
Ortiz kept her weapon trained on him.
“Stop there.”
Graham stopped.
His eyes stayed on me.
“You have the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Then Richard knows.”
“How?”
“He always knows.”
My father stepped forward.
“You work for him.”
Graham shook his head.
“I did.”
“Past tense?”
“Yes.”
My mother looked at him.
“You married me because of Richard.”
“I did.”
“You lied to Lena.”
“I did.”
“You hurt her.”
His face tightened.
“I know.”
I stepped forward.
“Why are you here?”
“To tell you the truth before Richard kills me.”
That answer sounded more honest than anything he had said the night he attacked me.
“What truth?”
Graham looked at my father.
“Your father wasn't the only person who disappeared.”
My father frowned.
“Who else?”
“Richard's first wife.”
The words meant nothing to me.
Then Graham said her name.
“Evelyn.”
My father went pale.
“My mother?”
Graham nodded.
“She discovered the accounts.”
My father took a step toward him.
“You told me she died.”
“Richard told everyone that.”
My father looked at my mother.
She whispered, “I didn't know.”
Graham continued.
“Evelyn disappeared after she found the original records. Richard blamed Elias. He told the family that Elias had betrayed them.”
“And you believed him?”
“At first.”
Graham looked ashamed.
“Then I learned the truth.”
“What truth?”
“Evelyn was alive.”
My father closed his eyes.
“Where?”
Graham pointed toward the eastern road.
“Richard kept her in a private facility.”
“She's alive now?”
“No.”
The word hung in the cold air.
“She died three years ago.”
My father turned away.
I watched him absorb another loss he had been denied the right to mourn.
“Why didn't you tell him?”
“Because Richard had people everywhere.”
“You could have tried.”
“I was afraid.”
My mother stared at him.
“You were always afraid.”
“Yes.”
Graham looked at me.
“That's why I came to your apartment.”
“You said I had the envelope.”
“I thought you did.”
“Who told you?”
“Vale.”
My pulse jumped.
“Captain Vale?”
Graham nodded.
“He said the ledger had been transferred to you.”
“He lied.”
“He lied to everyone.”
Ortiz lowered her weapon slightly.
“Where is Vale now?”
“Richard has him.”
“Alive?”
“For now.”
My father stepped closer.
“Where is Richard?”
Graham looked at me.
“He's going to the old Mercer estate.”
I knew the place.
It had been abandoned for years.
A sprawling house outside the city.
My mother had once told me never to go there.
“Why?”
“Because that's where he kept the originals.”
“The originals of what?”
“Everything.”
I opened the ledger.
There were dozens of transactions.
But the final pages were missing.
My father noticed.
“Daniel took them.”
“Why?”
Graham looked toward the cemetery.
“Because the missing pages contain the name of the person who financed the entire operation.”
“Richard?”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“Then who?”
Graham hesitated.
“The name belongs to someone you trust.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
He looked directly at my mother.
She shook her head.
“No.”
Graham continued.
“Your mother knows.”
I turned toward her.
She looked terrified.
“Mom?”
She closed her eyes.
“I didn't know the full name.”
“You knew something.”
“I knew there was someone above Richard.”
“Who?”
“Someone who could end careers.”
“That's not a name.”
She looked at me.
“Senator Julian Mercer.”
Graham shook his head.
“Not Julian.”
My mother stared at him.
“Then who?”
Graham's answer was quiet.
“His daughter.”
Ortiz frowned.
“Julian had no daughter.”
Graham looked at me.
“He did.”
My father understood first.
“Evelyn.”
Graham nodded.
“Evelyn Mercer wasn't Richard's wife.”
My father stared.
“She was his sister.”
The realization struck like a physical blow.
“Then who was my grandmother?”
Graham looked at my father.
“Evelyn.”
My father staggered backward.
“No.”
“She wasn't dead when you were a child.”
“What are you saying?”
“Richard lied about her death.”
My father shook his head.
“That isn't possible.”
Graham reached into his coat.
He removed a photograph.
It showed a young woman standing beside my father as a child.
On the back was a date.
And a note.
For Elias, when he's old enough to understand.
My father took it.
His hands trembled.
My mother stepped closer.
“I never saw that.”
“Because Richard destroyed every copy.”
“Then where did you get it?”
Graham looked at me.
“Your father gave it to me.”
My father stared at him.
“I don't remember.”
“You were drunk.”
“When?”
“The night before you disappeared.”
My father looked toward the cemetery.
He suddenly seemed older.
“What did I tell you?”
Graham answered.
“You told me that if anything happened to you, I was to protect Lena.”
My mother began crying.
Graham looked at me.
“I failed.”
I didn't know what to say.
For all the terrible things Graham had done, there was one thing I could not deny.
He had finally admitted them.
“What does Richard want from me?”
Graham's expression changed.
“The archive recognizes you.”
“So?”
“It doesn't just open for your hand.”
He stepped closer.
“It records your identity.”
I looked at the brass cylinder.
“The archive has a security system?”
“Your father designed it.”
My father nodded slowly.
“The ledger was meant to be opened by my bloodline.”
“Why?”
“To prevent Richard from taking it.”
Graham shook his head.
“Richard doesn't need the ledger anymore.”
“Then what does he need?”
Graham looked toward the rising sun.
“He needs you to authenticate the final transfer.”
“What transfer?”
“The money.”
My blood ran cold.
“How much?”
Graham's answer was almost a whisper.
“Enough to buy the silence of everyone involved.”
Ortiz stepped forward.
“Where is the money?”
Graham looked at me.
“In an account that belongs to you.”
I felt the world tilt.
“What?”
“Your father opened it when you were eighteen.”
My father looked shocked.
“I never opened an account.”
Graham smiled bitterly.
“That's because Daniel did.”
A phone rang.
Not mine.
Graham reached into his pocket.
He answered.
Richard's voice came through the speaker.
“You should have killed her when you had the chance.”
Graham looked at me.
Richard continued.
“Now she knows too much.”
The call ended.
Graham dropped the phone.
“We have less than an hour.”
My father picked up the ledger.
“Then we go to the estate.”
Ortiz shook her head.
“We're walking into a trap.”
I looked at the sunrise.
“No.”
“We're going because Richard thinks he controls the ending.”
I closed the ledger.
“We're going to make him wrong.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 11: The Mercer Estate Held More Than Old Family Records, and the First Room We Entered Had Been Prepared for My Arrival
The Night the Locked Door Opened and Everything I Thought I Knew About My Family Changed
Part 10 of 20
