Arthur had disappeared without triggering the hospital alarms.
His IV had been removed.
His clothes were gone.
The room was empty except for a folded blanket and a handwritten note.
Maya read it first.
Then she handed it to me.
I recognized my father's handwriting immediately.
Don't follow me.
I looked at the date.
That morning.
Below it was another sentence.
The ledger must reach Ethan.
Nothing else.
“He knew,” I said.
Maya looked at me.
“Knew what?”
“That I was going to Vancouver.”
“How?”
“He knows me.”
I folded the note.
“We need to turn around.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“If my father left the hospital voluntarily, he knew where he was going.”
“And if he was taken?”
I stopped.
Maya was right.
We continued north.
At the border, I received a message from an unknown number.
Your father is alive.
Then another.
Your mother is waiting.
I stared at the screen.
“It's them.”
Maya looked over.
“Don't answer.”
The next message arrived.
Bring the ledger.
No police.
No lawyer.
No wife.
I showed Maya.
She shook her head.
“Someone knows exactly where we are.”
I looked at the rearview mirror.
A black SUV had been behind us for the last twenty minutes.
I changed lanes.
It followed.
Maya noticed.
“That's not coincidence.”
We exited the highway.
The SUV stayed with us.
Then another vehicle appeared behind it.
We turned onto a narrow road.
The SUV followed.
Maya pointed ahead.
“Pull over.”
“What?”
“Now.”
I pulled into a gas station.
The SUV drove past.
The second vehicle continued.
We waited.
Neither returned.
Maya exhaled.
“Mercer.”
“You're sure?”
“No.”
But her voice said yes.
We reached the church just after sunset.
It was small and old, surrounded by tall cedar trees.
The doors were unlocked.
Inside, candles burned along the altar.
Jessica stood near the front.
She was alone.
When she saw me, she looked relieved.
Then frightened.
“You came.”
“I almost didn't.”
She nodded.
“I know.”
“Where is my mother?”
“She isn't here.”
My anger rose.
“You told me she was waiting.”
“She was.”
“Where?”
Jessica looked toward the side door.
“She left when she saw the cars.”
“What cars?”
“Mercer's.”
I turned.
“Where did she go?”
“Back to the house.”
“What house?”
“The one where you grew up.”
My heart stopped.
Arthur.
We drove back.
This time we didn't use the highway.
We reached the bungalow after midnight.
The police tape had been removed.
The house was dark.
I entered first.
“Dad?”
No answer.
Jessica followed.
Maya stayed near the door.
The living room was empty.
Then I heard a sound beneath the floor.
Three knocks.
I froze.
Again.
Three knocks.
Jessica looked at me.
“The basement.”
“There isn't a basement.”
“There is.”
She moved toward the fireplace.
She pressed a hidden latch beneath the mantel.
A section of flooring shifted.
I stared.
“My father never told me.”
“He couldn't.”
A staircase descended into darkness.
We went down.
At the bottom was a room I had never known existed.
Old filing cabinets lined the walls.
There was a desk.
A radio.
A map.
And my father.
He sat in a chair, bleeding from his shoulder.
“Dad!”
I ran toward him.
He raised one hand.
“Don't.”
I stopped.
“Who did this?”
“Mercer.”
“Where is Mom?”
Arthur looked at Jessica.
“She found her.”
I turned.
Jessica's face was wet with tears.
“Where?”
“Canada.”
“She's safe?”
“For now.”
Arthur reached beneath the desk.
He pulled out another folder.
“This is what Mercer wants.”
I opened it.
Inside were documents concerning the Morales network.
But one page was different.
It listed names of people who had served as Keepers.
At the bottom was a name I didn't recognize.
Daniel Mercer.
My pulse quickened.
“He was a Keeper?”
“Not exactly.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“He wanted to become one.”
“Why?”
“Control.”
I looked at Jessica.
“Then why did you marry me?”
She swallowed.
“Because your father asked me to.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
Arthur nodded.
“Eight years ago, I knew Mercer was getting close.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“I met Jessica because of you?”
Arthur looked away.
“I contacted her.”
The room went silent.
Jessica began crying.
“You asked her to watch me.”
Arthur nodded.
“And she agreed.”
My chest tightened.
“Was any of it real?”
Jessica stepped toward me.
“The first time I met you, I was following your father’s plan.”
“And after?”
“I stayed because I loved you.”
I wanted to believe her.
But too many lies had piled up.
Arthur spoke.
“I made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“I thought I could use Victoria to protect you.”
“Instead, she became part of the network.”
“She never wanted that.”
Jessica shook her head.
“I did what I thought would protect everyone.”
I looked at the ledger.
“What happens now?”
Arthur answered.
“The ledger has to be released.”
“To whom?”
“The authorities.”
Maya stepped forward.
“We need copies.”
Arthur nodded.
“Everything.”
I opened the desk drawer.
Inside was a laptop.
There was one file.
ELENA.
I clicked it.
A live video feed appeared.
My mother sat in a small room.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Alive.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Ethan.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Mom.”
She smiled through tears.
“I’m sorry.”
I moved closer to the screen.
“Where are you?”
“I’m safe.”
“Who has you?”
“No one.”
“Then come home.”
She looked away.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because Mercer isn't the only one who knows about the ledger.”
I felt a chill.
“Who else?”
She looked directly at me.
“Your mother’s council.”
I frowned.
“What council?”
“The three people who created the Keeper.”
“Victor, Arthur, and you?”
She nodded.
“After Victor died, someone else took his place.”
“Who?”
My mother hesitated.
Then she said the name.
“Jessica.”
I turned.
Jessica closed her eyes.
My mother continued.
“She wasn't chosen because she was Victor's daughter.”
“She was chosen because she was the only person Mercer couldn't control.”
I looked at Jessica.
“Then why did you leave me?”
Jessica whispered, “Because if Mercer believed I loved you, he'd use you against me.”
My mother's voice softened.
“She saved you more times than you know.”
I stared at the screen.
Every memory of Jessica shifted again.
Not erased.
Not forgiven.
But changed.
Then the feed went black.
The basement lights went out.
A gunshot cracked above us.
Arthur shouted.
Maya pulled me down.
Jessica screamed.
Another shot.
Then silence.
When the emergency light flickered on, the laptop was gone.
So was the ledger.
The basement door stood open.
Someone had taken both.
Arthur looked at me.
“Mercer.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Why?”
I pointed toward the stairs.
There was a silver ring lying on the floor.
The M was scratched through.
Beneath it was a second ring.
A plain gold band.
Jessica stared at it.
“That belonged to my mother.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 12: The Gold Ring Changed Everything I Believed About Elena’s Disappearance, and My Wife Finally Told Me What She Had Been Protecting Me From
My Father Asked Me for a Thousand Dollars, Then Looked Past My Shoulder as Though He Was Afraid Someone Had Followed Him Home
Part 11 of 20
