Chapter 9 - THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FIVE YEARS
The family gathered in a federal safe house.
Lena refused to sleep.
Neither did Ethan.
The file was still open.
SUBJECT ONE: ETHAN MERCER.
Daniel looked at the data.
“This isn't about the child.”
Ethan stared at him.
“Then what?”
“You.”
Lena shook her head.
“No.”
Daniel pointed to the dates.
“Look.”
The project began six years ago.
One year before the explosion.
Ethan's face went pale.
“My father didn't start this.”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Daniel looked at their mother.
She whispered:
“I don't know.”
That frightened Ethan more than anything.
They opened the next file.
Medical records.
Behavioral studies.
Financial transactions.
Surveillance photographs.
Ethan's entire adult life had been monitored.
His friendships.
His business decisions.
His marriage.
Everything.
Then they found something worse.
A psychological profile.
SUBJECT RESPONSE TO FAMILY LOSS: HIGHLY PREDICTABLE.
Ethan stared.
“They planned my reaction.”
Lena covered her mouth.
“They knew you'd search for me.”
“They knew you'd believe I was dead.”
“They wanted you angry.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at the final page.
“To make you take control of the trust.”
Ethan suddenly understood.
His father's plan wasn't to steal the empire.
It was to force Ethan to inherit it.
“Why?”
Daniel answered:
“Because only you can activate the final system.”
“What system?”
A door opened.
An elderly federal investigator entered.
“I can tell you.”
Everyone turned.
He placed a file on the table.
“The Mercer family built a private emergency network decades ago.”
“What does it control?”
“Communications.”
“Money?”
“Yes.”
“Government databases?”
“Yes.”
Ethan stared.
“Military systems?”
The investigator nodded.
“Potentially.”
Lena whispered:
“So my father-in-law wanted Ethan to control the entire system.”
“Correct.”
“Why?”
The investigator looked at Ethan.
“Because someone else was coming.”
“Who?”
The investigator hesitated.
“Your father's partners.”
“How many?”
“Enough to destabilize several governments.”
Silence.
Then the safe-house alarm sounded.
Everyone froze.
The investigator looked at his phone.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
“The archive has been accessed.”
“By whom?”
He turned the screen toward Ethan.
A single name appeared.
ETHAN MERCER.
Ethan shook his head.
“I didn't access it.”
The investigator stared.
“Someone is using your credentials.”
Daniel whispered:
“Your father.”
“No.”
“Then who?”
The computer screen turned black.
A message appeared.
YOU WERE NEVER THE TARGET.
Ethan stared.
Another message appeared.
YOU WERE THE KEY.
Then a third.
AND YOUR DAUGHTER IS THE DOOR.
Lena grabbed her daughter.
Ethan reached for his weapon.
But the final message appeared before the system shut down.
COME TO THE PARK. ALONE.
Ethan recognized the location.
The same park where everything had started.
He looked at Lena.
“I have to go.”
“No.”
“If I don't…”
She shook her head.
“We go together.”
Ethan smiled sadly.
“For five years, you ran alone.”
May you like
Lena took his hand.
“Not anymore.”
