Chapter 5 - THE MAN BEHIND THE BADGE
Cole entered the study holding a flashlight.
Behind him stood another man.
Daniel.
For one terrifying second, I couldn't tell which one had betrayed us.
Then Daniel raised both hands.
“I came to protect them.”
Cole laughed.
“Still pretending to be a hero?”
Daniel stepped forward.
“You were never supposed to become a cop.”
Cole's expression changed.
My mother whispered his real name.
“Michael Mercer.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Mercer?”
He nodded.
“My brother.”
Everything became clear.
Cole wasn't Detective Cole.
His real name was Michael Mercer.
He had taken another man's identity years ago.
He had entered law enforcement to control the investigation into the missing money.
My stomach turned.
“How many cases have you manipulated?”
Michael smiled.
“Enough.”
He pointed at the ledger.
“Give it to me.”
I held it against my chest.
“No.”
He pulled a gun.
Daniel stepped between us.
“Michael.”
“You always did this,” Michael said. “You protected strangers while your own family suffered.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“You killed Dad.”
Michael's expression remained cold.
“He was going to expose us.”
My mother gasped.
“And Valerie's father?”
Michael looked at her.
“He wasn't supposed to die.”
That sentence terrified me more than a confession.
“What happened?” I asked.
Michael said nothing.
Daniel answered.
“Michael arranged the meeting. Someone else attacked your father.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked at my mother.
She began crying.
“I know.”
Everyone turned toward her.
My mother whispered a name.
“Eleanor Sterling.”
Nathan's mother.
The woman who had attended my wedding.
The woman who had hugged me.
The woman who had sent flowers when my father died.
I couldn't breathe.
Michael lowered the gun slightly.
“Eleanor ordered the attack because your father threatened to expose her.”
“And Nathan?”
Michael smiled.
“Your husband knew.”
I thought about every time Nathan had defended his mother.
Every time he told me she was misunderstood.
Every time he encouraged me to forgive her.
Then Michael stepped closer.
“But Nathan wasn't willing to kill your mother.”
I looked at him.
“Then why did he attack her?”
“He didn't.”
Silence.
Daniel slowly turned toward Michael.
“What are you saying?”
Michael smiled.
“Nathan was supposed to stage the scene. Someone else was supposed to finish it.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who?”
Michael looked at the doorway.
A woman stood there.
Elegant.
Calm.
Wearing a dark coat.
Eleanor Sterling.
She smiled at me.
“Hello, Valerie.”
My mother began to tremble.
Eleanor looked at the ledger.
“You really are your father's daughter.”
Then she said something that made Nathan's entire story collapse.
May you like
“Your husband never wanted you dead.”
“He wanted you alive long enough to sign the trust over.”
