Chapter 5 - THE MOTHER WHO LIED
Natalie called her mother from Adrian’s car.
Claire answered on the second ring.
“Sweetheart?”
Natalie nearly cried at the familiar voice.
Instead she asked:
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“Home.”
“Where’s home?”
“Connecticut. Why?”
Natalie looked at Adrian.
He nodded once.
“Send me a picture.”
Another pause.
“What?”
“A picture. Right now.”
“Natalie, what’s going on?”
“You called me Emily when I was six.”
Silence.
Natalie’s heart broke a little.
“You haven’t called me that in twenty years.”
Claire whispered, “Where are you?”
“With Adrian Mercer.”
The silence changed.
“Get away from him.”
“Why?”
“He’s dangerous.”
“He locked a door between me and the man beating me.”
“That doesn’t make him safe.”
“What makes Ethan safe?”
Claire stopped breathing.
Natalie closed her eyes.
“So it’s true.”
“No.”
“You know him.”
“I can explain.”
“Then explain.”
Claire’s voice dropped.
“Not over the phone.”
“Where?”
“Saint Agnes Church. Queens. Noon.”
The call ended.
Adrian looked at Natalie.
“You’re not going alone.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Saint Agnes was nearly empty.
Claire sat in the third pew.
Natalie had not seen her in person for eight months.
Her mother looked tired.
Older.
And terrified.
Natalie stopped ten feet away.
“Did you hire Ethan?”
Claire looked at Adrian.
“He shouldn’t be here.”
“He stays.”
“Natalie—”
“He stays.”
Something in Adrian’s expression shifted.
Claire noticed.
“So much like Daniel,” she whispered.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“You knew?”
Claire nodded.
“Yes.”
“That Daniel might be my biological father?”
“Yes.”
Natalie stared between them.
“How?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Before Daniel married me, he had an affair with Victor Mercer’s wife.”
Adrian stiffened.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Did Victor know?”
“Eventually.”
“And he raised me anyway.”
“He loved you.”
Adrian looked away.
Natalie asked the harder question.
“Ethan.”
Claire’s face collapsed.
“I hired him.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
Natalie laughed once.
It sounded broken.
“He strangled me.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You put him into my life!”
“I hired him to watch you, not date you.”
“Why?”
“Because someone had found you.”
“Who?”
Claire looked toward the church doors.
“Richard.”
Adrian frowned.
“He denied it.”
“He’s lying.”
“What does he want?”
Claire reached into her purse.
A flash drive.
“Your father’s evidence.”
Natalie stared.
“The vault?”
“No. The real evidence.”
She handed it to Adrian.
Before he could take it, the church doors slammed open.
Three armed men entered.
Adrian pushed Natalie behind a stone column.
Gunfire erupted.
Claire screamed.
Adrian’s men returned fire from the vestibule.
Within seconds, two attackers were down.
The third escaped.
Claire was bleeding.
Natalie dropped beside her.
“Mom!”
The bullet had hit her side.
Claire grabbed Natalie’s hand.
“Listen.”
“Don’t talk.”
“Richard didn’t send them.”
Natalie froze.
“Who did?”
Claire looked at Adrian.
“Gabriel.”
Adrian went still.
Claire’s fingers tightened around Natalie’s wrist.
“He works for the man who killed Daniel.”
May you like
Then her eyes closed.
And Adrian realized his most trusted lieutenant had been standing beside Natalie since the night she crawled under his table.
