Chapter 7 - THE NIGHT BEFORE I WAS SHOT
The night before the shooting, Dominic had been in my bedroom while I slept.
That fact bothered me more than seeing him with the shooter.
Because it meant the plan had started before the gunman ever arrived.
The flash drive contained more.
Monica had photographed my medication cabinet.
One vial was labeled with my name.
Midazolam.
A powerful sedative.
I had never been prescribed it at home.
Tessa enlarged the photograph.
“Someone planned to keep you unconscious.”
“After shooting me?”
“Maybe before.”
My attorney found the purchase record.
The medication had been obtained through a private clinic partly owned by Elaine Mercer.
Everything circled back to her.
But Dominic still sat at the center.
I called him.
This time, he answered.
“You're digging too deep, Vin.”
No greeting.
No denial.
Just that.
“Where's Monica?”
Silence.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“You always say that when someone gives you an answer you dislike.”
I looked through the window toward the harbor.
Our harbor.
Or what remained of it.
“You stood beside the shooter.”
Another silence.
Then Dominic said, “You don't understand what happened that night.”
“Explain it.”
“I can't.”
“Won't.”
His breathing changed.
“Stop this.”
“No.”
“You think Tessa saved you? You think she's different?”
I looked at her across the room.
She had heard.
“What does that mean?”
Dominic laughed softly.
“Ask your little caregiver why her father lost his company fifteen years ago.”
Then he disconnected.
Tessa looked confused.
“My father?”
“What company?”
“Mercer Security Systems.”
I felt the room shift.
“Mercer?”
“My mother's maiden name.”
I stared at her.
“Tessa, what's your father's full name?”
“Daniel Mercer.”
Elaine Mercer.
Daniel Mercer.
Tessa shook her head immediately.
“They aren't related.”
“Are you sure?”
“My father never mentioned her.”
My attorney searched public records.
It took twelve minutes.
Daniel Mercer and Elaine Mercer had incorporated Mercer Security Systems together twenty-one years earlier.
Brother and sister.
Tessa sat completely still.
“My aunt?”
Apparently.
And according to the old corporate filings, Elaine had taken full control of the company after Daniel was accused of embezzlement.
He lost everything.
His marriage collapsed.
His health deteriorated.
Tessa had spent years believing her father destroyed his own life.
Then my attorney opened one more archived court document.
Daniel Mercer had never been convicted.
The charges had been dismissed after prosecutors discovered financial records had been falsified.
The person suspected of altering them was Elaine.
Before investigators could charge her, the primary witness disappeared.
May you like
His name was Antonio Corvino.
My father.
