Chapter 7 - THE MEN WITH BADGES AT THE GATE
Dominic did not let the agents inside.
Not until they answered one question.
He stood behind the closed gate.
“Blue what?”
The lead agent frowned.
“What?”
Dominic looked at Elizabeth.
She shook her head.
Wrong.
Dominic said:
“Come back with a warrant.”
They had one.
That complicated things.
The warrant claimed evidence connected to Daniel Harper’s disappearance existed inside the mansion.
Maybe true.
Maybe trap.
Dominic called independent attorneys and the judge overseeing my case.
The agents entered under supervision.
Nobody touched me.
Nobody questioned me alone.
I liked rules that protected children.
Agent Mercer Jr. was tall and calm.
He smiled too much.
“You must be Lily.”
I held Mr. Bear.
“Yes.”
“I knew your father.”
Elizabeth immediately said:
“No, you didn’t.”
His smile changed.
Small.
There.
Dominic noticed too.
Mercer searched Maria’s old documents.
Then asked specifically for the flash drive from box 214.
How did he know about it?
Nobody had released that information.
Dominic asked.
Mercer answered:
“Federal intelligence.”
Convenient.
Then I noticed his ring.
A silver signet.
Same symbol as the butterfly charm?
Not exactly.
A small letter M inside wings.
I had seen it before.
Where?
Mr. Bear.
His missing button eye.
I turned the teddy around.
Stitched beneath one ear was a tiny embroidered symbol.
M inside wings.
My heart beat faster.
“Grandma.”
Elizabeth looked.
Her face went white.
“Daniel’s task force insignia.”
Why was it on my bear?
The director at St. Jude’s had said Mr. Bear arrived with me when I entered foster care.
My father had given it to me.
Maybe he hid something inside.
Agent Mercer saw us looking.
He moved.
Too fast.
Dominic stepped between him and me.
“Back up.”
Mercer smiled.
“Mr. Moretti, interfering with federal evidence—”
“This bear belongs to Lily.”
“He may contain classified material.”
I hugged him tighter.
“No.”
Mercer looked at me.
Not kindly now.
“Sweetheart, give me the bear.”
Dominic’s voice became ice.
“She said no.”
The room froze.
Mercer reached inside his jacket.
Security moved.
But he only produced a document.
A seizure authorization.
Legally valid.
Maybe.
Dominic’s attorney examined it.
Then frowned.
“The judge’s signature is wrong.”
Mercer’s expression changed.
That was enough.
Police outside were notified.
Mercer backed toward the door.
Then he ran.
Actually ran.
One of the agents with him tackled him.
Not all of them were corrupt.
Good.
Inside Mr. Bear, beneath old stuffing, we found a memory card.
Daniel’s.
Video files.
One recorded seven years earlier.
Julian Mercer Sr. meeting Victor Moretti.
Victor looked angry.
“You said scare Sofia, not kill her.”
Mercer answered:
“The crash solved the problem.”
Dominic stared.
Victor had not ordered the murder.
But he knew afterward.
And stayed silent.
Then the video continued.
Victor said:
“What about the baby?”
Mercer smiled.
“If Daniel finds her first, we use him to lead us there.”
My stomach hurt.
I was the baby.
Then Victor answered:
“No.”
Dominic looked shocked.
Victor had refused.
Mercer leaned closer.
“You’re getting sentimental.”
Victor replied:
“I wanted Sofia’s shares. I didn’t ask you to kill my niece.”
For the first time, the villain became more complicated.
Then Mercer said:
“Too late. Daniel already knows.”
The video ended.
Another file existed.
Title:
DANIEL - FINAL LOCATION.
Coordinates.
May you like
A place in upstate New York.
If my father had disappeared there, we might finally learn why.
Related Stories
