Chapter 7 - THE VIDEO THAT NEVER HAPPENED
Leo watched the video in the back seat of Marcus's car while they raced toward Mercer House.
It lasted forty-seven seconds.
That was long enough to turn three years of grief into a weapon.
The footage showed Elena standing in the study beside Leo's desk.
Leo appeared in front of her, shoulders rigid, voice low and furious.
“You walk out that door, you don't take Mia with you.”
Elena looked frightened.
“You don't get to decide that.”
The man wearing Leo's face stepped closer.
“Try me.”
The clip ended.
Leo watched it again.
Then again.
Marcus glanced over from the passenger seat.
“You sure it never happened?”
“I remember every bad argument I had with her.”
“That one didn't happen.”
The voice sounded like Leo.
The face looked like Leo.
Even the tattoos visible at his collar matched.
But something was wrong.
Leo froze the image.
“Look at my left hand.”
Marcus leaned closer.
The figure's wedding ring was on the wrong finger for one frame.
Then it returned to normal.
Marcus swore quietly.
“Generated reconstruction.”
“Deepfake.”
“Good one.”
Leo's anger came hot and immediate.
Then Elena's recorded warning returned to him.
They need you angry.
He forced his breathing to slow.
“Can you prove it's fake?”
“Given the original file, probably.”
“Court has a copy.”
“Copies get compressed.”
“We need the source.”
Leo looked at the metadata Rosa had forwarded.
The video had been submitted by Daniel Price through a private investigator named Owen Vale.
Another Vale.
Grant's family had built half the machinery around Leo before he realized there was a machine.
When they reached Mercer House, two county deputies stood by the front doors.
Celeste waited beside them.
Mia was upstairs with Rosa.
Leo got out of the car slowly.
One deputy approached.
“Mr. Mercer, I need you to understand this is a temporary order.”
“I understand.”
“The child will remain at the residence under Ms. Mercer's supervision until tomorrow's hearing.”
Leo stopped.
“At the residence?”
The deputy nodded.
“Your aunt is not removing her tonight.”
Relief hit Leo so hard it nearly made him dizzy.
Then he looked at Celeste.
“You asked for that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if Grant wanted Mia physically moved, I wanted the court order to say she stayed here.”
Leo studied her.
It was the first thing she had done that looked unambiguously protective.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Daniel sees every filing before you do.”
The deputy cleared his throat.
“Mr. Mercer, the order also requires you to sleep off property tonight.”
Leo stared at him.
“This is my house.”
“I understand.”
Leo looked toward the upstairs window.
A small face appeared behind the curtain.
Mia.
She pressed one hand to the glass.
Leo's chest tightened.
He lifted his own hand.
Mia disappeared from the window.
A minute later, Rosa brought her downstairs.
Mia ran toward Leo.
The deputy instinctively shifted, then stopped himself when Leo crouched instead of reaching.
Mia wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Are you leaving?”
“For one sleep.”
“Did I do something?”
“No.”
“Did the marker get you in trouble?”
Leo closed his eyes for a second.
“No, bug.”
“The marker did the opposite.”
“It helped me notice something.”
She pulled back.
“Can Bunny come with you?”
Leo glanced at Celeste.
Celeste gave one small nod.
Mia pushed the rabbit into his hands.
“He gets scared when houses are mad.”
Leo almost smiled.
“So do I.”
Mia leaned close to his ear.
“Grandma isn't the bad one.”
Leo looked at her.
“Who told you that?”
Mia's eyes went toward the hallway.
“No one.”
“Then how do you know?”
She whispered, “Because the bad one smells like Daddy's office.”
Leo frowned.
“What does that mean?”
But Rosa gently pulled Mia back because the deputy was watching the time.
Leo kissed his daughter's forehead and stood.
As he walked toward the door, Grant's cologne suddenly came back to him.
Cedar, pepper, and something metallic.
The same custom scent used in Mercer executive offices through a diffuser Grant had selected two years earlier.
Mia did not know the word cologne.
She knew smell.
Leo turned around.
“Celeste.”
She looked up.
“Do not let Grant inside.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
“Not for any reason.”
Her face hardened.
“Leo, I know.”
He left with Marcus.
They drove to a small hotel downtown because Leo refused to stay in any Mercer-owned property.
At one in the morning, Marcus opened Bunny's seam again.
The key packet was gone.
Leo had removed it.
But Marcus felt along the stuffing.
“There's another hard spot.”
Leo looked over.
Marcus carefully cut two stitches near the rabbit's ear.
A tiny memory card slid out.
Leo stared at it.
“Elena hid two things.”
Marcus inserted the card into an offline reader.
One folder appeared.
It contained a single photograph.
The image showed Elena standing beside a woman outside a medical clinic.
Elena's hair was tucked under a hat, and she looked exhausted.
The woman beside her had been circled in pink ink.
Leo did not recognize her.
On the back of the scanned photo, Elena had typed a note.
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, FIND DR. SARAH KENT.
Marcus searched the file metadata.
“The clinic was in Boston.”
Leo thought of the storage receipt.
Boston again.
Then Marcus zoomed in on the clinic window.
A reflection appeared in the glass behind Elena.
A man stood across the street.
Tall.
Dark coat.
Face partially turned.
Leo knew him anyway.
May you like
Grant Hale had been following his wife.
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