Chapter 3 - Her Father Came Back With Blood on His Coat
The drive back took nine minutes.
Elara felt every second.
Julian tried to convince her to remain in the SUV.
She refused.
“That man is my father.”
“He may also be bait.”
“Then you go first.”
Julian almost smiled.
Almost.
“Stay behind me.”
They entered through the service corridor.
Daniel Mercer had not moved.
He was in his late fifties now.
Gray threaded through his dark hair.
A scar ran from his left temple toward his ear.
Blood stained one sleeve of his coat.
But Elara knew him.
Not because his face matched her memories.
Because when he saw her, his mouth trembled exactly the way hers did when she tried not to cry.
“Ellie.”
Nobody had called her that since her mother died.
Elara stopped.
Daniel took one step.
Julian’s men raised their weapons.
He froze.
“Elara.”
She stared at him.
“Twenty years.”
“I know.”
“You’re alive.”
“Yes.”
“My mother died thinking I believed you abandoned us.”
Pain crossed his face.
“Rebecca knew.”
“That makes it worse.”
Daniel lowered his head.
“Yes.”
Elara wanted to hit him.
She wanted to hug him.
She did neither.
“Why?”
Daniel looked at Julian.
“Because his father would have killed them.”
Julian did not react.
Daniel placed the wooden box on a table.
“Your father wanted the ledger.”
“My father has been dead eighteen years.”
“His promises survived him.”
Daniel opened the box.
Inside were ornaments.
Old photographs.
A knitted Christmas stocking.
No ledger.
Elara stared.
“Cross searched my apartment for this?”
“He thinks the ledger is hidden inside.”
“Is it?”
“No.”
Daniel lifted a small wooden angel ornament.
He twisted its base.
A brass key fell into his palm.
“The ledger is in a safe-deposit vault.”
Julian approached.
“Where?”
Daniel looked at him.
“First National.”
Marco cursed softly.
The bank was closed for Christmas.
“Cross knows?”
“He knows enough.”
Daniel looked at Elara.
“Your mother protected the key.”
Elara picked up the angel.
“She could have told me.”
“No.”
Daniel’s voice cracked.
“She gave you a normal life.”
Elara laughed bitterly.
“Normal?”
She gestured toward the armed men.
“I work seventy hours a week. I’m behind on rent. My mother died terrified. You disappeared. Now criminals are breaking into my apartment.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“You’re right.”
Julian watched him.
“Why return now?”
“Because Cross found her.”
Daniel looked at the ring on Elara’s finger.
Then at Julian.
“That yours?”
“Yes.”
“Why is she wearing it?”
Julian answered without hesitation.
“Protection.”
Daniel gave a humorless laugh.
“I spent twenty years trying to protect her from men wearing rings like that.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“I’m not my father.”
“I hope not.”
Elara stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Both men stopped.
“What's in the ledger?”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Everything.”
“Cross said names.”
“Yes.”
“What names?”
Daniel looked at Julian again.
“One matters tonight.”
“Whose?”
“Senator Nathan Caldwell.”
Julian’s expression sharpened.
Caldwell was nationally respected.
Former prosecutor.
Possible presidential contender.
Publicly committed to fighting organized crime.
Daniel continued.
“Twenty years ago, Caldwell took money from Julian’s father to bury investigations.”
Elara understood.
“If that comes out—”
“His career ends.”
“And Cross?”
“Works for him.”
Julian turned to Marco.
“Get everything we have on Caldwell.”
Daniel grabbed Julian’s arm.
“No phones.”
Three guns pointed at Daniel.
He released him.
“Caldwell has people everywhere.”
Julian studied him.
“Then why trust me?”
“I don't.”
Daniel looked at Elara.
“I trust her judgment.”
Elara nearly laughed.
“You haven't seen me since kindergarten.”
“No.”
Daniel looked toward the small compass in Julian’s coat pocket.
“But Rebecca left instructions.”
Elara froze.
“What instructions?”
Daniel pulled an envelope from inside his bloodstained coat.
Rebecca’s handwriting was on the front.
For Elara, when Julian Vane remembers the compass.
Elara stared at Julian.
He looked equally stunned.
She opened the envelope.
My darling Ellie,
If Daniel gives you this letter, the past has found you.
You will be angry with us.
You should be.
But listen carefully.
There was one person your father and I believed might grow into a better man than the world expected.
Julian.
His father taught him fear.
His mother taught him kindness.
Do not trust him because of his name.
Trust him only if he still remembers who his mother wanted him to become.
Elara lowered the letter.
The room was silent.
Julian looked away.
Daniel spoke.
“Rebecca believed you might break from your father.”
Julian’s voice was cold.
“She was optimistic.”
“She was right.”
Julian looked at Elara.
Neither spoke.
Then gunfire erupted outside.
Glass shattered.
Marco shoved Elara down.
Julian covered her with his body.
“Back corridor!”
Daniel grabbed the wooden box.
Another burst shattered the windows.
Christmas ornaments exploded.
Julian’s men returned fire.
“Move!”
They rushed through the kitchen.
Elara heard screams.
Employees had already been evacuated through the basement.
Daniel stumbled.
Blood darkened his coat.
“You’re hit.”
“Old wound.”
“That isn't old blood.”
“I’ll live.”
They reached the service stairs.
Marco stopped.
“Vehicles compromised.”
Julian swore.
“Tunnel.”
Elara stared.
“There's a tunnel?”
“Prohibition.”
They descended into the basement.
Julian opened a steel door hidden behind wine racks.
A narrow brick passage disappeared into darkness.
Daniel suddenly stopped.
“What?”
He stared toward the opposite end.
A red light blinked.
“Motion sensor.”
Julian looked at Marco.
“We don't have one.”
Daniel whispered.
“They knew about the tunnel.”
Then the steel door behind them slammed shut.
The lights went out.
A voice came from the darkness ahead.
“Daniel.”
Elara felt her father grab her arm.
The voice continued.
May you like
“You should have stayed dead.”
And footsteps began moving toward them.
