Chapter 11 - Marcus Reveals His Hidden Daughter
The motel lights went out.
Rachel moved instantly.
“Bathroom. Now.”
Daniel pulled Charles through the connecting panel while Marcus locked
the main door.
A shot shattered the front window.
Glass sprayed across the carpet.
Daniel ducked.
Another shot struck the wall.
“Move!”
Rachel led them through the bathroom of the neighboring room and out a
rear service door.
Marcus’s SUV waited behind the building.
They climbed in.
Marcus drove.
No one spoke until the motel disappeared behind trees.
Daniel finally turned toward him.
“Your daughter.”
Marcus kept his eyes on the road.
“Her name is Sophie.”
“How old?”
“Fourteen.”
“Where has she been?”
“With Eleanor.”
Daniel stared.
“For how long?”
“Twelve years.”
Charles looked at Marcus.
“I didn’t know.”
“No one did.”
Marcus gripped the wheel.
“Sophie’s mother worked at Northstar. She tried to help Evelyn after
Rachel started asking questions.”
Rachel nodded.
“Anna Reed.”
Marcus looked at her through the mirror.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
Daniel remembered Marcus telling him years ago that his younger sister
Anna had died from an overdose.
Another lie.
“Anna was Sophie’s mother?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to her?”
“Eleanor had her killed.”
Marcus’s voice stayed flat because anything else would have broken him.
“She took Sophie and sent me a photograph. Told me if I ever spoke to
police, my daughter would disappear permanently.”
Daniel looked away.
“So you fed Eleanor information.”
“Only what I thought wouldn’t hurt you.”
Rachel snapped, “You told her where I was in Oregon.”
“I gave her a city, not an address.”
“She found me.”
“I know.”
“You nearly got me killed.”
“I know.”
Marcus’s voice cracked.
“I was trying to keep Sophie breathing.”
Silence filled the vehicle.
Daniel wanted to hate him.
Then he imagined Lily held by a stranger for twelve years.
The hatred became harder to simplify.
“What does Eleanor want now?”
“The ledger,” Marcus said. “She thinks Charles still has it.”
Charles stared out the window.
“She’s right.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You’re going to tell us where.”
“No.”
Rachel leaned forward.
“Charles.”
“No.”
Daniel’s patience snapped.
“My daughter is being targeted because of secrets you’ve hidden for
decades.”
Charles turned.
“And if Eleanor gets that ledger, hundreds of people become targets.”
“Then we give it to federal authorities.”
Charles laughed sadly.
“You still believe institutions are clean because you’ve been lucky
enough to live above the dirt.”
Rachel interrupted.
“There’s one federal team I trust.”
Charles looked at her.
“Who?”
“Inspector General task force. They’ve been building a case against
Northstar for three years.”
“You contacted them?”
“Yes.”
“Then why aren’t they here?”
“Because we still need admissible evidence connecting Eleanor to current
crimes.”
Marcus tapped the steering wheel.
“I can get it.”
Everyone looked at him.
“I have recordings.”
“What recordings?” Daniel asked.
“Calls with Eleanor.”
Rachel leaned forward.
“You recorded her?”
“For six years.”
“Where are they?”
Marcus looked at Daniel.
“In the mansion.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“Of course they are.”
“Hidden in the old nursery.”
Charles stiffened.
“There is no old nursery.”
Marcus looked at him in the mirror.
“Yes, there is.”
Daniel noticed Charles’s reaction.
“What?”
Charles said nothing.
Marcus continued.
“Behind the library bookshelves. Your father built it before Daniel was
born.”
Daniel frowned.
“I’ve renovated that library twice.”
“You never moved the north wall.”
Charles whispered, “Don’t open that room.”
Daniel turned.
“Why?”
Charles’s face had gone pale.
“Because that room belonged to Eleanor.”
Daniel felt the pattern again.
Walls.
Hidden doors.
Rooms erased from the house.
A family architecture built around secrets.
Rachel’s phone buzzed.
She looked at the screen.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She handed it to Marcus.
A live video showed a teenage girl sitting in a chair.
Sophie.
A woman stood behind her, face outside the frame.
A knife rested lightly against the girl’s shoulder.
Marcus nearly drove off the road.
“Sophie.”
Text appeared beneath the feed.
MIDNIGHT.
THE MERCER HOUSE.
BRING THE LEDGER.
OR BOTH GIRLS PAY.
Daniel stared.
“Both?”
Rachel looked at him.
“Lily.”
Daniel called Vanessa.
No answer.
He called security.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Marcus accelerated.
Daniel’s phone finally rang.
Vanessa.
He answered.
“Where’s Lily?”
Vanessa was crying.
“She’s here.”
Daniel exhaled.
Then Vanessa whispered:
“But Evelyn is gone.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“What happened?”
“She left a note.”
“What does it say?”
Vanessa read it aloud.
I KNOW WHERE ELEANOR WILL TAKE THE GIRLS.
DO NOT FOLLOW ME.
Daniel looked at Charles.
May you like
His father whispered one word.
“The nursery.”
