Chapter 7 - THE OTHER MERCER
Ethan’s father had a brother.
Samuel Mercer.
I had never heard the name.
Ethan had.
Barely.
“My father said Samuel disappeared when I was little.”
My mother’s face had gone white.
“He didn’t disappear.”
Ethan looked at her.
“What?”
“He changed his name.”
I felt the next disaster approaching.
“To what?”
Diane whispered, “Richard Mitchell.”
I stood so fast my chair fell.
“No.”
“Richard was born Samuel Mercer.”
Ethan stared at her.
“My uncle?”
“Yes.”
“My father’s brother married you?”
“Yes.”
“And then Thomas—”
“Thomas and Richard hated each other long before me.”
I pressed both hands against my forehead.
My family tree had become a crime scene.
Ethan walked to the window.
“So Sarah’s father is either Thomas or Richard.”
“Yes.”
“And either way she’s my cousin.”
“Yes.”
He turned toward me.
There was horror in his eyes.
“We didn’t know.”
“I know.”
That did not make my skin feel clean.
My phone rang.
Dad.
I let it ring.
Again.
Again.
Then a text.
COME HOME.
Another.
YOUR MOTHER IS CONFUSED.
Then:
ETHAN IS USING YOU.
I showed Diane.
She whispered, “He knows.”
“How?”
Ethan looked toward the security camera in the bank viewing room.
Then he opened the door.
The hallway was empty.
A bank employee approached.
“Mr. Cole?”
“Yes?”
“There’s a gentleman downstairs asking for Ms. Mitchell.”
“Who?”
The employee hesitated.
“He says he’s her father.”
I looked at Diane.
“Richard?”
The employee shook his head.
“No.”
Then he handed me a business card.
THOMAS MERCER.
PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS.
May you like
My mother made a sound I had never heard from another human being.
Because the dead man had just walked into the bank.
