Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Thomas Mercer was sixty-two.
He had Ethan’s eyes.
That was the first thing I noticed.
The second was the scar running from his ear to his jaw.
My mother stopped ten feet away.
“Tom?”
He looked at her.
Thirty years disappeared from both their faces.
“Hi, Di.”
She slapped him.
Hard.
Then she hugged him.
I watched from beside Ethan.
Neither of us knew where to look.
Thomas finally stepped back.
“I deserved the first part.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I know.”
“You let your son bury you.”
His eyes moved to Ethan.
“I know.”
Ethan did not hug him.
“You watched me grow up without you.”
Thomas swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard tried to kill me once.”
He touched the scar.
“And promised he’d kill you next.”
Thomas explained it in pieces.
A staged crash.
A burned vehicle.
A body misidentified through falsified dental records.
My grandfather had helped Thomas disappear.
Not out of courage.
Out of guilt.
Thomas spent years gathering evidence against Richard.
Fraud.
Extortion.
Violence.
Bribery.
Then he learned about my wedding.
“Why today?”
I asked.
“Because Richard is leaving the country tonight.”
My mother looked up.
“What?”
“He moved eleven million dollars yesterday.”
Ethan’s phone buzzed.
A news alert.
RICHARD MITCHELL FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES SURPRISE OVERSEAS EXPANSION.
Thomas laughed without humor.
“He’s running.”
I looked at him.
“Am I your daughter?”
His entire face changed.
“I don’t know.”
“You had thirty-five years to find out.”
“I was told you were Richard’s.”
“By who?”
Thomas looked at my mother.
Then at me.
“Your grandfather.”
My phone rang again.
This time it was Rachel.
I answered.
She was crying.
“Sarah, where are you?”
“At the bank.”
“You need to come back.”
“Why?”
“Your dad locked the church doors.”
I stood.
“What?”
“He says someone stole something from him.”
Then I heard screaming behind her.
May you like
And Rachel whispered:
“He has a gun.”
