Chapter 8 - The Doctor Who Lied
They found Dr. Mercer at Grand Central trying to board a train to Boston.
Daniel caught him by the coat before the porter could close the gate.
Mercer did not fight.
That was worse.
He looked like a man who had already decided someone else would save him.
They took him to Pike’s office.
Elena placed Clara’s discharge page on the desk.
“My mother was alive after her death certificate.”
Mercer said nothing.
“Did you sign the certificate?”
“Yes.”
Daniel moved toward him.
Elena raised a hand.
“Why?”
Mercer looked at her for a long moment.
“Because your father asked me to.”
Elena felt the words land without understanding them.
“My father faked my mother’s death.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To hide her.”
“From Victoria?”
Mercer looked toward Daniel.
“From everyone.”
Rosa whispered, “Where did he take her?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel slammed both hands on the desk. “You expect us to believe that?”
Mercer’s calm broke.
“I expected to die without ever discussing this.”
Elena leaned closer.
“Try a different expectation.”
Mercer looked at her stomach.
“Your mother discovered the Mercy ledger. Not copies. The original book. Every bribe. Every false inspection. Every death payment.”
“And my father wanted it.”
“Everyone wanted it.”
“Did he hurt her?”
Mercer hesitated.
That was enough.
Elena stood.
“What did he do?”
“He had her sedated at Saint Agnes.”
Rosa started crying.
Mercer continued quickly. “He believed she would turn the ledger over to federal investigators and destroy the company.”
“So he imprisoned his wife.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked sick.
Mercer wiped sweat from his forehead.
“Clara escaped twice. The second time, William moved her somewhere private.”
“Where?”
“I was never told.”
A gunshot exploded through Pike’s window.
Glass burst across the desk.
Daniel pulled Elena to the floor.
A second shot hit the wall.
Rosa screamed.
Pike’s guards returned fire into the alley.
When the shooting stopped, Mercer was bleeding.
The bullet had gone through his shoulder.
Elena pressed cloth against the wound.
“Who is trying to kill you?”
Mercer laughed weakly.
“You still think this is about Victoria.”
“Who, then?”
He looked at Daniel.
“The people who taught your mother how Mercy really worked.”
Daniel went still.
Mercer gripped Elena’s wrist.
“If they know the second will activated, they know the archive might open.”
“Who are they?”
Mercer whispered one name.
Mercer admitted he had also treated Elena twice as a child. She had no memory of it.
“For what?”
“Night terrors after your mother disappeared.”
“My father told me I was sick.”
“You were grieving.”
Elena’s voice hardened. “A mother I was told I never knew.”
Mercer looked ashamed. “William believed memory would fade faster if you stopped asking questions.”
“Did you drug me?”
“Only mild sedatives.”
Daniel swore and turned away.
Elena felt something colder than anger. Her father had not simply lied. He had used medicine to make the lie easier to live with.
Mercer said, “Clara hated me for helping him.”
“Good.”
“She also saved my life later.”
That stopped Elena.
“Why?”
“Because Halcyon ordered me removed after I forged her death certificate. Clara warned me.”
Again, Clara refused to become the simple victim Elena wanted. A woman who could disappear, move money, protect compromised doctors, and hide a ledger from industrial families was not merely surviving. She had been fighting a war Elena had inherited without knowing it.
“The Halcyon Committee.”
---
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
May you like
If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://vibe.treeiq.biz
New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
