Chapter 17 - The Last Betrayal
The final sentence replayed in my head.
Even someone you still trust.
I showed the video to Grace.
She watched without speaking.
“Rachel wants me suspicious of everyone.”
“Yes.”
“Could she be telling the truth?”
Grace hesitated.
“About Claire?”
“No.”
“About someone else helping them.”
Grace looked toward the window.
“I don’t know.”
Then the security chief entered.
His expression told me something was wrong.
“We found evidence in the old server archives.”
“What kind?”
“Access logs from the night before Claire died.”
He placed a tablet in front of me.
Someone had entered Claire’s private office.
The access credential belonged to one person.
Thomas Mercer.
My uncle.
My father’s older brother.
Thomas had lived in Europe for years.
He returned after Claire’s death only for the funeral.
Or so I believed.
Police checked immigration records.
Thomas had entered the country four days before Claire died.
He had lied about his arrival.
Why?
I called him.
He answered from London.
“Daniel.”
“Were you in Claire’s office the night before she died?”
Silence.
Then a sigh.
“I wondered when this would reach you.”
My stomach sank.
“What did you do?”
“Claire asked me to come.”
“Why?”
“She wanted someone from the family to witness what she had discovered.”
“What did she show you?”
“Everything.”
“Ethan.”
“Malcolm.”
“Rachel.”
“The trust.”
“The stolen money.”
I stood.
“And what did you do?”
“I begged her to wait.”
“Why?”
“Because exposing everything would destroy the company.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Rachel said the same thing.”
Thomas went silent.
“You spoke with Rachel?”
“She sent me a video.”
Thomas cursed quietly.
“Daniel, listen carefully.”
“What?”
“Rachel is going to try to leave the country.”
“Police are already watching airports.”
“She won’t use an airport.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Richard kept a private airfield outside Millbrook.”
I knew it.
The property had been sold after my father died.
Thomas continued.
“Except it was never really sold.”
I felt cold.
“Who owns it?”
“A shell company controlled by Malcolm.”
Police moved within minutes.
The private airfield was forty miles away.
A helicopter unit reached it first.
A small jet was preparing for departure.
Rachel was aboard.
So was Malcolm.
They had been enemies only when it became convenient.
In reality, they were leaving together.
Officers surrounded the runway.
The aircraft stopped.
Rachel surrendered.
Malcolm did not.
He exited through the rear hatch and ran toward a maintenance building.
Police followed.
Then a gunshot echoed.
I was watching through a live police feed.
Grace stood beside me.
Another shot.
Then silence.
An officer emerged.
Malcolm Reeves had been wounded.
Alive.
Arrested.
Finished.
Or so I thought.
Then Thomas spoke from my phone.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“There is one final thing.”
“What?”
“Claire didn’t ask me only to witness the evidence.”
My chest tightened.
“She asked me to make a decision.”
“What decision?”
May you like
Thomas whispered.
“Whether to tell you what your father really built Mercer Holdings with.”
