Chapter 4 - The Second LedgerDaniel didn't move.
Neither did Dr. Miller.
For three long seconds, the hospital seemed to disappear.
There was only the glass between them.
Chloe's frightened eyes.
The doctor’s calm expression.
And the unbearable certainty that something was horribly wrong.
Daniel pushed the door open.
Two nurses immediately shouted.
“Sir, you can't enter!”
“Step away from my wife.”
Dr. Miller remained perfectly calm.
“Mr. Mercer, this is an active surgical procedure.”
Daniel stared at him.
“My wife just told me not to trust you.”
The doctor's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Daniel noticed.
A fraction of a second.
Fear.
Then it vanished.
“Your wife is under extreme trauma,” Miller said. “She's confused.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Then why did you smile?”
The doctor blinked.
“What?”
“When you saw me.”
“I was trying to reassure you.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You were expecting me.”
The room fell silent.
Miller glanced toward the nurses.
“Security.”
Daniel immediately drew his weapon.
“Don't.”
The nurses froze.
Daniel's voice was low.
“Everyone takes three steps away from the table.”
“Mr. Mercer—”
“Now.”
The nurses obeyed.
Miller slowly raised his hands.
“You're making a mistake.”
“Maybe.”
Daniel looked at Chloe.
She was barely conscious.
Her hand trembled.
“Chloe, stay with me.”
Her eyes moved toward the doctor's surgical tray.
Daniel followed her gaze.
A small syringe lay beside the instruments.
The label had been removed.
His blood turned cold.
“What is that?”
Miller didn't answer.
Daniel looked at the nurse.
“What is in that syringe?”
“I don't know.”
Miller suddenly moved.
Daniel reacted instantly.
He grabbed the doctor's wrist and slammed it against the operating table.
The syringe fell.
Miller screamed.
“You don't understand!”
“I understand enough.”
Daniel kicked the syringe across the floor.
Then the lights went out.
Again.
The hospital plunged into darkness.
Someone screamed.
Daniel pulled Chloe's bed toward him.
“Stay behind me!”
A door slammed somewhere in the darkness.
Then footsteps.
Running.
Daniel raised his weapon.
A shadow appeared.
He fired a warning shot into the ceiling.
“Stop!”
The figure froze.
Emergency lights returned.
A nurse stood there.
Alone.
Shaking.
Daniel looked around.
Dr. Miller was gone.
So was the syringe.
And so was the medical chart containing Chloe's information.
Daniel's phone buzzed.
One new message.
MIDNIGHT IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK.
He looked at the clock.
11:47 PM.
Thirteen minutes.
Then another message appeared.
GO TO YOUR FATHER'S OLD LIBRARY.
Daniel frowned.
WHY?
The response:
BECAUSE HE LEFT YOU THE KEY.
Daniel stared at the screen.
He suddenly remembered something.
A childhood memory.
His father sitting in the mansion library late at night.
A black leather journal always locked inside the bottom drawer.
Daniel had forgotten about it.
Until now.
He turned toward Chloe.
“I have to go.”
Her eyes widened.
“No.”
“I'll be back.”
“No.”
Her voice was weak.
“Daniel… don't leave me.”
He walked back to her.
He kissed her forehead.
“I won't.”
A tear slipped down Chloe's cheek.
“You always say that.”
Daniel froze.
She whispered:
“And then you disappear.”
He understood.
She wasn't talking about tonight.
She was talking about the past.
The years when Daniel had buried himself in business.
The years when he had allowed Vanessa to manipulate the family.
The years when he had trusted his father without asking questions.
Daniel took her hand.
“I'm coming back.”
This time, he meant it.
He left the operating room.
Outside, two federal agents were waiting.
One of them held up a badge.
“Daniel Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“We need to talk.”
“About what?”
The agent looked toward the surgical room.
“Your father.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“What about him?”
The agent lowered his voice.
“Six years ago, your father didn't die naturally.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“What?”
“We believe he was murdered.”
The second agent handed him a photograph.
It showed Daniel's father sitting inside the Mercer mansion.
Taken six years earlier.
Daniel stared at it.
Then noticed something.
A woman stood behind his father.
Partially hidden.
Red coat.
Black gloves.
Dark hair.
Vanessa.
But Vanessa had told everyone she was in Europe that week.
Daniel slowly looked up.
“Where did you get this?”
The agent answered:
“From the second ledger.”
Daniel's phone suddenly vibrated.
One final message.
11:59 PM.
Then:
OPEN THE LIBRARY.
The lights flickered.
Daniel looked toward the elevator.
The doors opened.
Nobody was inside.
Except a small black envelope lying on the floor.
His name was written across it.
DANIEL MERCER.
He picked it up.
Inside was a single brass key.
And a photograph of Chloe.
Taken inside the hospital.
On the back, four words were written:
SHE ISN'T THE TARGET.
Daniel's blood ran cold.
He turned toward the operating room.
The door was closed.
And suddenly, the monitor alarms inside began screaming.
May you like
11:59 PM.
Daniel ran.
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