Chapter 8 - The Mercer Woman
They survived the attack.
Barely.
Norah's father had been grazed in the shoulder.
Dominic dragged him into the basement while his men secured the property.
“You said my mother,” Dominic demanded.
The older man looked at him.
“Your mother ordered your uncle's death.”
“My mother died eight years ago.”
“I know.”
“Then explain.”
“She wasn't working alone.”
“Who?”
The man shook his head.
“I can't.”
Dominic grabbed his collar.
“You've had twenty years to be afraid.”
“I've had twenty years to keep my daughter alive.”
Norah stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Dominic released him.
Her father looked at her.
“I am sorry.”
Norah's eyes filled with tears.
“You should be.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
Dominic asked:
“Where is the ledger?”
Her father looked at Norah.
“She has it.”
Norah froze.
“What?”
“Your mother hid it inside something you received when you were eight.”
Norah thought.
A music box.
Her mother's old music box.
She remembered it.
It had disappeared years ago.
“Where is it?”
“I don't know.”
Dominic immediately called his men.
“Find every item Elena Bennett left behind.”
Hours later, they located the music box at a storage facility.
Norah opened it.
Inside was a false compartment.
A tiny memory card.
Dominic inserted it into a laptop.
Files appeared.
Names.
Bank accounts.
Photographs.
Politicians.
Judges.
Police commanders.
Then one name appeared at the top.
VALERIE WHITMORE.
Norah stared.
“She's involved.”
Dominic nodded.
Then another file opened automatically.
A video.
Valerie sat in a room with a man Norah didn't recognize.
The man turned toward the camera.
Dominic stopped breathing.
His father.
Alive.
Norah looked at him.
“Your father?”
Dominic nodded slowly.
The video played.
Valerie spoke first.
“Dominic still trusts the wrong people.”
His father's voice answered:
“He'll trust whoever saves him.”
Valerie smiled.
“Then we give him someone worth saving.”
The screen went black.
Norah looked at Dominic.
“That's why she targeted me.”
“No.”
His expression was ice.
“She didn't target you.”
“Then what?”
“She chose you.”
“Why?”
May you like
Dominic stared at the blank screen.
“Because she knew I'd protect you.”
