Chapter 14: The Last Lie
Detective Bennett immediately positioned herself between Mercer and the rest of us.
"Lieutenant Mercer, put the weapon down.""
Mercer laughed.
"Laura, you should have stayed out of this.""
Detective Bennett kept her weapon raised.
"You're under investigation. Put it down.""
"Investigation?""
He shook his head.
"You have no idea how much trouble you've caused.""
I held the envelope against my chest.
"What do you want?""
Mercer looked at me.
"The original documents. Your father was smart enough to hide them, but not smart enough to destroy them.""
"Where are they?""
"Under the chapel.""
My mother stepped forward.
"James, please. It's over.""
He turned toward her.
"Margaret, you should have stayed dead.""
David moved closer to me.
I could see the anger in his face.
"You were at the hospital," he said.
Mercer looked at him.
"Yes.""
"You told Richard I was dead.""
"That was the arrangement.""
David clenched his fists.
"You let me live under a false identity for eight years.""
Mercer shrugged.
"You were supposed to disappear.""
I looked at Detective Bennett.
She was watching Mercer's hands.
Two officers were moving through the trees behind him.
I understood what she was doing.
Keeping him talking.
"Why did you help Richard?"" I asked.
Mercer looked at me with contempt.
"Money.""
"That's it?""
"Money buys everything, Michael. Homes. Businesses.
Police reports. Even funerals.""
My stomach turned.
"Did you kill my father?""
Mercer smiled.
"Your father was a stubborn man.""
"Did you kill him?""
He tilted his head.
"Richard handled that.""
My mother began crying.
"I trusted you.""
Mercer looked at her.
"You trusted the wrong people.""
Then he glanced toward the chapel.
"Your husband was going to destroy everything. Robert was going to confess. Richard needed a solution.""
"What happened to Dad's body?"" I asked.
Mercer smiled.
"That's the part you still don't understand.""
He stepped closer.
"The man you buried was a drifter who died in a motorcycle crash. Richard arranged the clothes and the identification. The funeral home never questioned anything.""
I stared at him.
"Where is my father?""
Mercer's smile disappeared.
For the first time, he seemed annoyed.
"Why does it matter? He's been dead for twelve years.""
My mother suddenly spoke.
"You're lying.""
Mercer turned.
"Excuse me?""
She stepped forward.
"I saw Thomas the night Richard brought him to the hospital.""
Detective Bennett's eyes widened.
"Thomas?""
My mother nodded.
"Your father. He was alive.""
I felt my heart stop.
Mercer raised his weapon.
"Shut your mouth.""
But my mother continued.
"They told me he had died. They made me sign the papers. But I saw him move.""
David grabbed her arm.
"Mom, what are you saying?""
She looked at him.
"Your father was taken to a private clinic. Richard said he would make sure nobody ever saw him again.""
I could barely breathe.
"Where?""
My mother shook her head.
"I don't know.""
Mercer laughed.
"Enough.""
He pointed his weapon at the envelope.
"Put it down.""
I looked at Detective Bennett.
She gave the smallest movement of her head.
Wait.
I slowly lowered the envelope.
"Fine.""
Mercer stepped forward.
"Good.""
I placed it on the ground.
He approached.
Then I said something that made him stop.
"Why did you leave the original evidence under the chapel?""
He stared at me.
"What?""
"Why didn't you take it twelve years ago?""
Mercer hesitated.
My mother answered.
"Because he couldn't find the key.""
I looked at the brass key in my hand.
Mercer's eyes moved toward it.
For a moment, his expression changed.
Then he lunged.
Detective Bennett shouted.
"Police!""
Two officers emerged from the trees.
Mercer fired.
The bullet struck the chapel's wooden door.
David tackled him from the side.
They crashed into the grass.
The gun slid beneath the stone fountain.
Detective Bennett rushed forward.
"Don't move!""
Mercer struggled, but the officers pinned his arms and secured the handcuffs.
I ran toward David.
"Are you okay?""
He nodded.
Then he looked at Mercer.
"You're finished.""
Mercer spat blood onto the grass.
"You think Richard is going to let you walk away?""
Detective Bennett pulled him upright.
"Richard is already in custody.""
Mercer laughed.
"Not for long.""
She looked at him.
"Why?""
He smiled.
"Because he has a witness.""
I felt my stomach tighten.
"Who?""
Mercer looked directly at my mother.
"Her.""
My mother went pale.
"That's not true.""
Mercer leaned closer.
"Tell them about the money, Margaret.""
She shook her head.
"Stop.""
"Tell them what you received after Robert died.""
I turned toward her.
"What money?""
My mother covered her face.
Mercer laughed.
"Your mother received nearly two million dollars in exchange for keeping quiet. She wasn't just afraid, Michael. She was paid.""
I stared at her.
"Is that true?""
She began sobbing.
"Yes.""
The word was barely audible.
David stepped away.
"Mom...""
She looked at both of us.
"I thought I could use the money to buy our freedom. Richard said if I cooperated, he'd leave you alone.""
"Where is it?"" Detective Bennett asked.
My mother looked down.
"I gave most of it away.""
"To whom?""
"Families who lost their homes. People Richard had cheated.""
Mercer laughed.
"She thinks giving the money away makes her innocent.""
Detective Bennett ordered another officer to escort my mother to a separate vehicle.
Before she left, she turned toward me.
"Michael, there's something else.""
I stood still.
She reached for my hand.
"Your father may still be alive.""
My heart pounded.
"Where?""
"I received a letter two years ago. It came from a medical facility in West Virginia.""
"Why didn't you tell us?""
"Because I didn't know if it was real.""
"What did it say?""
She looked at me.
"That a patient named Thomas had been admitted under a different identity. He had no identification and suffered memory loss after a head injury.""
David grabbed her arm.
"Where is the facility?""
She gave us the name.
Riverside Care Center.
Detective Bennett immediately called the local authorities.
Within minutes, she received a response.
The facility had closed eighteen months earlier.
All residents had been transferred.
But one patient had disappeared during the move.
A man listed only as Thomas R.
I felt my knees weaken.
"Where did he go?""
Detective Bennett checked the report.
"According to the transfer records, he was moved to a private residence.""
"Whose residence?""
She looked up.
Then she slowly turned the phone toward me.
The address belonged to Richard Hale.
I stared at the screen.
Richard had been keeping my father.
All this time.
Twelve years of lies.
Twelve years of grief.
And the man I'd thought was buried beneath a stone monument might still be somewhere waiting for his sons.
Detective Bennett immediately arranged a search warrant.
David stood beside me.
"Mike, if it's really Dad...""
I looked at him.
"We're bringing him home.""
That evening, officers searched Richard's private residence.
They found medical equipment, old identification documents, and several locked rooms.
But there was no sign of our father.
Instead, they found a small bedroom with a single bed.
On the bedside table was a photograph of our family.
Me.
David.
Our mother.
And our father.
Someone had written a sentence across the back.
*If the boys come looking, tell them I never stopped waiting.*
I turned the photograph over.
Then I noticed a handwritten address beneath the sentence.
A small cabin near the West Virginia border.
Detective Bennett looked at me.
"Do you want to go?""
I nodded.
David took my hand.
May you like
For the first time in eight years, I wasn't afraid of what we might find.
I was afraid we might be too late.
