I called Rachel immediately.<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
The accusation struck harder because Rachel had been helping us all day.<\/p>\n
She found Julian\u2019s instruction blocking Clara.<\/p>\n
She retrieved my father\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n
She opened the bank vault.<\/p>\n
She read my parents\u2019 letters aloud.<\/p>\n
If she had been manipulating us, she had done it while placing evidence against herself within reach.<\/p>\n
That made no sense.<\/p>\n
Unless she knew we would not look.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter,\u201d I said, \u201cwhat exactly did Rachel do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe authenticated through the tablet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMultiple times.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat does not mean she planted it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why tell me not to send her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she is being watched.\u201d<\/p>\n
Different accusation.<\/p>\n
I almost missed the distinction.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel had never mentioned her father.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does he have to do with this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Peter said one name.<\/p>\n
\u201cGordon Pike.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adrian went completely still.<\/p>\n
The man Maya heard call him son.<\/p>\n
Adrian\u2019s biological father.<\/p>\n
\u201cRachel is Gordon\u2019s daughter?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adrian stared at Peter\u2019s voice as though it had taken physical form.<\/p>\n
\u201cHalf sister,\u201d Rebecca said.<\/p>\n
Adrian turned on her.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGordon had two families.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin looked ill.<\/p>\n
Apparently that was new to him too.<\/p>\n
Peter continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cRachel did not join Mercer Holdings for Gordon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk her.\u201d<\/p>\n
The line disconnected.<\/p>\n
I hated Peter\u2019s habit of ending conversations one answer too early.<\/p>\n
Clara already had her phone out.<\/p>\n
\u201cTry her personal number.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voicemail.<\/p>\n
Daniel said, \u201cLocate device.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz objected.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do this legally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen do it legally quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police obtained emergency location data because Rachel was now potentially connected to an armed kidnapping suspect.<\/p>\n
Her phone was moving.<\/p>\n
Chicago.<\/p>\n
Southbound.<\/p>\n
\u201cToward Liam\u2019s house?\u201d Clara asked.<\/p>\n
Ruiz checked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe went anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe may not have gotten your warning.\u201d<\/p>\n
I called house security.<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
That was worse.<\/p>\n
Then Rachel called.<\/p>\n
Her voice was breathless.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiam.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt your house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLeave.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone is inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRachel, leave now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
I exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice are coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI already called them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is inside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you go there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the watchmaker found something else after you disconnected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA tiny serial number on the inner case.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter said the Halcyon schedule is under the kitchen table.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow does Peter know that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows everything today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not comforting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRachel, is Gordon Pike your father?\u201d<\/p>\n
She stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
I heard it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho told you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBiologically.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you never tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I haven\u2019t spoken to him in fourteen years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adrian stepped closer to the speaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cRachel.\u201d<\/p>\n
She heard the voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAdrian Cole.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then: \u201cAndrew?\u201d<\/p>\n
He flinched.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca folded her arms.<\/p>\n
Another family reunion nobody wanted.<\/p>\n
Rachel continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother told me Gordon had a son before he met her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she say who?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you join Mercer Holdings?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo get away from him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer came immediately.<\/p>\n
I believed it.<\/p>\n
She explained that Gordon had been controlling, secretive and intermittently absent throughout her childhood.<\/p>\n
When she was nineteen, she found files in his garage containing photographs of people he monitored for private clients.<\/p>\n
One photograph showed me.<\/p>\n
Another showed Clara.<\/p>\n
Years before Rachel worked for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow old were you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwenty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know what it meant. You were just a businessman in a file.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you applied to Mercer Holdings.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree years later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCoincidence?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least she was honest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to know why my father had been watching you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long has Rachel worked for you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same year Adrian entered Mercer.<\/p>\n
Not coincidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Gordon send you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot until after I was hired.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me to quit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said Mercer was dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adrian laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds like him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel said, \u201cWho are you to him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Adrian answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis son.\u201d<\/p>\n
A long silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca almost smiled.<\/p>\n
Clara shot her a look.<\/p>\n
Rebecca stopped.<\/p>\n
Rachel continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t quit. Gordon got angry. We stopped speaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did your credentials authenticate through my house?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI used the tablet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter Clara left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Julian told me to retrieve archived communications.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian went pale.<\/p>\n
I turned toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
He rubbed his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked her to check whether Clara had sent anything to your home account.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me you thought she wanted no contact.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was beginning to suspect something was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the second week.\u201d<\/p>\n
My anger returned.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou suspected and said nothing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI checked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough Rachel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel spoke quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gave me authorization.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you find Clara\u2019s messages?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the tablet connected through a mirrored profile. I thought it was your archive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was Adrian\u2019s mirror.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adrian shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mirror architecture existed before I joined Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho built it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGordon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel made a small sound.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adrian looked almost as disturbed as she was.<\/p>\n
\u201cGordon consulted for Harrington security. He created the first communications replication system.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peter\u2019s factions suddenly looked less clean.<\/p>\n
Gordon was not simply hired muscle.<\/p>\n
He was technical infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The person who taught later generations how to watch without being seen.<\/p>\n
Rachel whispered, \u201cHe had copies of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen he knew I joined Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t he stop me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Adrian\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe he wanted you there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel went quiet.<\/p>\n
That possibility hurt.<\/p>\n
She had spent fourteen years believing she escaped her father.<\/p>\n
Maybe he had simply allowed her to move into position.<\/p>\n
\u201cRachel,\u201d Clara said gently, \u201cwhat do you see at the house?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFront door closed. Study window broken.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone moving?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStay in your car.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am.\u201d<\/p>\n
For once, someone followed instructions.<\/p>\n
Chicago police arrived.<\/p>\n
They cleared the house.<\/p>\n
Empty.<\/p>\n
Study searched.<\/p>\n
Tablet gone.<\/p>\n
Breakfast nook disturbed.<\/p>\n
Kitchen table overturned.<\/p>\n
Whoever entered knew exactly where to look.<\/p>\n
But according to police, the underside compartment remained closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t find it,\u201d Rachel said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause they were searching the wrong table.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peter\u2019s clue.<\/p>\n
The breakfast table was not where Clara and I usually sat.<\/p>\n
There was another table.<\/p>\n
Smaller.<\/p>\n
In the pantry alcove.<\/p>\n
The one we moved from our first apartment.<\/p>\n
I suddenly remembered insisting we keep it because the wood matched nothing else.<\/p>\n
Clara corrected me.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat table came from your father\u2019s garage.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n
The true original had been stored by my father, then returned to us disguised as something else.<\/p>\n
\u201cRachel, pantry alcove.\u201d<\/p>\n
She went with police.<\/p>\n
The table looked ordinary.<\/p>\n
Underneath, one screw had a different head.<\/p>\n
An officer removed it.<\/p>\n
A narrow compartment opened.<\/p>\n
Inside:<\/p>\n
A paper ownership schedule.<\/p>\n
A sealed drive.<\/p>\n
A brass key.<\/p>\n
And a photograph.<\/p>\n
Rachel showed us the photograph first.<\/p>\n
Gordon Pike.<\/p>\n
Peter Lawson.<\/p>\n
My father.<\/p>\n
Taken outside our Chicago house.<\/p>\n
Six years ago.<\/p>\n
Three years after my father supposedly died.<\/p>\n
Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
I stared until the image blurred.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara touched my arm.<\/p>\n
The date stamp was clear.<\/p>\n
Could be altered.<\/p>\n
Could be wrong.<\/p>\n
But the photograph showed our house after a renovation completed seven years ago.<\/p>\n
My father had died nine years ago.<\/p>\n
Daniel said what I could not.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas survived his death.\u201d<\/p>\n
My knees weakened.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca watched me.<\/p>\n
For once, she had no clever answer.<\/p>\n
Martin looked shocked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t know?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe must have.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGordon?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously.\u201d<\/p>\n
The network of dead men had just gained another living member.<\/p>\n
I thought of the bank letter.<\/p>\n
If you are hearing about this after I am gone.<\/p>\n
Careful wording.<\/p>\n
Not dead.<\/p>\n
Gone.<\/p>\n
My father had taught me to read contracts.<\/p>\n
He had hidden himself in one word.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy fake his death?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel asked.<\/p>\n
Rebecca answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo disappear from Harrington.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why leave Liam believing he was dead?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cProtection.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word made me furious.<\/p>\n
Clara saw it.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent nine years grieving a man who may be alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not say\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
She stopped herself.<\/p>\n
Then almost smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cFine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel opened the ownership schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiam.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter was right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Halcyon\u2019s structure appeared across dozens of entities.<\/p>\n
At the bottom were beneficial owners.<\/p>\n
Rebecca.<\/p>\n
Adrian.<\/p>\n
Evelyn.<\/p>\n
Daniel.<\/p>\n
Julian.<\/p>\n
Several pension vehicles.<\/p>\n
Foundations.<\/p>\n
Old Harrington trusts.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
Kitchen Table Trust.<\/p>\n
Controlling contingent beneficiary:<\/p>\n
Thomas Mercer.<\/p>\n
Status:<\/p>\n
ACTIVE.<\/p>\n
Active.<\/p>\n
Not deceased.<\/p>\n
My father was legally recorded somewhere inside Halcyon as living.<\/p>\n
The world narrowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAddress?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRepresentative?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel checked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
She went silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cRachel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGordon Pike.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adrian swore.<\/p>\n
My father and Gordon had been working together.<\/p>\n
The same Gordon connected to Margaret\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
The same man who fathered Adrian.<\/p>\n
The same man who watched me.<\/p>\n
The same man whose daughter became my assistant.<\/p>\n
Nothing in my life felt accidental anymore.<\/p>\n
Then Rachel turned over the photograph.<\/p>\n
My father had written on the back.<\/p>\n
LIAM WILL THINK I ABANDONED HIM.<\/p>\n
Underneath:<\/p>\n
LET HIM.<\/p>\n
My anger became something colder.<\/p>\n
Clara read it through the camera.<\/p>\n
She said nothing.<\/p>\n
Good.<\/p>\n
There was nothing to say.<\/p>\n
The last line:<\/p>\n
IF HE KNOWS I AM ALIVE, THEY WILL USE HIM TO FIND ME.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Thomas hid to protect the investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
My voice sounded unfamiliar.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hid because he decided I could survive grieving him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody corrected me.<\/p>\n
That was what he had done.<\/p>\n
Whatever reason he gave himself.<\/p>\n
Rachel found one more note beneath the schedule.<\/p>\n
Recent.<\/p>\n
Three words.<\/p>\n
GORDON HAS THOMAS.<\/p>\n
Adrian stepped toward the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel repeated it.<\/p>\n
The handwriting belonged to Peter.<\/p>\n
The date was yesterday.<\/p>\n
My father had not been hiding freely anymore.<\/p>\n
He was a prisoner.<\/p>\n
And Gordon Pike\u2014the man whose children had unknowingly spent years on opposite sides of my company\u2014was holding him.<\/p>\n
I called Rachel immediately. No answer. Again. Nothing. The accusation struck harder because Rachel had been helping us all day. She found Julian\u2019s instruction blocking Clara. She retrieved my father\u2019s … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32117"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32164,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32117\/revisions\/32164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}