Chapter 12 - Victoria Disappears
Victoria Mercer left the United States using someone else’s passport.
That was the theory.
Her own passport had been flagged within an hour of David’s cooperation.
But security footage showed a woman matching her height and build boarding a private jet in Milwaukee.
The jet landed in Montreal.
From there, the trail disappeared.
Grant turned over everything he knew.
Accounts.
Properties.
Family offices.
Lawyers.
Victoria’s old friends.
It was not enough.
For nine days, she remained missing.
During those nine days, Mercer Healthcare nearly collapsed.
Banks tightened lending.
Vendors demanded guarantees.
News networks camped outside hospitals.
The stock price fell forty-two percent.
Employees who had done nothing wrong watched retirement accounts shrink.
Grant resigned as CEO.
The board appointed Evelyn Shaw interim chair and asked me to assist with restructuring.
I said yes on one condition.
No family control.
Not Rowan.
Not Mercer.
Independent governance.
Evelyn agreed.
For the first time, I stopped thinking about destroying an empire.
I started thinking about saving the people trapped inside it.
Clinics remained open.
Payroll continued.
Rowan Capital provided emergency financing, but under transparent board oversight.
Some executives hated me.
Others thanked me privately.
Grant stayed away.
He had been charged with financial offenses related to falsified approvals and obstruction.
His attorneys negotiated bail.
He surrendered his passport.
We spoke only through lawyers.
Then, on the tenth morning, I received a package.
No return address.
Inside was my wedding photograph.
Grant and me on the terrace at Lake Geneva.
Smiling.
Young.
Stupidly happy.
Across my face someone had drawn a black line.
On the back, written in Victoria’s handwriting:
YOU TOOK MY SON.
NOW I TAKE WHAT YOUR FATHER LEFT YOU.
I called Naomi.
Within an hour, security doubled.
“What does she mean?” I asked.
“We don’t know.”
Elias did.
When he saw the photograph, his face turned gray.
“There is one Rowan asset Victoria has always wanted.”
“What?”
“Blackthorn.”
I knew the name.
Blackthorn Estate.
My father’s old property in Wisconsin.
I had not visited since his funeral.
“What’s there?”
“Archives.”
“What kind?”
“Original Mercer restructuring records.”
My pulse quickened.
“Why are they there?”
“Your father did not trust digital storage.”
Of course he didn’t.
“What could Victoria destroy?”
“The side letter Richard signed.”
“We have copies.”
“Scans.”
“Are originals important?”
“In court?”
Elias nodded.
“Potentially very.”
We called local police.
Security teams headed toward Blackthorn.
I went too.
Naomi argued.
I ignored her.
The estate looked exactly as I remembered.
Stone walls.
Dark lake.
Old oak trees.
My father’s study still smelled faintly of cedar.
The archive safe was behind a hidden panel.
Elias entered the code.
The door opened.
Empty.
My heart dropped.
“Someone was here.”
Naomi examined the floor.
“No forced entry.”
“Who knew the code?”
“Your father.”
“He’s dead.”
“Me.”
“Anyone else?”
Elias looked toward me.
Then lowered his eyes.
“Rebecca.”
Of course.
We called Rebecca.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Then Elias’s phone rang.
Rebecca.
He put it on speaker.
“Where are you?”
Rebecca was crying.
“I’m sorry.”
My entire body went cold.
“Rebecca, what did you do?”
“She said she’d kill my mother.”
“Who?”
“Victoria.”
“Where are the documents?”
“I gave them to her.”
Naomi signaled for technicians to trace the call.
“Where are you now?”
Rebecca sobbed.
“Blackthorn.”
We all looked around.
“What?”
Then a sound came from upstairs.
A floorboard.
Security moved instantly.
We rushed toward the main hall.
Rebecca stood at the top of the staircase.
Blood on her forehead.
May you like
Behind her was Victoria Mercer.
And in Victoria’s hand was my father’s original red ledger.
