Chapter 2 - Behind Lincoln
Daniel left the hospital without telling his mother he was coming.
He drove through the city as rain began beating against the windshield.
Every logical part of his mind tried to build an explanation.
Margaret knew Richard’s study better than anyone.
Perhaps she had remembered Natalie’s words.
Perhaps she was curious.
Perhaps she was trying to protect something private.
But another voice kept returning.
Natalie’s voice from three years earlier.
Please believe me.
He had not.
Daniel reached Mercer House at 2:31 a.m.
Most of the guests were gone.
Police tape remained near the staircase.
A single patrol officer was finishing interviews with staff members near the front entrance.
Daniel entered through the east wing.
Richard’s study was empty.
The Lincoln portrait hung exactly where it had always hung.
Daniel closed the door.
Locked it.
Then pulled the painting away from the wall.
Nothing.
Dark wood paneling.
No safe.
No hidden door.
He almost laughed.
Then he noticed four small scratches beside the frame.
Fresh scratches.
Daniel ran his fingers along the panel.
One section moved.
A narrow compartment opened.
Inside was nothing except a thin layer of dust.
Something had been removed.
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
The study door opened.
Margaret stood there.
“You should be at the hospital.”
Daniel turned.
“You were in here.”
“So were you.”
“What did you take?”
Margaret’s face remained expressionless.
“Nothing.”
“I saw you on camera.”
“You saw me remove a painting.”
“And?”
“And discover an empty compartment.”
Daniel watched her.
She was good.
Very good.
“Why did Dad have a hidden compartment?”
“I have no idea.”
“Natalie does.”
Margaret’s mouth tightened.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The reason she came back.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What reason?”
“To get inside your head again.”
“Mom.”
“She ruined you once.”
“No. She was accused of stealing from us.”
“She ran.”
“Maybe because no one believed her.”
Margaret stared at him.
Something changed between them.
Not because Daniel had accused her.
Because for the first time in three years, he had defended Natalie.
“You don’t understand what kind of woman she is.”
“Then explain it to me.”
“I already did.”
“No. You gave me evidence.”
“Yes.”
“Evidence that conveniently appeared after Natalie told Dad she thought money was disappearing from the foundation.”
Margaret’s eyes flickered.
Daniel saw it.
It lasted less than a second.
But he saw it.
“You knew she spoke to him.”
“Everyone knew.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I didn’t.”
Margaret looked toward the door.
“You’re exhausted.”
“Where is whatever you took?”
“I took nothing.”
“Then you won’t mind if I search the house.”
Margaret smiled.
“You own half of it.”
Richard’s will had divided Mercer House between Daniel and Margaret.
At least that was what Daniel had always believed.
He went upstairs.
Margaret watched him go.
Daniel searched for two hours.
Nothing.
At dawn he returned to the hospital.
Natalie was sitting upright, despite the pain.
The moment she saw his face, she knew.
“It was gone.”
“Yes.”
“Margaret?”
“She got there first.”
Natalie looked away.
Daniel sat beside her.
“What was supposed to be inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“You told me it mattered.”
“Because Richard told me it mattered.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Tell me everything.”
Natalie hesitated.
Then she began.
Four years earlier, Richard Mercer had called Natalie into his office at the foundation.
He was frightened.
Natalie had never seen him frightened.
He showed her six payments totaling $11.8 million.
Each had gone through separate charities.
Each charity had later transferred money to companies registered overseas.
Richard believed someone inside the Mercer organization was laundering money through the family’s philanthropic accounts.
He asked Natalie to help because she had previously worked in compliance law.
“Why didn’t he ask me?”
“He said he didn’t know who he could trust.”
Daniel flinched.
“Including me?”
Natalie said nothing.
That answer hurt more.
Richard and Natalie investigated quietly.
Within two weeks, Richard became convinced someone knew.
Files disappeared.
Emails were deleted.
His driver reported being followed.
Then Richard gave Natalie a brass key.
He told her:
“If something happens to me, don’t give this to Daniel until you know he’s ready to see who his family really is.”
The following evening, Richard died.
Three months later, Natalie was framed for the foundation theft.
“And the key?” Daniel asked.
“I hid it.”
“Where?”
Natalie looked at him.
“In the one place Margaret would never search.”
“Where?”
“My mother’s grave.”
Daniel stared at her.
Natalie’s mother, Elaine Reeves, had died ten years earlier.
“You buried it?”
“Inside the flower vase behind the headstone.”
Daniel stood immediately.
Natalie caught his sleeve.
“Daniel.”
He looked at her.
“If it’s still there, don’t open anything at the cemetery.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard told me the key wasn’t the evidence.”
“What does it open?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel left.
The cemetery was forty minutes outside the city.
At 8:12 a.m., he reached Elaine Reeves’s grave.
The vase was still there.
He lifted it.
Underneath was a rusted metal cylinder wrapped in plastic.
Inside lay a brass key.
And a folded piece of paper.
Daniel opened it.
Richard’s handwriting.
Only one sentence.
THE HOUSE WAS NEVER YOUR MOTHER’S.
Below it was a number.
Daniel stared at it.
Then his phone rang.
Rosa.
He answered.
“Daniel?”
Her breathing was frantic.
“What’s wrong?”
“I found something in Mrs. Mercer’s room.”
“What?”
“Your father’s watch.”
Daniel frowned.
“My father’s watch?”
“The one police said disappeared in the crash.”
Daniel’s body went rigid.
Rosa whispered:
“There’s blood on the clasp.”
Then a door slammed somewhere behind her.
Rosa gasped.
The call ended.
Daniel called back.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
He raced toward the car.
Twenty-three minutes later, police arrived at Mercer House.
Rosa was gone.
May you like
Her phone lay shattered on the kitchen floor.
And Margaret Mercer claimed she had never seen her leave.
