Chapter 8 — Noah’s Secret Recording
Chapter 8 — Noah’s Secret Recording
The mansion had never felt so quiet.
Not even the rain made a sound.
Every electronic lock had engaged simultaneously, sealing the Mercer estate from the inside.
Dominic stood in the financial office with his gun raised.
Michael Voss was still beside Noah.
The fourth blue fragment rested in Dominic's palm.
And on the computer screen, the same message remained:
$286,000,000 TRANSFER COMPLETE.
THANK YOU FOR FINDING IT FOR US.
Dominic looked at Voss.
“Unlock the house.”
Voss shook his head.
“I can't.”
“You just told me you've been waiting twenty-five years to meet me.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know what happens when I stop asking nicely.”
Voss didn't move.
“I didn't lock the house.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Who did?”
Voss looked toward the hallway.
“The person who has been controlling this family since before you were born.”
A chill passed through the room.
Natalie pulled Noah closer.
“Who?”
Voss looked at her.
“Your mother knew.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Don't use my mother's name to frighten us.”
“I'm not.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
Voss took a breath.
“The money was never stolen.”
Dominic stared.
“What?”
“It was moved.”
“By whom?”
“By Catherine.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“You already told me that.”
“No.”
Voss shook his head.
“You still don't understand.”
He pointed toward the computer.
“That transfer wasn't made tonight.”
Dominic looked at the timestamp.
His expression changed.
It had been authorized three weeks earlier.
Three weeks before anyone discovered the hidden room.
Three weeks before Brooke disappeared.
Three weeks before Dominic knew Richard was alive.
Someone had planned this long before tonight.
Voss whispered:
“Your mother knew you would eventually find the money.”
Dominic stared at him.
“And she knew you would come for it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Voss looked at Noah.
“Because she didn't leave the money to your family.”
He paused.
“She left it as bait.”
Noah looked confused.
“What is bait?”
Nobody answered.
Dominic crouched in front of him.
“Noah, I need to ask you something.”
The boy nodded.
“Do you remember Grandma giving you that medal?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“On my birthday.”
“Did she say anything?”
Noah thought.
“She said I shouldn't lose it.”
“Anything else?”
He shook his head.
Dominic noticed the boy's expression.
“Noah.”
“Yes?”
“Did Grandma ever ask you to keep something secret from me?”
Noah looked at his mother.
Natalie closed her eyes.
“It's okay,” she whispered.
Noah slowly nodded.
“Yes.”
Dominic's heart sank.
“What did she tell you?”
Noah reached into his pocket.
“I have something.”
He pulled out a tiny old voice recorder.
Dominic stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“Grandma gave it to me.”
“When?”
“Before she died.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Noah looked frightened.
“She said Daddy would be angry.”
Dominic's face softened.
“I'm not angry.”
Noah held out the recorder.
“She said I should play it when everyone was together.”
Dominic looked around the room.
Everyone was there.
Natalie.
Emma.
Richard.
Brooke.
Voss.
Even Marcus's absence seemed to hang over them.
Dominic pressed the button.
Static filled the room.
Then Catherine's voice emerged.
“Noah, my darling.”
Natalie covered her mouth.
The recording continued.
“If you're hearing this, you're older now.”
Noah stared at the device.
“I hope your mother is beside you.”
Natalie began crying.
“I hope Uncle Dominic is protecting you.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“And I hope the people who hurt our family have finally stopped lying.”
A pause.
Then Catherine said:
“There is something I need you to know.”
The room became completely still.
“The Mercer fortune was never meant to belong to Dominic.”
Dominic opened his eyes.
Catherine continued.
“It was never meant to belong to Natalie.”
A long silence.
“It was meant to belong to the child who would have no reason to inherit the sins of his grandparents.”
Noah looked at Dominic.
“Me?”
Dominic couldn't answer.
Catherine continued.
“Noah, you are not responsible for this family.”
“You are not responsible for its money.”
“And you are not responsible for its secrets.”
Her voice softened.
“But one day, someone will try to convince you otherwise.”
The recording crackled.
“When that happens, remember this.”
A pause.
“Never trust the person who tells you that power is the only way to stay safe.”
The recording stopped.
Noah looked up.
“Is that all?”
Dominic stared at the device.
“No.”
He noticed a second button.
He pressed it.
Another recording began.
This time Catherine's voice was different.
Lower.
Urgent.
“Dominic, if you're hearing this, then Noah has already given you the first recording.”
Dominic froze.
Catherine continued:
“Do not blame him.”
“He has done exactly what I asked.”
Dominic looked at Noah.
His eyes filled with tears.
Catherine continued.
“You have probably discovered the money.”
“You have probably discovered Richard.”
“And you have probably learned that your father wasn't the man you believed him to be.”
A pause.
“But there is one thing you still don't know.”
Dominic whispered:
“What?”
Catherine answered from the recording.
“Your father didn't create the empire.”
Dominic's face changed.
“He inherited it.”
Silence.
“He inherited it from a man named Victor Mercer.”
Richard's head snapped upward.
“No.”
Catherine continued.
“Victor was my father.”
Dominic stared at Richard.
His uncle looked horrified.
Catherine's voice became quieter.
“And Victor was the first person to use the Mercer fortune for something other than business.”
“What?” Dominic whispered.
The recording answered.
“Politics.”
Richard walked backward.
“No.”
Dominic turned toward him.
“You knew.”
“I knew about Victor.”
“You knew about the political network?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because it was supposed to be dead.”
Voss interrupted.
“It wasn't.”
Everyone turned.
Voss stepped closer.
“The network survived.”
Dominic looked at him.
“How?”
“Because Catherine never destroyed it.”
“Why?”
“Because she needed it.”
“For what?”
Voss's expression hardened.
“To protect her children.”
Richard shook his head.
“That's not what she told me.”
Voss looked at him.
“She didn't tell you everything.”
Richard's face darkened.
“What are you saying?”
Voss pointed toward the blue fragments.
“The ledger wasn't an account book.”
Dominic looked down.
“What was it?”
“A list.”
“Of?”
“Everyone who owed Catherine a favor.”
Dominic felt his stomach tighten.
“How many?”
“Forty-three.”
“Politicians?”
“Some.”
“Judges?”
“Yes.”
“Police?”
“Yes.”
“Businessmen?”
“Yes.”
“Why would my mother keep that?”
“Because every one of them had betrayed someone.”
Dominic looked at Catherine's recording device.
“She collected their secrets.”
Voss nodded.
“Then she used those secrets to keep your family alive.”
Natalie whispered:
“That doesn't sound like Mom.”
Voss looked at her.
“You only knew the mother.”
He paused.
“You never knew the woman who built the wall around you.”
A metallic click sounded from the hallway.
Everyone turned.
The front door unlocked.
Then the side doors.
Then the garage.
The house was opening itself.
Dominic raised his weapon.
“Who is controlling the system?”
No answer.
Voss looked at his phone.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He showed Dominic the screen.
A message had appeared.
COME TO THE LIBRARY. ALONE.
Dominic stared.
“Who sent that?”
Voss shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Another message appeared.
BRING THE FOUR PIECES.
Dominic looked at the blue fragments.
“Someone knows exactly what we have.”
Richard stepped forward.
“It's him.”
“Who?”
“The man behind the network.”
Dominic looked at Richard.
“You said the network was dead.”
“I was wrong.”
“Who runs it?”
Richard's face went pale.
“I don't know his name.”
Voss answered quietly.
“I do.”
Everyone looked at him.
Voss whispered:
“Gabriel Mercer.”
Dominic frowned.
“Who is Gabriel Mercer?”
Voss stared at him.
“Your grandfather's firstborn son.”
Dominic's blood ran cold.
“My grandfather had another son?”
Richard closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because he disappeared.”
“When?”
“Before you were born.”
“Why?”
Richard looked toward the library.
“Because he murdered someone.”
“Who?”
Richard whispered:
“Victor Mercer.”
The library doors stood open.
Dominic entered alone.
The others waited behind him.
The room was dark.
At the center of the floor sat a wooden box.
Dominic approached.
Inside was a fifth blue fragment.
And a photograph.
He picked it up.
It showed a young Catherine standing beside a man Dominic had never seen.
On the back:
GABRIEL — 1978.
Dominic stared.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Who is this?”
A man's voice replied.
“You finally found the fifth piece.”
“Gabriel?”
The man laughed softly.
“So Richard finally told you my name.”
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
Dominic looked around.
“You're in the house.”
“I've been in the house many times.”
His blood ran cold.
“How?”
“Your family has always had servants.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Who are you?”
“You'll know soon.”
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
“You already have the money.”
“No.”
The voice became colder.
“The money was never the objective.”
“Then what is?”
“The names.”
Dominic looked at the blue fragments.
“The names of everyone in the network.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever controls those names controls half the country.”
Dominic tightened his grip.
“And you want that power.”
“No.”
A pause.
“I want revenge.”
The call ended.
Dominic immediately turned.
“Everyone out.”
Natalie frowned.
“What happened?”
“Someone is inside the mansion.”
Emma looked toward the servants' hall.
“How do you know?”
“Because the person who called me said he's been inside before.”
Richard's face changed.
“The servants.”
Dominic looked at him.
“What?”
“Your father always kept someone inside the house.”
“Who?”
Richard didn't answer.
Then Emma stepped forward.
“I know.”
Dominic turned.
“Who?”
Emma's voice trembled.
“There was an old gardener.”
“Name?”
“Samuel.”
Dominic frowned.
“Samuel what?”
“Samuel Gray.”
Voss suddenly went pale.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
“I know that name.”
“How?”
Voss swallowed.
“Because Samuel Gray was Victor Mercer's personal driver.”
Dominic stared.
“He died thirty years ago.”
Voss shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“He was never a driver.”
“Then what was he?”
Voss whispered:
“Victor's executioner.”
A scream came from upstairs.
Natalie.
Dominic ran.
Richard followed.
They reached Catherine's old bedroom.
Natalie was standing beside the window.
Noah was gone.
Dominic froze.
“Where is my nephew?”
Natalie's face was white.
“He was right beside me.”
The window was open.
A rope hung outside.
Dominic rushed toward it.
“Noah!”
No answer.
Then his phone vibrated.
A video message.
He opened it.
Noah appeared on the screen.
He was sitting in a dark room.
He wasn't crying.
He was holding the tiny recorder.
A man's hand rested on his shoulder.
The man spoke.
“Dominic.”
The camera shifted.
The face appeared.
An older man.
Gray hair.
Sharp eyes.
Dominic had never seen him before.
But Richard had.
His uncle whispered:
“Gabriel.”
Gabriel smiled.
“You have five pieces.”
Dominic stared at the screen.
“Let him go.”
“Of course.”
“Now.”
“Not yet.”
Gabriel looked at Noah.
“Your nephew has something I need.”
“What?”
“The sixth piece.”
Dominic's heart stopped.
Noah slowly opened his hand.
Another blue fragment lay in his palm.
Dominic stared.
“How?”
Gabriel smiled.
“Your mother hid it inside the boy.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“What does that mean?”
Gabriel leaned toward the camera.
“Ask Catherine.”
The video ended.
Natalie collapsed into a chair.
“Noah.”
Dominic grabbed her shoulders.
“We'll get him back.”
“How?”
“I don't know yet.”
Richard stepped closer.
“I do.”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
“Gabriel always had one weakness.”
“What?”
“His obsession with Catherine.”
Dominic stared.
“He loved her.”
Richard nodded.
“She was the only person who ever rejected him.”
“Then why did he kill Victor?”
“Because Victor tried to separate them.”
Dominic looked stunned.
“Gabriel killed his own father because of my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Catherine protect him?”
“She didn't.”
Richard shook his head.
“She tried to stop him.”
“And failed.”
“Yes.”
Dominic looked at the six fragments.
Five were on the table.
The sixth was with Noah.
Only one remained.
“The seventh piece.”
Richard's face changed.
“Gabriel has it.”
Dominic stared.
“Then why does he need Noah?”
“Because the sixth piece isn't the important one.”
“What is?”
Richard looked toward the ceiling.
“The sixth piece tells you where the seventh is.”
Dominic's phone vibrated again.
A text.
MIDNIGHT. OLD MERCER DOCKS.
COME ALONE.
BRING THE FIVE PIECES.
IF YOU BRING THE POLICE, NOAH DIES.
Dominic read the message twice.
Then another message arrived.
A photograph.
Noah was holding the sixth fragment.
Behind him stood Gabriel.
And on the wall behind Gabriel was a familiar portrait.
Catherine.
Dominic's blood ran cold.
Because beneath the portrait was a sentence written in black ink:
SHE KNEW WHO WOULD BETRAY HER.
Dominic stared at it.
Then he noticed something else.
The photograph had been taken inside a room he knew.
A room inside his own mansion.
He looked at Emma.
“Where is the old nursery?”
Emma frowned.
“Why?”
“Answer me.”
“The third floor.”
Dominic ran upstairs.
The nursery door was locked.
He forced it open.
Inside, everything was covered in dust.
Except one chair.
Someone had been sitting there recently.
On the floor lay an old cassette.
Dominic picked it up.
A label was attached.
NOAH — PLAY ONLY WHEN YOUR FATHER IS READY.
Dominic stared.
Then he pressed play.
Catherine's voice filled the nursery.
“My dearest Noah.”
A pause.
“If this recording has reached you, then Gabriel has already found you.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Catherine continued:
“I am sorry.”
“I wanted to protect you from this.”
“But there is one final truth.”
Her voice cracked.
“The person who betrayed me wasn't Gabriel.”
Dominic opened his eyes.
Catherine whispered:
“It was someone I loved more than anyone.”
The recording stopped.
Dominic stared at the machine.
Behind him, Natalie whispered:
“Who?”
Dominic didn't answer.
May you like
Because on the wall, beneath Catherine's old portrait, someone had written a single word.
NATALIE.
