Chapter 7 - My Mother Finally Told Me Why She Had Lied to Me
My mother looked older.
Her hair was silver.
Her face was thin.
But her eyes were exactly the same.
I nearly collapsed.
"Mom."
Tears filled her eyes.
"Grace."
I stepped forward.
Mercer raised his gun.
"Don't."
Dominic stood beside me.
"If you hurt her, this building won't survive the night."
Mercer laughed.
"You think violence frightens me?"
"No."
Dominic's voice was calm.
"I think you're afraid of what happens if she speaks."
Mercer looked toward my mother.
My mother nodded.
"He's right."
Mercer slapped her.
I screamed.
Dominic moved forward.
Marcus stopped him.
"Not yet."
Mercer smiled.
"Your father made the same mistake."
He dragged my mother into a conference room.
We were forced inside.
Mercer locked the doors.
"You want answers?"
I nodded.
"Then listen."
He told us Anthony had discovered the Bellwether Group.
He learned they were selling identities.
Not just to criminals.
To corporations.
To corrupt officials.
To anyone willing to pay.
My mother discovered the medical records.
Anthony tried to destroy them.
Mercer stopped him.
But Anthony had hidden a final copy.
Inside the compass.
I looked down.
"The compass?"
Mercer nodded.
"The metal casing contains a microfilm."
Dominic immediately took it out.
Mercer laughed.
"You're already too late."
My mother spoke.
"No."
Everyone turned.
She looked at me.
"Your father didn't hide the evidence there."
"What?"
"He hid the key."
"What key?"
"The compass points to a place, not north."
I looked at the compass.
The needle had never moved normally.
It always tilted slightly east.
Dominic studied it.
"St. Bartholomew's."
My mother nodded.
"The old cardiac wing."
Mercer's face changed.
He hadn't expected that.
"Where?"
My mother smiled weakly.
"Beneath the chapel."
Mercer raised his gun.
"Enough."
The lights suddenly went out.
Gunfire erupted.
Dominic moved.
Marcus tackled Mercer.
My mother was pulled behind a table.
Someone in the darkness shouted.
The room became chaos.
When the emergency lights returned, Mercer was gone.
But his keycard remained.
Dominic picked it up.
"What is beneath the chapel?"
My mother answered.
"Everything."
We found the old chapel behind a sealed hallway.
The foundation was older than the hospital itself.
Dominic used Mercer's keycard.
A hidden door opened.
Inside was a vault.
Files filled the walls.
Names.
Bank accounts.
Photos.
Recordings.
Medical histories.
Everything.
Then I found a file with my name.
Inside was a recording.
I pressed play.
My mother's voice filled the room.
"If Grace is hearing this, I have failed to protect her."
I covered my mouth.
The recording continued.
"Grace, you were never abandoned. I left because staying meant they would use you against your father."
A second voice appeared.
Anthony.
"If she learns the truth, tell her I loved her."
Tears streamed down my face.
Then Anthony said something that shook Dominic.
"You will one day meet your brother."
Dominic stared at the speaker.
Anthony continued.
"Dominic, if you hear this, protect your sister."
The recording ended.
Silence filled the vault.
Then Marcus found another file.
"Boss."
Dominic looked.
"It's the hospital's donor list."
Thousands of names.
Politicians.
Judges.
Police officers.
Corporate executives.
But one name appeared again and again.
Mercer.
And below him:
Samuel Hart.
And beneath Hart:
Marcus Reed.
I stared at Dominic.
Marcus went pale.
"I didn't know."
Dominic pointed the gun at him.
"Then explain."
Marcus raised both hands.
"I swear to God, I didn't."
My mother suddenly interrupted.
"He's telling the truth."
Dominic looked at her.
"How do you know?"
"Because Marcus was Anthony's informant."
Marcus's eyes filled with tears.
"He promised me he'd tell you."
"Why didn't he?"
"Because Anthony told me to protect you until Grace was safe."
Dominic lowered his weapon.
Then the vault door slammed shut.
Mercer's voice echoed through the speakers.
"You found the archive."
Dominic looked upward.
Mercer continued.
"Now I'll bury you beneath it."
Smoke began pouring into the room.
My mother grabbed my hand.
"There's another exit."
We ran.
Flames climbed the walls.
The vault shook.
At the last second, Dominic found a hidden door.
We escaped into the underground tunnels.
Behind us, the archive burned.
Everything.
Years of evidence.
Gone.
I thought we had lost.
Then Marcus smiled.
He held up a small memory drive.
"I copied the database."
Dominic laughed for the first time.
"That's my lieutenant."
But my mother suddenly stopped.
She looked at Dominic.
"There's one more thing."
"What?"
"Mercer wasn't acting alone."
"Who else?"
My mother looked at Marcus.
Then at me.
"The person who ordered the entire operation is someone you've trusted for years."
My stomach dropped.
"Who?"
May you like
She whispered the name.
And I knew instantly that my life would never be the same.
