Chapter 5 - The Secret Hidden in Her Father's Key
The brass key opened a bank box in downtown Chicago.
The box belonged to Daniel King.
The bank had changed ownership twice.
The account had been inactive for fourteen years.
Inside was a single envelope.
No money.
No documents.
Just a photograph and a handwritten letter.
Nakia opened the letter with shaking hands.
My daughter,
If you are reading this, then I failed to keep you away from the Mercer family.
Elias watched her read.
Her eyes filled with tears.
She continued.
Your father did not die because of an accident.
He was killed because he discovered that someone inside the Mercer organization was selling information to the Raven Club.
The traitor has been protected by powerful people.
Do not trust anyone who tells you Gabriel Mercer was the worst man in Chicago.
There was another man beside him.
A man called Silas.
Nakia looked up.
"Silas?"
Elias became pale.
"Silas Mercer."
"Who is that?"
"My uncle."
He had not seen his uncle in eleven years.
Silas had disappeared after Gabriel's death.
Elias had always assumed he had fled.
Now the letter suggested otherwise.
There was another page.
I hid the proof where no one would look.
Your mother knows where.
Nakia stared.
"My mother."
Her mother had died three years earlier.
Elias looked at the photograph.
It showed four people.
Daniel King.
Gabriel Mercer.
Silas Mercer.
And a woman.
Elias recognized her.
He whispered, "Margaret Vale."
Nakia frowned.
"Who is she?"
"My father's accountant."
"Where is she now?"
"Dead."
"How?"
"Car accident."
Nakia closed her eyes.
"Another accident."
Elias understood.
The pattern was obvious now.
Everyone who knew the truth died in conveniently ordinary ways.
They returned to the Mercer estate.
In the attic, they found Margaret's old records.
Behind a loose floorboard was a second box.
Inside was a microfilm reel.
Marcus arranged for it to be scanned.
The images revealed payments made from Mercer accounts to dozens of names.
Judges.
Police officials.
Dock managers.
Bankers.
And one name appeared more than any other.
Julian Cross.
Elias knew him.
His most trusted advisor.
The man who had handled his finances for twelve years.
Elias's expression hardened.
"No."
Marcus looked at him.
"Boss."
"No."
"You need to consider—"
"I said no."
Nakia watched him.
"Why do you trust him?"
"Because Julian saved my life."
"When?"
"After my father died."
"Maybe that's why."
Elias turned sharply.
"What does that mean?"
"What if saving you was the beginning of his plan?"
Silence.
That possibility hurt more than any bullet.
Julian had been beside him through everything.
Birthdays.
Funerals.
Wars.
Negotiations.
The rise of Mercer's empire.
If Julian was the traitor, then Elias had unknowingly given the enemy access to every vulnerable part of his life.
Marcus received a message.
"The account associated with Silas just moved."
"Where?"
"Chicago."
Elias grabbed his coat.
"Let's go."
Nakia caught his arm.
"You're not leaving me here."
"You are staying here."
"No."
"The men we're dealing with are dangerous."
"So are you."
He looked at her.
She tightened her grip.
"I'm coming."
They went together.
The meeting location was an abandoned theater.
Elias entered alone.
Silas was waiting in the balcony.
Older.
Thin.
Still dangerous.
"You look like your father."
Elias raised his weapon.
"You killed Daniel King."
Silas laughed.
"No."
"Then who did?"
Silas pointed behind him.
"I never knew."
Elias narrowed his eyes.
"Why call me here?"
"To tell you the truth."
"What truth?"
"Your father wasn't betrayed by one man."
Silas's expression darkened.
"He was betrayed by everyone he trusted."
Nakia stepped into the aisle.
Silas stared at her.
For the first time, his face changed.
"Daniel's daughter."
"Yes."
He whispered, "You have his eyes."
Then gunfire erupted.
Silas collapsed.
Elias dragged Nakia behind cover.
Marcus's men returned fire.
The shooter escaped through the side entrance.
Silas was dying.
Elias knelt beside him.
"Who?"
Silas coughed.
"Your..."
Blood filled his mouth.
"Your closest..."
He died before finishing.
Elias stood slowly.
His eyes moved to the shadows.
His closest what?
Friend?
Advisor?
Enemy?
Nakia found something under Silas's hand.
A torn piece of paper.
It contained four words.
THE HOUSEKEEPER KNOWS.
She stared.
Elias looked at her.
May you like
Someone wanted them to believe Nakia was the center of everything.
But neither understood why.
