Chapter 3 - The Man Who Lied About the Baby
By sunrise, Wade Mercer had transformed Mercy Children's Hospital into the safest building in the city.
Every entrance was watched.
Every camera had been checked.
Every unfamiliar employee had been questioned.
The hospital administration complained until Silas placed a signed donation agreement on the desk of the chief security officer.
After reading it, the man stopped complaining.
Audrey sat beside Elias.
Wade stood in the corner.
Neither had slept.
The child remained sedated.
The machines produced a steady rhythm.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Each sound had become part of Wade's consciousness.
“You can sit,” Audrey said.
“I’m fine.”
“You've been standing for four hours.”
“I'm fine.”
She looked at him.
“You haven't changed at all.”
Wade raised an eyebrow.
“That's not true.”
“What changed?”
He looked at Elias.
“I have a son.”
She looked away.
“That wasn't the answer I expected.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
Audrey sighed.
“Wade.”
“What?”
“We need to talk about what happens after he wakes up.”
“There is no after.”
Her eyebrows pulled together.
“There is always an after.”
“He's coming home with me.”
“No.”
Wade turned.
“You're not separating him from me again.”
“I didn't separate him. I protected him.”
“You kept my son from me.”
“And you think you can walk into his life now and make every decision?”
“I think I am his father.”
“You’re also Wade Mercer.”
“And?”
“And you're dangerous.”
He stared.
She stood.
“I don't mean physically.”
“You should.”
“You know what I mean.”
Wade's voice became quiet.
“You’re afraid of me.”
“I was.”
“Past tense?”
She hesitated.
“I'm afraid of what happens when you love something.”
He looked back at Elias.
“I don't know how to do this.”
The admission surprised them both.
Audrey's face softened.
“Neither do I.”
Before she could say more, Silas entered.
“We found him.”
Wade turned.
“Where?”
“Old rail yard near Cicero.”
“Venn?”
“Yes.”
“Alive?”
“He was waiting.”
That mattered.
Wade grabbed his coat.
Audrey stepped into his path.
“Where are you going?”
“To finish this.”
“You said you wouldn't.”
“I said no one gets near our son.”
Her eyes widened at the word our.
“Our son.”
Wade nodded.
“Exactly.”
“You can't just kill him.”
“I haven't said I would.”
“You didn't have to.”
Wade stared at her.
“I'll bring him back alive.”
“Promise?”
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
“Promise.”
Silas drove.
The rail yard was nearly empty.
Rainwater collected in old tire tracks.
Rusty shipping containers stood between abandoned warehouses.
Wade exited the vehicle.
Two men remained in the SUV.
Silas followed.
A voice came from inside a warehouse.
“I wondered how long it would take.”
Marcus Venn stepped into view.
He was older.
Thinner.
Gray at the temples.
But Wade recognized him immediately.
“You look disappointed,” Venn said.
Wade approached.
“You told my wife I didn't want my son.”
Venn shrugged.
“At the time, I thought it was better for everyone.”
“You knew she was pregnant?”
“I knew.”
“You knew about Elias?”
“I knew everything.”
Silas stepped forward.
“Why?”
Venn smiled.
“Because Wade was never meant to have a family.”
Wade's face hardened.
“That's not your decision.”
“No.”
Venn spread his hands.
“It was Calder's.”
Wade went still.
Calder.
The name had been in his business for weeks.
A rival operation.
A ghost behind stolen manifests.
But Wade had never understood why Calder had suddenly become obsessed with him.
“Explain.”
Venn laughed softly.
“You still don't see it.”
“See what?”
“Your father.”
Wade's stomach dropped.
“My father is dead.”
“Your father left something behind.”
“The black ledger.”
Venn nodded.
“The original.”
Wade's eyes narrowed.
“Where is it?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
Venn smiled.
“With someone who knows how valuable your son's bloodline is.”
Wade stepped closer.
“What does Elias have to do with a book?”
“Nothing.”
Venn paused.
“Everything.”
Silas raised his weapon.
Wade lifted a hand.
“Let him talk.”
Venn looked at Wade.
“Your father made deals with men who funded half the criminal infrastructure in the Midwest. The ledger records all of them.”
“I destroyed it.”
“You destroyed a copy.”
Wade stared.
“What?”
“The original was hidden before you ever found it.”
Venn's eyes moved toward him.
“And your father named an heir.”
Wade's heart beat once.
Hard.
“Me.”
“No.”
Silence.
“Elias.”
Wade stepped forward.
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Venn reached into his coat.
Silas raised his gun.
Venn slowly produced a photograph.
A younger version of Wade's father stood beside a woman.
The woman was Audrey's mother.
Wade's breath caught.
“What is that?”
“A deal.”
“For what?”
Venn smiled.
“For protection.”
Wade took the photograph.
On the back was a date.
Six months before Wade met Audrey.
And a sentence.
THE CHILDREN WILL BE PROTECTED. THE BLOODLINE CONTINUES THROUGH THEM.
Wade looked up.
“Who is Audrey's mother?”
Venn's expression changed.
“Now you're asking the right question.”
A gunshot exploded somewhere outside.
Silas grabbed Wade and pulled him down.
More shots followed.
Venn disappeared behind a wall.
“Ambush,” Silas shouted.
Wade drew his weapon.
“Find Venn!”
They moved through the warehouse.
Men attacked from the side entrance.
Wade and Silas returned fire.
The fight lasted less than three minutes.
When silence returned, Venn was gone.
But one man remained alive.
Wade crouched beside him.
“Who sent you?”
The man smiled through blood.
“You already know.”
“Calder?”
The man laughed.
“No.”
He looked at Wade.
“Your wife.”
Wade froze.
Silas turned.
“What?”
The man's eyes closed.
Dead.
The sentence remained.
Your wife.
For the first time, Wade felt doubt.
Not about Audrey.
About the story.
Maybe she had not only been protecting Elias.
Maybe she had been protecting something else.
Or hiding it.
When he returned to the hospital, Audrey was asleep in a chair beside Elias.
Wade stood in the doorway.
He watched her.
The woman he had loved.
The woman he had abandoned.
The woman who had secretly raised his son.
He wanted to wake her.
He wanted to demand every answer.
Instead, he pulled the blanket over her shoulders.
Then he sat beside the bed.
His phone buzzed.
An unknown number.
One photo.
Elias sleeping.
Taken less than five minutes earlier.
Underneath:
YOU HAVE TWO DAYS.
Wade looked up.
Nobody was in the room.
He checked the security camera on his phone.
The hallway appeared empty.
Then he noticed something.
A nurse passed the room.
She stopped.
Looked directly at the camera.
And smiled.
Wade's pulse changed.
He zoomed in.
The nurse had a tattoo behind her ear.
A small black crown.
The symbol of Calder's organization.
Wade stood.
“Silas.”
Silas entered.
“Yeah?”
“Get everyone out.”
“Why?”
Wade pointed at the hallway camera.
“We have a leak inside this hospital.”
At that exact moment, every light in the hospital went out.
The machines around Elias flickered.
Audrey woke screaming.
“Elias!”
The emergency lights came on red.
And in the darkness beyond the door, footsteps approached.
Slow.
Calm.
Deliberate.
Wade stepped between the door and his son.
The footsteps stopped.
A voice whispered from the hall.
“Hello, Wade.”
Venn.
Wade raised his gun.
“Come inside.”
“No.”
“Coward.”
A quiet laugh.
“I came to tell you something.”
“What?”
“You've been protecting the wrong secret.”
The footsteps disappeared.
Silas ran after him.
Wade turned back.
Audrey was standing over Elias.
Her face had gone white.
“Wade.”
“What?”
She looked at him.
“I know what secret he means.”
Wade stared.
“Then tell me.”
May you like
Audrey's lips trembled.
“I lied to you about how Elias was born.”
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