Chapter 4 - The Secret Audrey Buried With Their Marriage
Audrey's confession did not come immediately.
She stood beside Elias's bed, fingers pressed against the rail, staring at the unconscious child as if asking him for permission.
Wade waited.
He had waited his entire life for people to tell him the truth.
Sometimes the truth came after blood.
Sometimes after betrayal.
And sometimes after eleven months of silence.
“What did you lie about?” he asked.
Audrey finally looked at him.
“Elias wasn't supposed to be born.”
Wade frowned.
“That's not an answer.”
“I know.”
“Start over.”
She swallowed.
“When I found out I was pregnant, I thought I had two choices.”
“Which were?”
“Tell you.”
“And?”
“Run.”
Wade stared.
“I was going to disappear.”
“Why?”
“Because of your father.”
Wade shook his head.
“My father died before we met.”
“His body did.”
Wade stopped breathing.
“What does that mean?”
Audrey looked toward the window.
“Your father had people who worked for him. Men who were loyal long after he died. Men who believed the Mercer family had an inheritance that could never be allowed to disappear.”
“What inheritance?”
“A ledger.”
“I know about the ledger.”
“No.”
Her voice sharpened.
“You know about a ledger. You don't know what it contains.”
Wade felt the pieces shifting.
“What is in it?”
“Names of judges.”
He froze.
“Politicians.”
Silas went still.
“Police commanders,” Audrey continued. “Bankers. Developers. Contractors. Men who publicly looked respectable and privately bought violence.”
Wade frowned.
“And Elias?”
Audrey touched the boy's hair.
“Your father's agreement with those men was supposed to end when you inherited everything.”
Wade stared at the child.
“It didn't.”
“No.”
She took a breath.
“Because your father had another clause.”
“What clause?”
“That if there was ever another Mercer heir, the old agreement could be transferred.”
Wade's eyes narrowed.
“Transferred to Elias.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the people who wrote the agreement believed the Mercers could always be controlled through the future.”
Silas cursed.
Wade walked to the window.
“All this time…”
Audrey nodded.
“Elias was not just a child.”
“To them.”
“He was leverage.”
The words hung in the room.
Wade closed his eyes.
“How did you get the documents?”
“A lawyer.”
“Who?”
“Martin Bell.”
Wade knew the name.
Retired attorney.
His father’s adviser.
Presumed dead.
“Bell is alive?”
“He was.”
Wade turned.
“What do you mean?”
“He was killed nine months ago.”
Wade's face hardened.
“By Calder?”
Audrey nodded.
“He sent me the documents three days before he died.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I saw what happened to the people who got close to you.”
She lowered her voice.
“You destroy threats, Wade. You don't negotiate with them.”
“Usually.”
“This isn't usual.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“This is our son.”
Wade's expression softened.
“Our son.”
Audrey nodded.
“I was afraid you would go to war.”
“I might still.”
“I know.”
A nurse entered.
“Your son is responding.”
Audrey rushed forward.
The child's eyes opened slowly.
He looked around.
Then at Wade.
“Daddy.”
Wade smiled.
“I’m here.”
Elias lifted his hand.
Wade took it.
The child whispered.
“Bad man.”
Audrey stiffened.
“What bad man?”
Elias's eyes drifted toward the window.
“Black car.”
Wade exchanged a look with Silas.
“What did he see?”
Audrey leaned closer.
“Elias, baby, did someone talk to you?”
The child's eyes closed.
“Daddy…”
“Yes?”
“Don't let Mommy cry.”
Wade's chest tightened.
He looked at Audrey.
She covered her mouth.
“I’m okay,” she whispered.
But she wasn't.
Neither was he.
Later that afternoon, Wade took Audrey to a private room.
He closed the door.
“No more secrets.”
She nodded.
“No more.”
“Did you ever love anyone else?”
Her eyebrows rose.
“What?”
“The man in the photo.”
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Did he know about Elias?”
“Yes.”
“Does he know about me?”
“Yes.”
“Does he work for you?”
“No.”
Wade studied her face.
“Do you hate me?”
Audrey looked away.
“I tried to.”
“Did it work?”
She laughed bitterly.
“No.”
The honesty broke something in him.
“I hated you,” he admitted.
“I know.”
“I told myself I hated you.”
“I know.”
“I never stopped loving you.”
Audrey's eyes filled.
“Don't say that.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't know whether I believe you.”
He stepped closer.
“You should.”
“You made me believe you didn't care.”
“I was angry.”
“You were cruel.”
“Yes.”
“You let me leave.”
“Yes.”
“You never looked back.”
“I did.”
“When?”
“Every night.”
She stared at him.
Wade lowered his voice.
“I just never let you see.”
Audrey wiped a tear.
Then the room door opened.
Silas entered.
“We found the nurse.”
“Where?”
“Dead.”
Audrey closed her eyes.
Wade looked at Silas.
“What did you find?”
“A locker key.”
“What's inside?”
Silas handed over a plastic evidence bag.
Inside was a bracelet.
Tiny.
Silver.
Engraved with one word.
ELIAS.
Wade stared.
There was blood on it.
Audrey recognized it.
“That was his.”
“Where did he lose it?”
“At the park.”
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
Wade looked at Silas.
“Why is it here?”
Silas didn't answer.
Instead he gave Wade a second item.
A hospital photograph.
Elias in his crib.
Taken from inside the room.
Someone had been close.
Very close.
On the back was another message.
THE MERCER FAMILY HAS ALWAYS PAID ITS DEBTS.
Wade folded the note.
“How many men do we have outside?”
“Twenty.”
“Make it fifty.”
“Already done.”
“Good.”
Audrey looked at him.
“What are you going to do?”
Wade faced her.
“Bring you and Elias somewhere no one can find.”
She shook her head.
“There is nowhere.”
“I know a place.”
“Where?”
“My mother’s house.”
Audrey stared.
“Your mother?”
“She’s dead.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Wade smiled without humor.
“She was believed dead.”
Audrey stepped backward.
“What?”
Wade took out his phone.
He showed her a photograph.
An older woman sitting in a small farmhouse garden.
Audrey stared.
“That's…”
“My mother.”
“I thought she died.”
“So did everyone else.”
“Why?”
“Because my father tried to kill her.”
Audrey's face went pale.
“And she disappeared.”
“She survived.”
“Why didn't you ever tell me?”
“Because I didn't know.”
The pieces were multiplying.
Wade called a number he had not dialed in years.
An old woman answered.
“Wade?”
His throat tightened.
“Mom.”
A pause.
Then:
“Your father is finally dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you calling?”
“Because I have a son.”
Silence.
Long.
Painful.
Then the woman whispered.
“My grandson.”
“Yes.”
“Is he safe?”
“Not yet.”
Her voice changed.
“Bring him home.”
Wade looked at Audrey.
She was crying silently.
Then his mother said the words that changed everything.
“Wade, don't bring the boy to the house.”
“Why?”
“Because the people who killed Martin Bell have already been here.”
Wade went still.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
A sound came through the line.
Three knocks.
Then the call ended.
Wade stared at the phone.
Silas looked at him.
“What happened?”
Wade's voice was quiet.
“Someone is already inside my mother's house.”
And somewhere in the city, Marcus Venn was smiling.
May you like
Because Wade had finally found the hidden door.
And behind it waited the truth about why Elias had been born.
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