Chapter 6 - They Took My Sister Because They Knew Hannah Was the One Thing I Couldn't Lose
I refused to go alone.
Daniel argued.
Hannah argued.
My mother argued.
I went anyway.
But I had a team hidden three blocks away.
The freight terminal was empty.
Evan waited inside.
Rachel was tied to a chair.
She was bruised but conscious.
I stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
Evan smiled.
“Still giving orders.”
“You don't scare me anymore.”
He laughed.
“You should be terrified.”
He pointed toward the upper platform.
Marcus Vale stood there.
I had never met him face-to-face.
He looked ordinary.
That was what made him frightening.
No theatrics.
No anger.
Just calculation.
“You're Nathan Mercer.”
“Yes.”
“You've built quite a reputation.”
“You killed my father.”
Marcus smiled.
“Your father was naive.”
“He trusted people.”
“So do you.”
His gaze moved behind me.
I realized.
He knew Hannah was watching.
He turned toward the darkness.
“Hannah.”
She stepped into the light.
I wanted to scream.
“What are you doing?”
“Saving Rachel.”
Marcus smiled.
“She's exactly where she should be.”
He took the Bible.
“Give it to me.”
Hannah handed it over.
Marcus opened it.
Then frowned.
“The card is missing.”
I smiled.
“You thought I'd be stupid enough to bring the real evidence?”
Marcus's expression changed.
Nathan's security team emerged.
Chaos erupted.
Gunfire.
Shouting.
Glass.
Rachel escaped.
Evan ran.
Marcus disappeared through a side exit.
I chased.
We ended up on the rooftop.
Rain hammered the concrete.
Marcus stood at the edge.
“You think this ends because you have evidence?”
“No.”
“Then why are you smiling?”
“Because you forgot one thing.”
“What?”
“I own the building.”
He froze.
The roof access door opened.
Police entered.
Not Shaw's people.
Federal agents.
My team had given them the complete evidence package before we arrived.
They had warrants.
Marcus Vale was arrested.
Evan tried to run.
Daniel stopped him.
The two brothers stared at each other.
“You killed Dad,” I said.
Evan nodded.
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted what he gave you.”
“Money?”
“Power.”
He laughed bitterly.
“He loved you.”
I stared at him.
“And you couldn't stand that.”
“No.”
He looked at Daniel.
“He loved him too.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What did you gain?”
Evan's face collapsed.
“Nothing.”
That was the truth.
All that betrayal had given him nothing.
Marcus's organization began falling apart.
Commissioner Shaw resigned after federal investigators uncovered his payments.
Bridge House was protected through a legal trust.
The stolen equipment was recovered.
Hannah's father was publicly recognized for the evidence he had left behind.
My father's name was cleared.
Daniel returned home.
My mother moved into the guesthouse.
And I discovered something I hadn't expected.
I didn't want to be feared anymore.
For years, fear had been the language I used to control people.
Now I wanted something else.
Purpose.
I asked Hannah to marry me three months later.
She refused.
Not because she didn't love me.
Because she knew what marriage to Nathan Mercer meant.
“You're still connected to that world,” she said.
“I am.”
“I don't want to wake up one morning and find out you've become your father.”
“I won't.”
“You can't promise that.”
She was right.
So I gave her another promise.
“I'll spend every day proving it.”
She looked at me.
Then she said,
“That's different.”
We weren't engaged.
Not yet.
But we were together.
And I thought the hardest part was over.
I was wrong.
Because six months later, a letter arrived.
No return address.
One sentence.
Evan didn't kill your father alone.
Beneath it was a name.
May you like
Rachel Mercer.
My sister.
