Chapter 7 - THE TRAP
They escaped through an alley and hid inside an abandoned warehouse.
Mara pressed a hand over her mother's mouth to keep her from coughing.
Luca crouched nearby.
Daniel watched the entrance.
For ten minutes, nobody spoke.
Then sirens sounded in the distance.
Real police this time.
Daniel checked his phone.
“The files transferred.”
Luca nodded.
“To whom?”
“Three journalists. Federal investigators. And a lawyer.”
Mara looked at him.
“You planned this?”
“I planned not to die.”
Despite everything, she almost smiled.
Then her mother whispered:
“We have to return to the mansion.”
Mara stared.
“No.”
“There is something there you haven't found.”
“What?”
“A room behind the library.”
Luca frowned.
“My father's private office.”
“No.”
Her mother shook her head.
“Behind it.”
She pulled another photograph from her coat.
It showed the library.
A fireplace.
Three paintings.
One bookcase.
“Behind the third painting.”
Luca recognized it.
“My father's portrait.”
“There's a safe.”
“I never found one.”
“Because you weren't supposed to.”
They returned to the mansion before dawn.
The police had surrounded the property.
Mercer was gone.
Several employees were missing.
Daniel led them through the library.
Mara counted the paintings.
One.
Two.
Three.
Luca removed the third.
Behind it was a keypad.
He entered his father's birthday.
Nothing.
His mother's.
Nothing.
Mara studied the photograph.
Her mother's handwriting appeared beneath the image.
The son who refused to become his father.
Luca stared.
“My father's greatest disappointment.”
He entered his own birth date.
The safe opened.
Inside were documents.
A ledger.
Several hard drives.
And a letter.
Luca unfolded it.
The handwriting belonged to his father.
Luca,
If you're reading this, then I failed to stop what I started.
Mercer will tell you I built Project Veil for power.
That is only partly true.
I built it because I believed fear was the only language powerful men understood.
Mercer turned it into something worse.
Your mother tried to stop him.
Mara's mother helped her.
I threatened both women.
That is my greatest shame.
Luca's hands trembled.
He kept reading.
If Mercer is still alive, he will try to control the family through you.
Do not fight him alone.
Trust the woman whose mother I failed.
Luca looked at Mara.
She understood.
Her mother began crying.
Then Daniel opened one of the hard drives.
A video appeared.
Luca's father was sitting in the same room.
He looked older.
Tired.
Broken.
“My son,” he said.
Luca stared at the screen.
“I know what I've done.”
His father's voice cracked.
“Your mother believes you're innocent.”
The video continued.
“Mercer doesn't.”
He paused.
“If you're watching this, Mercer is probably trying to poison you.”
Mara covered her mouth.
Luca looked at his father.
“Then why didn't you stop him?”
The recording answered.
“Because I was afraid.”
Luca's eyes filled with tears.
“My father was afraid.”
His mother nodded.
“Power made him cruel. Then it made him afraid of losing power.”
The video ended.
Then another file appeared.
A list of names.
Current names.
Living people.
Mara scanned it.
Then froze.
“Daniel.”
Daniel looked over.
His name was on the list.
Luca stared.
“What does it say?”
Mara read the note.
Security liaison. Compromised.
Daniel stepped backward.
Luca raised his weapon.
“Explain.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know why my name is there.”
“You've been working for me for six years.”
“Yes.”
“And Mercer knew you.”
“Yes.”
Mara watched Daniel.
Something didn't fit.
Then she noticed another line.
Beside Daniel's name:
Double agent.
She looked at Luca.
“Wait.”
She pointed.
“He wasn't compromised.”
Daniel exhaled.
“I've been investigating Mercer for years.”
Luca lowered his weapon.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know who I could trust.”
Mara looked at the ledger.
“Then there's one more name.”
They searched.
And found it.
Mrs. Vale.
Mara's heart stopped.
“No.”
Her mother looked at her.
“What?”
“Mrs. Vale.”
The housekeeper had known everything.
She had lied.
Mara ran from the library.
“Where are you going?”
“To find her.”
They reached the kitchen.
Mrs. Vale stood beside the back door.
A suitcase in her hand.
She looked at Mara.
Then at Luca.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I wanted to protect you.”
Mara stepped closer.
“From what?”
Mrs. Vale whispered:
“From your mother.”
Silence.
Mara stopped.
“My mother?”
“She wasn't only a victim.”
Luca frowned.
“What did she do?”
Mrs. Vale opened the suitcase.
Inside was a collection of files.
“She helped create Project Veil.”
Mara stared.
“No.”
“She helped Mercer.”
Mara's world collapsed again.
Mrs. Vale continued:
“But she betrayed them later.”
Mara looked at her.
“Why?”
Mrs. Vale whispered:
“Because she discovered who the first test subject was.”
Luca went pale.
“Who?”
May you like
Mrs. Vale looked directly at him.
“You.”
