Chapter 8 - THE LAWYER WHO BURIED THE TRUTH
David Mercer did not run when we confronted him.
He smiled.
That frightened me more.
He sat alone in the hotel bar, wearing the same dark suit I remembered from my mother’s funeral.
“Celeste.”
He said.
“Commander now, I’m told.”
I sat across from him.
Reed remained standing.
“You were there when my mother died.”
Mercer poured whiskey.
“Careful.”
“With what?”
“Accusations.”
I placed the cassette recorder on the table.
The color drained from his face.
For the first time, David Mercer looked old.
“Where did you get that?”
“Mom.”
He stared at it.
“Arthur knows?”
“Not yet.”
Mercer laughed quietly.
“Then you’re more intelligent than he thinks.”
“You helped him.”
“Yes.”
The answer came so quickly I almost missed it.
“You’re admitting it?”
“I helped hide financial misconduct.”
“Why?”
“Because I believed the company could survive a scandal.”
“Thirty-two people died.”
“I know.”
“And my mother?”
His eyes dropped.
“I never intended for Eleanor to die.”
My body went rigid.
“What happened?”
Mercer took a long drink.
“Arthur confronted her.”
“He hurt her.”
“Yes.”
The word was almost inaudible.
“How?”
“He grabbed her.”
“And?”
“She fell.”
I heard the crash from the recording inside my head.
“Down the stairs?”
Mercer nodded.
“Was she alive?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
My stomach twisted.
“Then why did she die?”
Mercer looked at me.
“Arthur refused to call an ambulance immediately.”
Everything inside me went still.
“He thought she would talk.”
“How long?”
“Twelve minutes.”
Twelve minutes.
My mother had been alive.
Waiting.
Hurting.
And Arthur had been calculating.
“What did you do?”
“I begged him to call.”
“But you stayed.”
“Yes.”
“You lied afterward.”
“Yes.”
“You helped him erase me.”
“Yes.”
My hands curled beneath the table.
Reed spoke.
“Why tell us now?”
Mercer’s expression changed.
“Because Arthur is planning something that will make the Meridian look small.”
I leaned forward.
“What?”
“He intends to liquidate Ashford Maritime’s domestic holdings, transfer the cash, and trigger a controlled bankruptcy.”
“Why?”
“To destroy the paper trail.”
“Where is he moving the money?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re his lawyer.”
“I was.”
That mattered.
“Was?”
Mercer removed a flash drive from his pocket.
“Arthur fired me this morning.”
He slid it across the table.
“This contains offshore accounts, internal communications, and board authorizations.”
I reached for it.
Mercer held it down.
“One condition.”
“What?”
“Immunity.”
I looked at him.
“You don’t deserve immunity.”
“No.”
He released the drive.
“But neither did your mother deserve twelve minutes on that floor.”
Before I could respond, Mercer’s phone rang.
He checked the screen.
His face went white.
“What?”
I asked.
He stood.
“Arthur knows I’m here.”
A sharp crack exploded through the window.
Mercer collapsed.
The glass behind him shattered.
Reed pulled me to the floor.
People screamed.
Mercer grabbed my sleeve.
Bloodless terror filled his eyes.
His lips moved.
“Pier Nine.”
“What?”
“Pier Nine.”
May you like
Then his grip went slack.
And somewhere across the street, the person who had been watching us disappeared.
