Chapter 17 - The Man Who Called Himself Dad
Daniel dropped the white shirt and ran toward the quarry path. Officers shouted for him to stop. He disappeared behind a stack of concrete pipes, where a narrow service tunnel led to the lower pumps.
Nora ordered us to remain by the vehicles. This time Lucía and I obeyed. We watched search lights sweep the hillside while firefighters contained the house blaze below.
A sudden crash came from the old irrigation shed behind us. Mercer emerged with a cut on his forehead and a pistol trembling in his hand. He'd slipped through the trees instead of taking the quarry road.
"Give me the notebook," he said.
"The police have it," I answered.
"Then get it back. You think Daniel cares whether you live? He'd sell his own shadow."
Lucía stood still beside me. Her breathing was controlled, but I saw how hard she was gripping the edge of my sleeve.
"You arranged my funeral," she said.
Mercer swallowed. "Pike was supposed to make it quick. I didn't know you could still move."
"You knew I was alive when you put me in there."
"I knew what Daniel told me."
"That's not an answer."
Behind Mercer, a trooper stepped into view and ordered him to drop the gun. Mercer swung toward the voice. I pulled Lucía down behind the stone wall as a shot cracked through the night.
When I looked up, the gun lay in the grass and Mercer was facedown with his wrists secured. Nobody on our side had been hit. The trooper had used the moment Mercer turned to disarm him. The pistol's shot had gone into the shed roof.
Mercer began shouting that Daniel had ordered everything. Nora approached and told him he would have an opportunity to make a formal statement with counsel.
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Across the orchard, a police dog barked twice. A flashlight swung sharply in the quarry's lower doorway.
Daniel's voice rose from below, wild and furious: "Rafael! You want the truth about your mother? Come hear it from me!"
