Chapter 14 - Daniel Monroe
Lily almost dropped the phone.
"My father is dead."
"That's what Rachel needed you to believe."
Her knees weakened.
"Where are you?"
"Not on the phone."
"Give me one reason I shouldn't hang up."
The man said, "Your rabbit had a music box in its stomach until you were five. Rachel removed it because the spring broke. You cried for three days."
Lily sat down.
Nobody outside her parents knew that.
"Dad?"
A long silence.
"I'm sorry."
Then he gave an address.
An old church thirty miles north, beyond the flood zone.
Detective Vega insisted on going.
At dawn, they found Daniel Monroe sitting alone in the sanctuary.
Older, scarred, but unmistakable.
Lily stopped ten feet away.
"You let me bury you."
"I know."
She slapped him.
The sound echoed through the church.
He didn't move.
"Mom died thinking you were dead."
Daniel's eyes filled.
"Your mother knew."
Lily stepped back.
"No."
"Rachel helped fake my death."
He explained that he had been a state investigator working undercover inside Cole Development. Grant Cole was his confidential source.
The photograph had been staged to make Grant look like part of the conspiracy.
Then Grant disappeared.
"Wade Mercer found out about me," Daniel said. "Rachel and I agreed I had to vanish before he used you to reach me."
Lily's voice shook.
"Then why did Mom die?"
Daniel looked at the floor.
"Because I made one mistake. I contacted her."
He handed Lily a small flash drive.
"This contains everything I collected after I disappeared."
Ethan took one step closer.
"Where is Mercer?"
Daniel looked at him.
"Closer than you think."
He nodded toward the church office.
A television showed live flood coverage.
May you like
On screen, County Emergency Director Walter Mercer was giving a press conference.
Daniel said, "Wade Mercer has been using his brother's identity for four years."
