Chapter 2 - THE SECRET DANIEL TOOK TO PRISONRachel Mercer did not sleep that night.
At 2:13 in the morning, she sat at her kitchen table with Daniel’s old coffee mug between her hands.
The mug had a faded blue message across it.
WORLD’S OKAYEST DAD.
She had bought it as a joke when she was pregnant.
Daniel had loved it.
For years after his arrest, Rachel couldn’t bring herself to throw it away.
She also couldn’t bring herself to use it.
Until tonight.
Emma was asleep upstairs.
Rachel had checked three times.
Each time, her daughter was curled beneath a purple blanket with Buttons tucked under her chin.
Rachel kept replaying the prison visit.
Uncle Ethan says you didn’t hurt him.
Impossible.
Ethan had testified that Daniel attacked him.
Rachel remembered every word.
“He lost control.”
“He accused me of stealing.”
“He said he’d kill me.”
Rachel had sat in the courtroom with her mother, Evelyn, while prosecutors displayed photographs of Ethan’s broken nose, fractured jaw and bruised ribs.
Daniel never challenged him.
That had always bothered Rachel.
Daniel’s lawyer practically begged him to testify.
He refused.
When prosecutors offered a plea deal, Daniel accepted it within twenty-four hours.
Rachel had confronted him in the county jail.
“Tell me what happened.”
“I can’t.”
“You can’t or you won’t?”
“Both.”
She had slapped him.
Daniel simply stood there and took it.
Their marriage had survived on paper, but barely.
Rachel visited during the first year.
Then less often.
Eventually only phone calls remained.
Emma grew up knowing her father as a voice.
And now Ethan had apparently reappeared.
Rachel pulled out her phone.
She called her mother.
It rang four times.
“Rachel?”
Evelyn’s sleepy voice immediately became concerned.
“It’s two in the morning.”
“I know.”
“Is Emma okay?”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
Rachel stared through the dark kitchen window.
“When did Ethan come to your house?”
Silence.
Not confusion.
Silence.
Rachel’s heartbeat accelerated.
“Mom?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Emma says she saw him.”
“Children imagine things.”
“She knows what Ethan looks like.”
“You showed her photographs.”
Rachel stood.
“She says Ethan told her Daniel didn’t hurt him.”
Another pause.
“Rachel, you’re upset.”
“Answer me.”
“I think you should get some sleep.”
“Was Ethan at your house?”
Evelyn sighed.
“Your brother has made mistakes.”
Rachel nearly dropped the phone.
“Oh my God.”
“Listen to me.”
“He’s alive?”
“Of course he’s alive.”
“You told me you hadn’t heard from him in more than a year!”
“I was protecting him.”
“From what?”
“His choices.”
Rachel began pacing.
“What did Emma hear?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mom!”
“Keep your voice down.”
“I’m in my own house!”
Evelyn lowered her voice.
“Your brother came by three weeks ago. He needed money.”
Rachel pressed her palm against her forehead.
“And you gave it to him?”
“He’s my son.”
“He’s thirty-five years old.”
“He has problems.”
“What problems?”
“You know he gambles.”
“I know he nearly destroyed Dad’s company before Dad died.”
“That was years ago.”
Rachel stopped.
Something Daniel had once said returned to her.
Your brother is taking money again.
She had dismissed it.
Daniel and Ethan had hated each other.
Rachel had assumed Daniel was looking for a reason to attack him.
“Mom,” she said slowly, “what did Ethan mean when he told Emma Daniel didn’t hurt him?”
“I wasn’t in the room.”
“But you heard something.”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
Evelyn’s voice hardened.
“Do not speak to me that way.”
Rachel almost laughed.
It was the same trick her mother had used her entire life.
Authority instead of answers.
“I’m coming over tomorrow.”
“That’s unnecessary.”
“I’m not asking.”
Rachel ended the call.
Across town, Evelyn Mercer sat upright in bed.
Her maiden name was Evelyn Cross, but everyone still called her Mrs. Cross after her husband died.
On the nightstand beside her lay a photograph.
Rachel.
Ethan.
Their father.
A younger Daniel.
Everyone smiling at a backyard barbecue.
Evelyn picked it up.
Her hands shook.
Then she dialed another number.
Ethan answered immediately.
“You said she wouldn’t remember.”
Ethan sounded annoyed.
“Who?”
“Emma.”
There was a pause.
Then a curse.
“What did she say?”
“She told Rachel.”
“All of it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mom, you were supposed to keep her out of the basement.”
“She woke up.”
“You should’ve called me.”
“I’m calling now.”
Ethan exhaled.
“We need to move the files.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I don’t want any more part of this.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“You’ve been part of this since the beginning.”
The following afternoon, Daniel was summoned from the prison furniture workshop.
Officer Reed waited by the door.
“Mercer.”
Daniel put down the sanding block.
“What happened?”
“Attorney visit.”
“I don’t have an attorney.”
“You do today.”
Daniel followed him.
The man waiting behind the visitation glass was sixty-two, silver-haired and wearing a charcoal suit.
Daniel recognized him immediately.
“Mr. Walsh?”
Samuel Walsh had represented Daniel’s late father-in-law’s company for decades.
He lifted the telephone.
Daniel sat.
“What are you doing here?”
Walsh studied him.
“I received a call from your wife.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“Rachel?”
“She asked me about financial irregularities at Cross Manufacturing from three years ago.”
Daniel went still.
Walsh saw it.
“So you do know something.”
Daniel glanced toward Reed.
“Why would Rachel ask?”
“Because apparently Ethan has returned.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Damn it.
Walsh leaned closer.
“Daniel, I need you to tell me what happened.”
“I already did.”
“No. You pled guilty.”
“Same difference.”
“It is absolutely not the same difference.”
Daniel rubbed his jaw.
The secret had been simple once.
Terrible, but simple.
Protect Rachel.
Protect her father’s legacy.
Protect Evelyn.
Go to prison.
But now Emma had accidentally torn open the door Daniel spent years holding shut.
Walsh placed a folder against the glass.
Inside were photocopies of company transfers.
Large transfers.
“Before Richard Cross died,” Walsh said, “almost two million dollars disappeared from company accounts.”
Daniel stared at the paperwork.
“I know.”
“You discovered it?”
“Yes.”
“Ethan?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you attack him?”
Daniel looked at him.
“I didn’t.”
Walsh’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“I found Ethan at the warehouse.”
“And?”
“He was already bleeding.”
“Who did it?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Walsh’s expression changed.
“Daniel.”
Daniel stared through the glass.
“Evelyn.”
Walsh slowly sat back.
“Rachel’s mother?”
“Ethan had been stealing from the company. Richard discovered part of it before he died. Evelyn spent months covering for Ethan because she was terrified the scandal would destroy the business.”
“What happened at the warehouse?”
“I confronted Ethan. Evelyn followed me. Ethan was high. He started screaming that he’d burn the place down before he went to prison.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“He grabbed Rachel’s mother.”
Walsh listened silently.
“She picked up a metal tire iron and hit him. Once. Then twice.”
“Enough to cause the injuries?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you confess?”
Daniel looked away.
“Evelyn begged me.”
“That’s not enough.”
“She said Rachel would lose her mother and brother at the same time. The company would collapse. Employees would lose jobs.”
“So you sacrificed yourself?”
“I thought I’d get probation.”
Walsh stared at him.
“I had no record. Ethan promised to say it was a fight.”
“But he changed his story.”
Daniel smiled without humor.
“After I admitted guilt.”
Walsh muttered something under his breath.
“Do you have proof?”
Daniel nodded.
“What?”
“A camera.”
Walsh leaned forward.
“The warehouse security system recorded everything.”
“Where is the recording?”
Daniel answered quietly.
“I hid it.”
For the first time, Samuel Walsh smiled.
“Where?”
Daniel met his eyes.
“In a place Ethan will never think to look.”
That evening, Rachel arrived at her mother’s home.
Evelyn was not there.
The front door stood open.
“Mom?”
No answer.
Rachel stepped inside.
The living room had been torn apart.
Cabinet drawers hung open.
Papers covered the floor.
Then Rachel heard a sound from the basement.
A crash.
She grabbed the fireplace poker.
“Who’s there?”
Footsteps.
A man came running up the stairs.
Rachel froze.
Older.
Thinner.
Beard covering half his face.
But unquestionably—
“Ethan.”
Her brother stopped.
Neither moved.
Rachel’s eyes filled with fury.
“What did you do?”
Ethan looked toward the door.
“I don’t have time for this.”
“You sent my husband to prison.”
“Rachel—”
“Daniel is in prison because of you!”
Ethan’s face hardened.
“You don’t know anything.”
“Then tell me.”
He moved toward the door.
Rachel blocked him.
“You’re not leaving.”
Ethan looked at her coldly.
“You should’ve stayed out of it.”
Rachel had never been afraid of her little brother.
Not until that moment.
Because she suddenly realized Ethan wasn’t running from the truth.
He was hunting for something.
“What are you looking for?”
His eyes shifted toward the basement.
Rachel noticed.
And understood.
“Evidence.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Move.”
“No.”
He grabbed her wrist.
Rachel screamed.
Then another voice thundered from the doorway.
“LET HER GO.”
Ethan spun around.
Officer Thomas Reed stood on the porch.
One hand rested near his service weapon.
His eyes were hard.
And behind him stood Samuel Walsh.
Ethan released Rachel immediately.
Reed looked around the destroyed house.
“What exactly are we interrupting?”
Rachel rubbed her wrist.
Ethan stared at them.
Then he smiled.
“A family misunderstanding.”
Samuel Walsh stepped inside.
“No, Ethan.”
He held up a document.
“I think we’re finally interrupting a three-year-old crime.”
May you like
And at Graystone Prison, completely unaware of what was happening outside those walls, Daniel sat alone on his bunk.
For the first time in years, he allowed himself to hope.
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