Chapter 8 - The Man at the Airport.
Thomas Mercer was arrested in an airport parking garage.
Inside his briefcase, agents found three passports.
Two hundred thousand dollars in cash.
A burner phone.
And a handwritten immunity proposal.
Thomas wanted protection.
In exchange, he promised to expose David.
There was only one problem.
David was apparently preparing to expose Thomas first.
Their empire was beginning to devour itself.
I learned this from Rebecca Sloan the following morning.
“Both men are blaming each other.”
“Who is telling the truth?”
“Probably neither.”
“What happens now?”
“We corroborate everything.”
Thomas claimed David created the criminal system.
David claimed Thomas secretly expanded it.
Thomas claimed David ordered the offshore transfers after learning Lily was dying.
David claimed he believed Lily would recover.
Thomas claimed that was a lie.
Then Thomas provided something new.
An audio recording.
The satellite call from the yacht.
Agent Hale asked whether I wanted to hear it.
I almost said no.
Then I remembered Lily asking for her father.
“Play it.”
Static filled the speakers.
Then David’s voice.
“Thomas.”
Thomas responded.
“What happened?”
“Maya says Lily is in the ICU.”
My chest tightened.
Thomas sounded alarmed.
“How bad?”
“She says Lily might not make it.”
A long pause.
Thomas spoke first.
“Then LV7 is exposed.”
David replied immediately.
“I know.”
Not one question about Lily.
Not one.
No diagnosis.
No doctor.
No flight information.
Nothing.
Only money.
Thomas continued.
“We need to transfer before there’s a death record.”
“Do it.”
“Twelve?”
“All twelve.”
“And the secondary trust?”
“Wait.”
Thomas hesitated.
“What about Maya?”
David sighed.
“She’s calling nonstop.”
“Maybe you should call her.”
Then came the sentence that ended every remaining doubt.
David laughed softly.
“If Lily dies, there’s nothing I can do from here.”
My hands began shaking.
The recording continued.
Thomas said:
“She’s your daughter.”
“I know.”
“David.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Fly home.”
Then David became angry.
“I’ve spent six months planning this trip.”
I closed my eyes.
Thomas said nothing.
David continued.
“Just move the money.”
The call ended nineteen minutes later.
Nobody in the conference room spoke.
Agent Hale stopped the recording.
Rebecca Sloan’s face was rigid.
Even she looked disturbed.
I stood.
“I need to go.”
“Maya.”
“I heard enough.”
Outside the federal building, cold Chicago air hit my face.
I walked two blocks without knowing where I was going.
Then I found myself standing outside a toy store.
In the window was a stuffed rabbit almost identical to Lily’s.
My daughter had named hers Mr. Buttons.
She had slept with him every night.
At the hospital, she held him until her fingers became too weak.
I bought the rabbit.
The cashier asked whether it was a gift.
“Yes.”
“For a birthday?”
I couldn’t answer.
I carried it to the cemetery.
The ground around Lily’s grave was still fresh.
I placed the rabbit beside her flowers.
“I finally know why he didn’t come.”
The wind moved through the trees.
“It wasn’t because he didn’t understand.”
I touched the cold stone.
“He understood.”
My voice broke.
“And he chose something else.”
Behind me, footsteps approached.
I turned.
Julianne stood twenty feet away.
She was holding an envelope.
“I found this in David’s luggage.”
I stood slowly.
“What is it?”
Her face had gone pale.
May you like
“A letter about Lily.”
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