Chapter 15 - What Thomas Bennett Buried
We reached the cemetery before dawn.
Snow covered the headstones.
Mercer’s vehicle was parked beside my grandfather’s mausoleum.
The doors stood open.
Elias ordered Daniel to remain outside with guards.
This time Daniel did not argue.
Inside the mausoleum, Mercer stood beside a broken stone panel.
He held a metal box.
No guards.
No weapons visible.
Just an old man who had spent decades believing everything belonged to him.
Elias raised his weapon.
“Put it down.”
Mercer smiled.
“You still don’t know, do you?”
Elias stepped closer.
“Know what?”
“Why your father died.”
Something shifted in Elias.
I remembered the stories.
Elias’s father had been murdered when Elias was twenty.
Nobody had ever been convicted.
Mercer opened the box.
Inside were ledgers.
Photographs.
Letters.
He held one photograph toward us.
Thomas Bennett stood beside Elias’s father.
My mother.
And Mercer.
“They built an alliance,” Mercer said.
“The Bennett terminals handled legitimate freight.”
“Vance security protected it.”
“And I financed expansion.”
His smile disappeared.
“Then Catherine discovered I had created another business through their warehouses.”
“My mother tried to stop you.”
“Yes.”
“And Thomas sided with her.”
Elias’s voice hardened.
“So did my father.”
Mercer nodded.
“Your father planned to testify.”
The air left Elias’s lungs.
“You killed him.”
Mercer said nothing.
He did not need to.
Elias moved forward.
I grabbed his arm.
“Elias.”
His entire body was rigid.
Mercer laughed.
“There it is.”
“The famous Vance rage.”
“You think Ava changed you?”
“She hasn’t.”
“You’re still your father’s son.”
Elias raised his weapon.
Mercer opened his arms.
“Do it.”
For one terrifying second, I believed he would.
Then Elias lowered the gun.
“No.”
Mercer’s smile vanished.
“You wanted revenge to be the last thing my father gave me.”
Elias’s voice was quiet.
“You don’t get that.”
Mercer suddenly reached inside his coat.
Elias moved.
So did I.
But Mercer did not pull a gun.
He pulled a lighter.
He ignited the corner of one ledger.
“No!”
I rushed forward.
Mercer threw the burning book toward the floor.
Elias tackled him.
I stamped out the flames.
Most of the pages survived.
Police sirens echoed outside.
Arthur had made sure federal investigators received copies of everything before we arrived.
Mercer stared at Elias.
“You called the authorities?”
Elias almost smiled.
“Not exactly my usual method.”
I picked up the metal box.
Inside was one final sealed envelope.
FOR AVA AND ELIAS.
Both our names.
Written decades ago.
We looked at each other.
Mercer started laughing.
“You really don’t know.”
My hands shook as I opened the letter.
May you like
The first sentence made my knees weak.
If you are reading this, then Vincent failed to destroy both our families.
