Chapter 4
Paul Mercer arrived before sunset.
The moment he saw Diane, his face changed.
I noticed.
So did she.
“Paul.”
“Natalie.”
“Who changed Daniel’s route?”
He looked at my mother.
Diane smiled.
“Think carefully.”
There it was.
A threat delivered like advice.
Paul closed his eyes.
“She did.”
I looked at Diane.
Paul continued.
“She called me forty minutes before we left.”
“What did she say?”
“That Rose Gate was safer.”
“Was it?”
“No.”
“What did she tell Daniel?”
“That you wanted him home quickly.”
My chest tightened.
She had used my name.
“What happened on the road?”
“Two vehicles followed us.”
“Whose?”
Paul glanced at Connor’s frozen image of Elias.
“His men.”
“Elias?”
“Yes.”
Diane scoffed.
“This is melodrama.”
Paul turned on her.
“You threatened Emily.”
I frowned.
His daughter.
Twenty-two at the time.
She had disappeared months after Daniel died.
Diane smiled coldly.
“She’s alive.”
Paul stopped breathing.
“How do you know?”
Diane realized the mistake.
Too late.
I stepped closer.
“You know where Emily is.”
My mother said nothing.
Paul’s hands shook.
“You told me if I warned Natalie, my daughter would disappear.”
Diane shrugged.
“You obeyed. She survived.”
As if that made blackmail mercy.
“What happened to Daniel?”
Paul swallowed.
“He realized I was being forced.”
“Then?”
“He ordered me to leave.”
“Why?”
“To find Emily.”
“And Daniel stayed?”
Paul nodded.
“With Elias.”
My stomach dropped.
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
Sabrina shifted.
I noticed.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“Nothing.”
Paul looked at her.
“You know.”
My sister’s face hardened.
I turned.
“What does she know?”
Paul answered.
“Daniel wasn’t supposed to die.”
Nobody moved.
I looked at Sabrina.
She stared at the lawn.
“Explain.”
She whispered:
“He was supposed to learn.”
“Learn what?”
Diane finally answered.
“His place.”
I almost laughed.
“You staged an ambush as a lesson?”
“I arranged pressure.”
“And when Daniel refused?”
Silence.
Paul looked at Diane.
Then me.
“The first shot wasn’t meant to kill him.”
My heart stopped.
First shot.
May you like
Meaning Daniel survived the beginning.
And someone had made another decision afterward.
