Chapter 4
James Mercer knocked again.
“Evelyn, I can see your car.”
Nobody moved.
Wren pressed herself against her mother.
Evelyn whispered, “Call the police.”
Caleb shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“Not yet?”
“If Mercer realizes police are coming, he’ll disappear.”
Helen stared at him.
“You want him inside?”
“I want him talking.”
Evelyn looked at Wren.
Absolutely not.
She led her daughter upstairs and locked her inside the bedroom.
“Stay away from the windows.”
Wren’s eyes filled with fear.
“Don’t leave me.”
“I’m downstairs.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Evelyn hurried back.
Caleb had disappeared into the pantry.
Helen sat at the kitchen table pretending to read Nathan’s note.
Evelyn opened the front door.
Mercer smiled.
He was sixty, silver-haired, polished, and calm.
He had handled Nathan’s estate.
He had sat beside Evelyn at the funeral.
“I heard about Cole,” he said.
“News travels quickly.”
“Small town.”
“It happened this afternoon.”
His smile tightened.
“May I come in?”
Evelyn stepped aside.
Mercer entered and looked around.
His eyes stopped briefly on Helen.
“Helen.”
“James.”
“I’m sorry this family is suffering again.”
Helen gripped the note under the table.
“What do you want?”
Mercer turned to Evelyn.
“Cole contacted me two days ago.”
Evelyn pretended surprise.
“Why?”
“He claimed he had information about Nathan’s death.”
“Did he?”
“He was confused. Angry.”
Mercer sighed.
“I think grief affected him.”
Evelyn almost laughed.
“He tried to attack my daughter.”
“I heard.”
“With a shovel.”
Mercer’s expression barely changed.
“That’s terrible.”
Too calm.
Evelyn noticed it.
“So why are you here?”
“To warn you.”
“About what?”
“Cole said Nathan had secrets.”
Evelyn felt Caleb listening from the pantry.
Mercer continued.
“If Cole starts making accusations, don’t believe everything.”
“What accusations?”
“He mentioned money.”
Helen looked up.
“What money?”
Mercer hesitated.
Exactly half a second.
Then he said, “Nathan may have moved company funds before he died.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“You’re accusing my dead husband of stealing?”
“I’m saying Cole may accuse him.”
“Is there evidence?”
“No.”
A floorboard creaked near the pantry.
Mercer’s eyes shifted.
Evelyn immediately dropped a spoon from the table.
It clattered onto the floor.
She bent to pick it up.
Mercer looked back at her.
Then her phone vibrated.
Police were outside.
Evelyn stood.
“James, did Nathan have a storage unit?”
For the first time, Mercer looked genuinely surprised.
“Why would you ask that?”
Because you know.
Evelyn stepped closer.
“Did he?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
The pantry door opened.
Caleb walked out.
Mercer stopped breathing.
Helen watched him carefully.
Caleb smiled without warmth.
“Hello, James.”
Mercer backed toward the front door.
“You’re dead.”
“No.”
“You disappeared.”
“Because Cole tried to make sure I never talked.”
Mercer reached inside his jacket.
Evelyn screamed.
Police rushed through the front door.
“Hands!”
Mercer froze.
Officers surrounded him.
“Hands where we can see them!”
Slowly, Mercer pulled out his phone.
Nothing else.
“I’m an attorney,” he said calmly. “I came to speak with a client’s widow.”
“You’re not my attorney anymore,” Evelyn said.
Mercer’s eyes hardened.
Police questioned everyone separately.
They had no warrant to arrest Mercer.
Not yet.
Before leaving, he stopped beside Evelyn.
“You should be careful who you trust.”
She stared at him.
“That threat?”
“Advice.”
Then his eyes moved toward Helen.
“Especially family.”
After he left, Caleb immediately said, “We need that storage unit tonight.”
“The police will search it,” Evelyn replied.
Caleb shook his head.
“They can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because the key Cole had is fake.”
Helen stared.
“Then where’s the real key?”
Caleb looked at Nathan’s note.
“Your husband gave it to the one person Cole would never search.”
Evelyn followed his gaze.
May you like
Upstairs.
Toward Wren’s room.
