CHAPTER 12 The Man Everyone Thought Had Vanished Asked to See Me
CHAPTER 12 The Man Everyone Thought Had Vanished Asked to See Me
No one spoke.
I looked from Detective Harris to Luke, convinced I had misheard.
"Me?"
Harris nodded.
"He specifically requested you."
"Not Justin?"
"No."
"Not the FBI?"
"No."
"Only you."
A chill settled over the room.
I had never met David Mercer.
At least, I didn't think I had.
Why would a man connected to a federal investigation ask for me?
Luke immediately stepped in.
"She's not meeting anyone without legal representation."
Detective Harris nodded.
"I expected you'd say that."
"He also requested that you attend."
Luke frowned.
"Interesting."
Nathan looked at me.
"You don't have to do this."
I looked down at Maya.
She was sleeping peacefully, completely unaware of the conversation unfolding around her.
Everything I did from this point forward had to be for her.
"If this helps end all of this," I said quietly, "I'll go."
Two hours later, we arrived at the FBI field office.
Security was tighter than anywhere I'd been before.
We passed through metal detectors.
Our identification was checked twice.
An agent escorted us down a quiet hallway.
Finally, we stopped outside a small interview room.
The agent turned to me.
"Mr. Mercer only asked to speak with you and your attorney."
Luke nodded.
"I'll be present."
The agent opened the door.
Inside sat a man in his early sixties.
Silver hair.
Neatly trimmed beard.
Dark blue suit without a tie.
He looked tired.
Not frightened.
Just... exhausted.
When he saw me, he stood.
"Mrs. Reynolds."
His voice was calm.
"Thank you for coming."
I didn't return the greeting.
"You asked for me."
"I did."
"You've never met me."
He gave a faint smile.
"Actually..."
He paused.
"We met once."
I frowned.
"When?"
"You don't remember."
"It was at your husband's company holiday gala."
I searched my memory.
The event had been nearly three years earlier.
Hundreds of people.
Countless introductions.
"I still don't remember."
"I wouldn't expect you to."
He gestured toward the chair.
"Please."
I sat.
Luke remained beside me.
David didn't seem bothered.
For several moments, he simply looked at me.
Finally, he spoke.
"I owe you an apology."
I stared at him.
"For what?"
"For not warning you sooner."
My confusion deepened.
"Warning me about what?"
He folded his hands.
"Justin."
I immediately tensed.
"What about him?"
David sighed.
"When I first met your husband..."
"I liked him."
"He was smart."
"Ambitious."
"He believed hard work solved everything."
A sad smile crossed David's face.
"He reminded me of myself."
Luke interrupted.
"Let's get to the point."
David nodded.
"I tried to convince him to walk away."
"From Regency?"
"Yes."
"Did he?"
"No."
David's answer came without hesitation.
"He thought he could control the situation."
"He couldn't."
I finally asked the question that had been bothering me.
"What exactly is Regency?"
David looked toward the closed door before answering.
"It isn't a formal organization."
"We know that."
"It doesn't have official membership."
"We know that too."
He leaned forward.
"What makes Regency dangerous..."
"...is that people don't join it."
"They become dependent on it."
Luke raised an eyebrow.
"Dependent how?"
"Career advancement."
"Money."
"Protection."
"Influence."
David looked directly at me.
"Every favor creates another obligation."
"And eventually..."
"...there's no way out."
Luke opened his notebook.
"You were part of it?"
David nodded.
"For twelve years."
"And then?"
"I tried to leave."
"What happened?"
"I lost everything."
"My position."
"My reputation."
"My marriage."
He smiled bitterly.
"I was luckier than most."
I frowned.
"Luckier?"
"They let me disappear."
The room grew quiet.
David reached into a folder.
"I asked you here because of this."
He slid a photograph across the table.
I looked down.
It showed Justin.
Vanessa.
And three other people standing outside Regency House.
The picture had been taken at night.
Everyone was dressed formally.
One face caught my attention.
A woman with short blonde hair.
I pointed at her.
"Who is she?"
David looked at the photograph.
"Her name is Elaine Porter."
"What does she do?"
"Officially?"
He shrugged.
"She's a corporate governance consultant."
"And unofficially?"
David's expression hardened.
"She decides who can be trusted."
Luke looked up.
"You mean she recruits people."
David nodded.
"And removes them."
A silence settled over the room.
The way he said removes made it clear he wasn't talking about employment.
David slid another photograph toward us.
This one showed a younger Justin.
He looked nervous.
Almost uncomfortable.
Vanessa stood beside him, smiling confidently.
The date stamped on the corner caught my attention.
It was nearly two years before the affair supposedly began.
I looked at Justin's face.
He wasn't smiling.
He looked trapped.
Confused.
I looked back at David.
"So they knew each other much earlier."
"Yes."
"They didn't start as lovers."
"No."
"They started as business contacts."
Luke quietly added,
"Which later became leverage."
David nodded.
"Exactly."
I folded my arms.
"None of this changes what Justin did."
David met my eyes.
"It doesn't."
"He chose to lie."
"He chose to cheat."
"He chose to stay."
"I know."
His voice carried no argument.
"I'm not asking you to forgive him."
"Then why am I here?"
David looked at me for a long moment.
"Because you have something they want."
"The evidence?"
"Partly."
"What else?"
He hesitated.
Then he said something completely unexpected.
"They think Justin gave you access to an insurance account."
I blinked.
"What insurance account?"
Luke immediately looked up.
"The beneficiary file."
David nodded.
"Not that one."
"Another account."
Rebecca had mentioned hidden accounts before.
But this sounded different.
"I don't understand."
David lowered his voice.
"There is an emergency trust."
"It was created years ago."
"For who?"
He looked directly at me.
"For Maya."
I stared at him.
"My daughter?"
He nodded.
"They believe Justin transferred something into that trust before everything collapsed."
"What?"
"I don't know."
"But whatever it is..."
"...people are looking for it."
Luke's phone vibrated.
He glanced at the screen.
Then frowned.
"Detective Harris."
He answered immediately.
"Luke Carter."
He listened for less than a minute.
His face became unusually serious.
"What happened?"
David watched him carefully.
Luke ended the call.
"They searched Regency House."
Everyone in the room froze.
David slowly stood.
"So..."
"They finally did it."
Luke nodded.
"Federal agents executed a warrant this morning."
David closed his eyes.
"What did they find?"
Luke looked at the notes on his phone.
"Thousands of financial records."
"Encrypted servers."
"Hard drives."
"And a private vault."
David's shoulders relaxed slightly.
"They found the vault?"
Luke nodded.
"Yes."
"But it was already empty."
The room fell silent again.
David whispered almost to himself,
"We're too late."
I frowned.
"Too late for what?"
Before David could answer, the interview room door opened.
An FBI agent stepped inside.
"Mr. Mercer."
"Yes?"
"We recovered one additional item from Regency House."
The agent placed a sealed evidence bag on the table.
Inside was a single leather notebook.
Its cover was worn with age.
Across the front, embossed in faded gold letters, were three words.
Property of J. Reynolds.
Every eye in the room turned toward the notebook.
David's expression changed instantly.
He looked genuinely shocked.
Then he whispered something that made every person in the room uneasy.
May you like
"Justin never told me..."
"...he kept a journal."
