Chapter 12 - SIX HOURS
We did not go to the abandoned church alone.
Paul Mercer expected that.
When Morales and I arrived, the building was empty.
A folding chair sat near the altar.
On it was a laptop.
Nothing else.
The screen came alive when we approached.
Paul appeared in a prerecorded video.
“If Detective Morales is watching, good.”
She muttered, “Smart.”
Paul continued.
“My mother, Evelyn Mercer, worked at Bellweather from 2001 to 2005.”
“She discovered fraudulent billing using deceased patient identities.”
“She told Daniel Parker.”
“Daniel was auditing one of the connected foundations.”
“They began collecting evidence.”
“Thomas Whitaker joined them later.”
A scanned document appeared.
Bellweather transfer record.
Daniel Parker.
Date of crash.
Time.
8:12 P.M.
Condition.
Responsive.
I gripped the chair.
Responsive.
My father had been alive.
The next record showed medication.
Midazolam.
8:42 P.M.
Then another.
Morphine.
9:17.
Another line.
Transfer authorized to private facility.
No destination listed.
Paul’s face returned.
“Hale diverted Daniel away from the county hospital.”
“He was taken to a vacant wing of Bellweather’s old rehabilitation property.”
“Thomas Whitaker was released at the scene after Hale threatened his family.”
Rachel, Marlene, Derek.
Thomas had lived because he agreed to silence.
My father had not.
Paul continued.
“My mother followed the transport.”
“At 1:56 A.M., Daniel Parker was still alive.”
“At 2:08, Victor Hale entered the room.”
“At 2:21, Daniel was dead.”
I closed my eyes.
There it was.
Not an accident.
Not even an ambiguous cover-up.
Murder.
“My mother stole Bellweather’s handwritten ledger before leaving.”
“She hid it with Susan Parker.”
“Two days later, Susan left Tennessee.”
“Years passed.”
“Hale believed the ledger was destroyed.”
“He was wrong.”
“Three months ago, Rachel Parker contacted me about a compromised laptop.”
“I recognized the Whitaker name.”
“I contacted Susan.”
Rachel covered her mouth.
Paul had been working with my mother behind our backs.
“They agreed the ledger should finally go to federal investigators.”
“Before that happened, Hale discovered Rachel was examining the trust.”
“He began watching the family again.”
Paul leaned toward the camera.
“If you’re seeing this, Hale has probably taken Susan.”
“He won’t kill her immediately.”
“He needs the ledger.”
“Where is it?”
I shouted at the screen.
As if Paul could answer.
He did.
“Susan moved it two months ago.”
“She would only tell me it was somewhere Daniel used to take Ethan.”
My mind raced.
Places with my father.
Fishing.
Baseball.
Old diners.
The lake.
A campground near Harpeth River.
Then I remembered.
A train museum.
My father loved trains.
Every summer, he’d take me to the Tennessee Central Railway Museum.
But my mother had moved to Ohio.
Would she bring the ledger back to Tennessee?
Paul continued.
“One phrase may help.”
“Blue engine.”
The video ended.
I knew immediately.
When I was ten, my father took me to a small railroad park outside Nashville.
There was an old blue locomotive displayed near the entrance.
We’d eaten sandwiches sitting on the steps.
I hadn’t thought about it in years.
Morales contacted the park.
The locomotive was still there.
Closed to the public for restoration.
Police searched.
Beneath a removable panel in the engineer’s cab, they found a weatherproof box.
Inside was the Bellweather ledger.
Twenty-one years of fear.
Sitting inside an old blue train.
Morales held it with gloved hands.
“This can destroy Hale.”
“Then release my mother.”
“That’s not how it works.”
“Make it how it works.”
Federal investigators arrived within hours.
The ledger contained patient identities.
Fraudulent billing numbers.
Cash payments.
Names of doctors.
Administrators.
Lawyers.
Hale sat in the center of it.
The amounts totaled more than thirty-one million dollars.
And those were only the entries Daniel and Evelyn had captured before his death.
The scheme had likely grown afterward.
A nationwide financial crimes task force became involved.
The case wasn’t family drama anymore.
It was federal.
That should have made me feel powerful.
Instead, my mother was still missing.
At 9:10 P.M., Hale called.
My phone.
I answered.
“Where is she?”
“Hello, Ethan.”
His voice was calm.
Professional.
The voice of a doctor telling someone their blood pressure looked good.
“You hurt my mother and I swear—”
“You sound like Daniel.”
My entire body tightened.
“Don’t say his name.”
“He was very emotional near the end.”
Rachel grabbed my arm.
Morales motioned for me to continue.
“You killed him.”
“Your father made choices.”
“So did Thomas.”
“So did Rachel.”
“You like blaming dead people.”
Hale laughed softly.
“Rachel isn’t dead.”
“Not for lack of trying.”
Silence.
Then Hale said, “Marlene was never good with dosage.”
Rachel’s face went white.
He had admitted it.
Maybe not legally enough.
But enough for us.
“Where’s my mother?”
“Safe.”
“Prove it.”
A video message arrived.
Susan sat in a chair.
Hands bound.
Alive.
She looked frightened but unharmed.
Behind her was a concrete wall.
A red EXIT sign.
A metal medical cabinet.
Could have been dozens of buildings.
Hale spoke again.
“Bring me the Bellweather ledger.”
“You know I don’t have it.”
“Get it.”
“Federal agents have it.”
“Then you’re going to disappoint your mother.”
“Wait.”
Hale went silent.
“What do you really want?”
“The original ledger.”
“You just said that.”
“The federal agents have a copy.”
I looked at Morales.
She frowned.
“The book they found is not the original.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
Hale laughed.
“Susan fooled you.”
“Again.”
The line disconnected.
Morales grabbed the ledger.
Forensics examined it.
The paper was old.
Ink old.
Authentic.
But several pages had been professionally reproduced and bound.
Not twenty-one years ago.
Recently.
My mother had created a decoy.
Which meant the real ledger was somewhere else.
And Victor Hale knew it.
Then my phone received one more message.
A photograph of my mother.
Beside her stood Derek.
His face bruised.
Hands tied too.
Below the image.
ONE OF THEM TALKS AT MIDNIGHT.
I looked at the clock.
10:46 P.M.
May you like
Hale had both of them.
And in seventy-four minutes, he planned to make one betray the other.
