Chapter 38 - Nathan Mercer
Victor went to Port 17.
Of course he did.
The old dock had been redeveloped into luxury warehouses and office space, but one section remained fenced for demolition.
Matthew arrived with Hannah and federal agents minutes later.
Victor stood inside an abandoned loading bay.
Alone.
Adrian Mercer waited opposite him.
Matthew saw him through tactical surveillance video.
Adrian was sixty-three.
Thin.
Silver hair.
Nothing dramatic.
No scars.
No intimidating suit.
He looked like a grieving professor.
Maybe that was worse.
“Where is Matthew?” Adrian asked.
Victor’s voice was cold.
“Not here.”
“You always decide for him?”
Victor flinched.
Adrian smiled.
“Yes. Still the same.”
“I came.”
“To control the information.”
“What information?”
“Nathan.”
Victor’s face changed.
Matthew saw it on the monitor.
Recognition.
Hannah noticed too.
“You know that name.”
Matthew looked at her.
Victor said, “Nathan Mercer worked at Davis Maritime.”
Adrian’s smile vanished.
“He was my son.”
“I know.”
Matthew whispered, “Dad.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“He died eleven years ago.”
Victor remained still.
“At Northstar.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know Northstar was yours.”
“It wasn’t then.”
“Adrian—”
“My son was fifteen.”
Matthew felt Lily grip his arm.
Adrian continued.
“He had depression. Anger. Drugs. I sent him away because I thought discipline would save him.”
His voice cracked.
“They restrained him during a panic attack.”
Matthew closed his eyes.
“He aspirated.”
“Yes.”
Victor looked devastated.
“I heard about the lawsuit.”
“You did more than hear.”
Adrian threw documents at him.
Victor picked one up.
Matthew zoomed the camera.
Davis Foundation Legal Settlement.
Victor stared.
“I authorized a payment.”
“Exactly.”
“I didn’t know Nathan was your son.”
“You paid Northstar’s insurer through a foundation intermediary.”
Victor shook his head.
“We funded legal aid for affected families.”
Adrian laughed.
“My attorney told me accepting the settlement required confidentiality.”
Victor looked toward the paper.
“I never approved that clause.”
“But your money bought my silence.”
Victor absorbed it.
Matthew knew his father.
He could see the guilt swallowing him.
Adrian moved closer.
“You spent decades telling the world you changed.”
“I did.”
“My son died inside a system your money protected.”
“If that’s true—”
“It is.”
“Then I am sorry.”
Adrian screamed.
“STOP SAYING THAT!”
The sound exploded through the warehouse.
Victor did not move.
Adrian’s face collapsed.
“You get to apologize.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“You get a wife. A son. A brownstone. Family dinners.”
Victor said nothing.
“My wife killed herself three years after Nathan died.”
Matthew closed his eyes.
“You get everything.”
“No,” Victor said quietly.
Adrian looked at him.
“I got another chance.”
That answer made Adrian furious.
Victor continued.
“I did terrible things when I was young. Then people I did not deserve gave me opportunities to choose differently.”
“Your money gave you choices.”
“Yes.”
Adrian stopped.
Victor did not dodge it.
“Yes. Money protected me from consequences other people would have faced.”
Matthew heard Hannah inhale.
Victor continued.
“That was unfair.”
Adrian stared.
“And if my foundation helped silence your family, I will expose it publicly.”
“You think confession fixes everything?”
“No.”
“Then what does?”
“Nothing.”
Silence.
Victor stepped closer.
“Your son stays dead.”
Adrian’s eyes filled.
“My apologies cannot change that.”
Victor’s voice cracked.
“But hurting Matthew will not bring Nathan back.”
Adrian raised a gun.
Agents prepared to move.
Victor did not.
Matthew grabbed the radio.
“Dad, move.”
Victor could not hear him.
Adrian pointed the weapon at Victor’s chest.
“I want you to understand.”
“I do.”
“No.”
Adrian’s hand shook.
“I want your son to stand over your body and understand what I felt.”
Matthew moved toward the door.
Agents stopped him.
“Absolutely not.”
“That’s my father.”
Hannah caught his arm.
“Trust him.”
Inside, Victor looked at Adrian.
“My son already knows what it feels like to fear losing me.”
Adrian’s finger tightened.
“Then let him lose you.”
A gunshot rang out.
Matthew’s heart stopped.
Victor staggered backward.
Hannah screamed.
Agents stormed the warehouse.
Matthew broke free.
He ran.
Victor was on the concrete floor.
Blood spread across his white shirt.
Matthew dropped beside him.
“Dad!”
Victor’s eyes opened.
“Matthew?”
“I’m here.”
Victor tried to breathe.
“Why are you here?”
Matthew laughed through tears.
“Because apparently nobody in this family listens.”
Victor almost smiled.
Then his eyes closed.
“Dad?”
No answer.
Paramedics rushed in.
Matthew held his father’s hand while they cut open his shirt.
Across the warehouse, Adrian Mercer had surrendered.
He was crying.
May you like
The bullet had entered Victor’s upper chest.
And for the first time since he was six years old, Matthew Davis felt completely helpless.
