Chapter 14 - Midnight at the Courthouse
The old Vale County Courthouse had been abandoned for twelve years.
Mercer chose it because he knew every entrance.
Every hallway.
Every blind corner.
At 11:47 p.m., Elena walked through the front doors carrying the ledger.
Price hated the plan.
Brooks hated it more.
But Mercer had demanded Elena alone.
So Elena appeared alone.
Technically.
A transmitter was hidden inside her medical brace.
Tactical officers surrounded the courthouse three blocks out.
Claire’s brass key rested in Elena’s pocket.
“Mercer!” she shouted.
Her voice echoed.
A child cried somewhere upstairs.
Elena’s heart stopped.
“Ben!”
“Miss Elena?”
She followed the voice into the old courtroom.
Mercer stood beside the witness box.
Gun in hand.
Six-year-old Ben sat tied to a chair.
“You came,” Mercer said.
“You knew I would.”
“The ledger.”
“Let the boy go.”
“No.”
“You’re surrounded.”
Mercer smiled.
“Then why aren’t they inside?”
Elena said nothing.
“Because they know I shoot the kid first.”
Ben sobbed.
Elena fought to keep her voice steady.
“This is over, Tom.”
“Don’t call me Tom.”
“Why? Harrison did.”
His face twitched.
There.
A weak spot.
“You spent your whole life taking orders from people who laughed at you.”
“Shut up.”
“Harrison bought you.”
“I said shut up.”
“Evelyn owned you.”
Mercer pointed the gun at her.
“You think you understand anything?”
“I understand you murdered Caleb.”
“He made a choice.”
“You tried to kill Price.”
“He made one too.”
“And me?”
Mercer laughed.
“You were supposed to be easy.”
Elena slowly raised the ledger.
“You want this?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me who R.C. is.”
His smile disappeared.
That was the answer before he gave one.
“You saw the initials.”
“I saw them.”
“You have no idea what they mean.”
“Then enlighten me.”
Mercer’s eyes moved toward the balcony above the courtroom.
Elena noticed.
Someone else was there.
Her pulse raced.
Mercer wasn’t alone.
“R.C. doesn’t exist anymore,” he said.
“What does that mean?”
“It means some people become too big for names.”
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
Elena turned.
A figure moved behind the railing.
Then Price’s voice exploded from the rear door.
“Gun!”
Mercer spun.
Gunfire erupted.
Elena threw herself toward Ben.
A bullet ripped through the wooden witness stand.
Price fired.
Mercer staggered.
But he didn’t fall.
Instead, he grabbed Ben’s chair and dragged the child toward the staircase.
“Back off!”
Elena chased them.
“Tom!”
Mercer reached the upper balcony.
The same architectural design as the Vale estate.
White railing.
Twenty-foot drop.
Elena stopped.
The image hit her like ice.
Harrison.
The briefcase.
The fall.
Mercer put the gun against Ben’s head.
“Ledger.”
Elena held it out.
“Take it.”
“Throw it.”
She did.
The book landed near Mercer’s feet.
He bent.
Ben twisted.
Mercer grabbed him.
Price came around the corner.
“Let him go!”
Mercer fired.
Price dropped.
Elena screamed.
Something inside her snapped.
She charged.
Mercer turned the gun toward her.
A shot rang out.
Mercer’s face changed.
He looked down.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Behind him stood Claire Vale.
Holding a gun with both shaking hands.
Mercer stumbled backward.
Hit the railing.
And fell.
Twenty feet.
He crashed onto the courtroom floor below.
The building went silent.
Elena looked at Price.
He moved.
“Vest,” he gasped.
She nearly collapsed with relief.
Claire untied her son and pulled him into her arms.
Brooks’ team flooded the courthouse.
Mercer was still alive.
Barely.
As paramedics surrounded him, he grabbed Brooks’ sleeve.
His mouth filled with blood.
“Deposit box…”
Brooks leaned closer.
“What?”
“R.C…”
“Who is R.C.?”
Mercer smiled weakly.
Then whispered the full name.
Brooks’ face went white.
Elena had never seen her afraid before.
“Who?” Elena demanded.
May you like
Brooks looked at her.
And said, “The man who’s been leading the investigation from Washington.”
