Chapter 9 - the guest who knew too much
Andrew Mercer did not answer his phone.
His home was empty.
His office receptionist said he had left unexpectedly after the wedding.
Security cameras showed him entering his car at 3:22 p.m.
Five minutes after the blackout.
He had not been seen since.
Grace remembered his behavior during the ceremony.
Andrew had hugged her.
Told her David would have wanted her happy.
Then Sophie objected.
Grace tried to remember where Andrew stood during the chaos.
She could not.
Lena checked wedding footage.
At 3:16, Andrew was seated.
At 3:17, the alarm activated.
At 3:18, he moved toward the service corridor.
The same direction Richard fled.
Then the camera feed cut.
Michael looked at the still frame.
“He wasn’t following Samuel.”
“How do you know?”
“He was going to intercept him.”
“Why?”
Michael pointed at Andrew’s lapel.
A black pin with a gold H.
Tiny.
Nearly invisible.
Hollis.
Grace felt sick.
Andrew had known David for eleven years.
Been Sophie’s godfather.
Helped Grace through widowhood.
And worked for Arthur.
“Did he kill David?” Sophie asked.
No one answered.
Lena obtained Andrew’s financial records.
Large payments arrived through shell companies before and after David’s death.
The largest came one day after the boating accident.
Grace stopped needing an answer.
Police issued an arrest warrant.
Then Andrew called Grace.
Directly.
She stared at the screen.
Lena signaled the technical team to trace it.
Grace answered.
“Andrew.”
“I’m sorry.”
Her voice became ice.
“For which part?”
Silence.
“David trusted you.”
“I know.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Did you help?”
Another silence.
Grace closed her eyes.
“That’s a yes.”
“I disabled the marina camera.”
“Why?”
“They told me they were going to scare him.”
“You accepted money.”
“My company was collapsing.”
“So you sold him.”
Andrew began crying.
“I didn’t know they’d cut the steering.”
Grace felt no sympathy.
“Where is Richard?”
“I don’t know.”
“You followed him from the wedding.”
“I tried.”
“Why?”
“Arthur wanted him alive.”
Lena wrote a question.
Grace asked it.
“Why does Arthur need Samuel?”
Andrew hesitated.
“Because Samuel has the key.”
“What key?”
“To the full Hollis archive.”
Grace looked at Lena.
“The archive is under my warehouse.”
“That’s the public one.”
Grace froze.
“Public?”
“Arthur kept another.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then what does Richard have?”
“Something David gave him before he died.”
Grace stared.
David gave Richard something.
Another secret between the two men.
“What?”
“A code.”
“Where is Richard now?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I lost him at the wedding.”
“Who grabbed Sophie?”
Andrew’s breathing changed.
Grace knew.
“Andrew.”
“I was supposed to.”
Sophie stood behind the glass listening.
Her face turned white.
Grace struggled not to scream.
“You grabbed my daughter?”
“I didn’t hurt her.”
“You put your hands on her.”
“I was ordered to bring her outside.”
“For what?”
“To make Samuel cooperate.”
Grace’s voice shook.
“You were Sophie’s godfather.”
“I know.”
“You held her after David died.”
“I know.”
“Don’t say you know.”
Andrew began crying harder.
Lena signaled.
Trace complete.
A motel near Petersburg.
Police moved.
Grace kept him talking.
“Is Arthur alive?”
“Yes.”
“Have you seen him?”
“Not in years.”
“Then who gives the orders?”
Andrew stopped.
“Andrew?”
“There’s a council.”
Michael heard through the monitor.
His face changed.
“What council?” Grace asked.
“People Arthur placed inside companies and government offices. They kept operating after he disappeared.”
“Is Arthur actually leading them?”
“I don’t know.”
That mattered.
Maybe the old man had become a myth used to maintain obedience.
Police reached the motel.
Andrew surrendered.
In his room, they found no Richard.
But they found Captain Dale.
Dead.
No graphic details.
A note rested beside him.
DALE FAILED.
Grace looked at Andrew during interrogation.
“Who killed Dale?”
“I don’t know.”
“Were you there?”
“No.”
“Who was?”
Andrew whispered one name.
“Lauren.”
Lena stared.
“Lauren Reese?”
“Yes.”
Grace remembered Emma’s mother.
Alive.
Investigating the network.
“Why would Lauren kill Dale?”
“She didn’t.”
“You just said she was there.”
“She left this.”
Andrew produced a photograph police had missed.
Lauren standing beside Richard.
Timestamped after the wedding.
Both alive.
Both together.
On the back, Lauren had written:
SAMUEL IS NOT RUNNING FROM YOU.
HE IS RUNNING WITH THE LAST PERSON ARTHUR EXPECTS.
Grace turned the photo over again.
There were only Richard and Lauren.
Unless the “last person” was the photographer.
A shadow appeared in the reflection of a glass door.
Grace enlarged it.
An elderly man.
Black ring.
Gold H.
Michael stared.
May you like
“Arthur.”
👉 Richard had escaped the wedding with Lauren Reese—and the photograph suggested the supposedly hidden Arthur Hollis was standing only feet away from them.
