CHAPTER 16 THE KEY BENEATH THE TOY COURTHOUSE
Three weeks after the Mercer Center opened, Elena began to believe the worst was finally behind them.
The corruption trials continued.
The newspapers still published stories about the Whitmore network.
Grant’s attorneys filed motions that were rejected almost as quickly as they were submitted.
But inside the center, life had found a rhythm.
Children attended school in the east wing.
Mothers met with attorneys in the former ballroom.
Counselors worked in rooms that had once been used for private negotiations and political favors.
The estate was no longer silent.
That was why Elena noticed the silence that night.
She had just finished reviewing the center’s monthly financial report when she realized Grace had stopped laughing in the next room.
“Grace?”
No answer.
Elena left Thomas’s former office and found her daughter sitting on the marble floor beside the courthouse-shaped toy Adrian had given her.
Grace had turned the toy upside down.
A thin wooden panel lay beside her.
“Mommy,” Grace said proudly. “I found a secret.”
Elena froze.
Beneath the toy building was a narrow compartment.
Inside it rested a small brass key and a folded piece of paper yellowed at the edges.
Elena recognized the handwriting immediately.
Samuel Mercer.
Her father.
Her hands began to tremble as she opened the note.
Elena,
If you are reading this, then someone has rebuilt what they tried to destroy.
The key opens a place Thomas believed no one else knew existed.
Do not show it to the police.
Do not show it to Rebecca.
And before you show it to Adrian, ask him one question.
Ask him why he was at Mile Marker Forty-One before my car caught fire.
Elena read the final sentence twice.
Her father had died in a crash at Mile Marker Forty-One.
The official report claimed his vehicle had lost control shortly before midnight.
Adrian had always said he learned about the crash the next morning.
Elena slowly looked toward the courtyard.
Through the glass doors, Adrian stood beneath a garden light, speaking on the phone.
He turned slightly.
For one brief moment, his eyes met hers.
Then he ended the call.
“What did you find?” he asked as he entered the room.
Elena closed her fingers around the key.
Grace pointed toward the open compartment.
“A secret from Grandpa.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
Only for a second.
But Elena saw it.
Fear.
Not surprise.
Fear.
She slipped the note into her pocket.
“Nothing important,” Elena said.
Adrian looked at the courthouse toy.
Then at Elena’s closed hand.
“You have never been good at lying to me.”
“And you have?”
The question stopped him.
Elena lifted Grace into her arms and walked past him.
Behind her, Adrian spoke quietly.
“Elena.”
She did not turn around.
“Where were you the night Dad died?” she asked.
The silence behind her lasted too long.
May you like
When Adrian finally answered, his voice was barely audible.
“At Mile Marker Forty-One.”
