Chapter 6 - The Sergeant’s Offer
Mercer stood in the rain with one hand resting near his weapon.
Natalie moved in front of Ashley and Andrew.
“You cut my radio?”
“I prevented confusion.”
“You knew Andrew was here.”
“I knew he was dangerous.”
Andrew laughed bitterly.
“You helped Claire fake her death.”
Mercer’s expression did not change.
He had been a young detective when Claire disappeared.
He signed the report declaring her presumed dead.
Natalie remembered how often he had praised that case as one of his cleanest investigations.
Mercer looked at her.
“You’re a good officer, Natalie. Don’t ruin your life over people you don’t understand.”
“A drugged child and a kidnapped father are easy to understand.”
He lowered his voice.
“Give me the Mercy key. I’ll say you rescued them from a house fire.”
“And Claire?”
“She disappears again.”
Ashley whispered, “He was in Daddy’s room.”
Natalie glanced at Mercer.
The child recognized him.
Mercer’s jaw tightened.
Andrew struggled to stand.
“You were the second voice.”
Mercer drew his gun.
Natalie drew faster.
For several seconds, rain struck both weapons.
Then the black sedan returned.
It raced around the corner and stopped behind Mercer.
Claire stepped out.
She looked almost exactly like the woman cut from the family photograph.
Ashley stared at her.
Claire smiled.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Ashley hid behind Natalie.
Claire’s smile vanished.
“Andrew taught you to fear your own mother.”
Andrew shouted, “You drugged her!”
“I needed her calm.”
Claire held up a remote.
A red light blinked.
“The house contains enough evidence to bury everyone. It also contains enough gas to level the block.”
Mercer looked at her sharply.
“That wasn’t the agreement.”
Claire pressed her thumb over the button.
May you like
“Plans changed.”
👉 Claire had trapped Natalie between a corrupt officer and an explosive house, and only the Mercy key could reveal why Ashley mattered so much.
