He had agreed to cooperate, but he had not yet explained why he had allowed everyone to believe he was dead.
Marcus watched him through the rear window.
There was something about the retired detective that bothered him. Mercer seemed less like a man who had just survived an attack and more like someone who had spent years preparing for the possibility that this moment would eventually arrive.
When Elena finished her call, Marcus approached her.
“We need answers.”
“I know.”
“Mercer says Thomas Reed may still be alive. He says someone helped him disappear. Then the evidence room gets breached. Someone steals the recording and the witness protection file. We can't keep reacting to events after they happen.”
Elena nodded.
“That's why we're moving Mercer to a secure location.”
“What about Evelyn Shaw?”
“We'll find her.”
“Before Caldwell does.”
Elena looked at him.
“That's exactly what I'm worried about.”
Marcus glanced toward the vehicles.
“There's something else. Mercer knew the attackers would come. He seemed to expect them.”
“He may have information he hasn't shared.”
“Then we need to get it out of him.”
Elena considered that.
“Let me speak with him first. If he is telling the truth, he may be the most important witness we have.”
She walked toward Mercer's vehicle.
Marcus followed.
Mercer was sitting in the rear seat with his hands resting on his knees. His face looked older than it had in the photographs, but his eyes remained sharp.
Elena opened the door.
“Detective Mercer, I need you to explain why you disappeared.”
Mercer looked at her.
“Because the last time I trusted someone inside the department, Thomas Reed vanished.”
“That doesn't answer my question.”
“I was investigating corruption involving the redevelopment contracts. I found evidence that senior officials were using police resources to intimidate witnesses and protect private companies. When I tried to report it, my supervisor warned me that I was putting my family at risk.”
“Who was your supervisor?”
“Raymond Mitchell.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Mitchell is already under investigation.”
“Then you should know that he wasn't acting alone.”
“Who else?”
Mercer looked toward Rebecca.
“Before I answer, I need to tell her something.”
Rebecca approached slowly.
“What?”
Mercer lowered his voice.
“Your father asked me to protect you.”
Rebecca stared at him.
“Then why did you let us believe he was dead?”
Mercer closed his eyes briefly.
“Because I believed it was the only way to keep you alive.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“No. It isn't. And I don't expect you to forgive me.”
Rebecca's voice trembled.
“My mother spent years searching for him. I grew up thinking he had abandoned us. You could have told us something.”
“I wanted to. More than once. But every time I considered contacting your family, someone appeared at your house, questioned your mother, or followed you home from school.”
Patricia looked up sharply.
“You knew we were being watched?”
Mercer nodded.
“I knew. I was watching them watch you.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“You were nearby all those years?”
“Not always. But when I could be.”
“Why didn't you come forward?”
Mercer looked down at his hands.
“Because I was a coward.”
The answer surprised everyone.
He continued.
“I told myself that staying hidden would eventually allow me to bring the entire operation down. I convinced myself that protecting the evidence was more important than explaining the truth to the people who had been hurt by it.”
He looked at Rebecca.
“But I was wrong. Your family deserved better.”
Rebecca turned away.
Marcus allowed the silence to remain.
Finally, Elena spoke.
“Detective, where is Thomas Reed?”
Mercer took a slow breath.
“The last place I knew he was alive was a private medical facility called Westbridge Recovery Center.”
“Where is that?”
“About forty miles north of Brookhaven. It was a small facility used for patients who needed long-term care. It had private funding and very little public oversight.”
“Who owned it?”
Mercer hesitated.
“Northbridge Protection Services controlled the property. The medical company operating it was called Westbridge Medical Group.”
Elena wrote the names down.
“And Evelyn Shaw?”
“She was a registered nurse. She worked there during the period Thomas was admitted.”
“Why would she know where he went?”
“Because she signed the transfer papers.”
“Transfer to where?”
Mercer looked at Rebecca.
“That's the question I've been trying to answer for ten years.”
By midday, the investigation had expanded beyond anything Brookhaven had experienced in its history.