Chapter 8 - What Happened to Laura MercerThe police traced the call to a disposable phone.
Purchased with cash.
Security footage useless.
Clare was beginning to hate those sentences.
Detective Elena Ruiz sat across from them at the Romano office.
She had investigated Adrian's shooting eighteen months earlier.
Back then, the evidence had led nowhere.
Now she looked irritated.
“I don't believe in coincidences,” Ruiz said.
“Neither do I,” Clare replied.
Dominic handed her everything.
Matteo's letter.
Margaret's statement.
Helena's account.
Laura's photograph.
The Milwaukee shelter information.
Ruiz read silently.
“This changes the shooting investigation.”
Adrian looked at her.
“How?”
“If someone believed you were close to discovering something about Laura Mercer, motive becomes different.”
“Can you reopen it?”
“It never closed.”
“Then why hasn't anyone—”
“Because real investigations aren't television.”
Adrian leaned back.
Ruiz continued.
“We follow evidence. Until now, evidence suggested someone targeted you near your vehicle, possibly during an attempted robbery.”
“They didn't take anything.”
“I know.”
“So?”
“So now I have another possibility.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Victor Romano.”
“Dead.”
“Someone connected to him.”
“Maybe.”
Ruiz closed the file.
“But I need facts, not family theories.”
Clare liked her.
“What fact do we find next?”
“Laura.”
Adrian's expression tightened.
“If she's alive.”
Ruiz nodded.
“If she's alive.”
The breakthrough came from something ordinary.
A prescription.
Laura Mills had vanished from public records twelve years earlier.
But medical records followed people differently.
Clare could not access them legally.
She knew that.
She refused even when Adrian suggested someone probably could.
Instead, Ruiz obtained a court order connected to the renewed investigation.
Three days later, they found a woman named Laura Mason living outside Duluth, Minnesota.
Age matched.
Medical history matched.
A scar from an appendectomy at seventeen matched a record Helena possessed.
Ruiz went first.
Adrian was not allowed.
He hated that.
For forty-eight hours, they waited.
Then Ruiz called.
“It's her.”
Adrian sat down.
Clare watched his face.
“She knows about me?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ask—”
“Yes.”
Adrian swallowed.
“What did she ask?”
Ruiz paused.
“She asked if you're alive.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Clare reached for his hand.
“When can I see her?”
“She hasn't agreed.”
His eyes opened.
“What?”
“She is frightened.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“She wouldn't say.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Tell her Victor is dead.”
“I did.”
“And?”
“She said, ‘Victor wasn't the only one.’”
Silence.
Ruiz continued.
“She wants twenty-four hours.”
Adrian nodded.
“Fine.”
It wasn't fine.
But twenty-four hours later, Laura agreed.
They met at a private room in a small hotel outside Duluth.
Laura arrived first.
Adrian stood outside the door for almost a minute.
Clare waited beside him.
Dominic had stayed downstairs.
His choice.
“This belongs to Adrian,” he had said.
Clare respected him for it.
Adrian looked at her.
“What if she doesn't like me?”
Clare nearly smiled.
“That's what you're worried about?”
“I don't know what I'm worried about.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“It means you're normal.”
“That would be a first.”
Clare squeezed his shoulder.
“You don't owe her forgiveness.”
“I know.”
“She doesn't owe you an explanation that fixes everything.”
“I know.”
“You can leave whenever you want.”
“I know.”
He breathed.
“Stop nursing me.”
“Never.”
He opened the door.
Laura stood by the window.
She was fifty-eight.
Smaller than Adrian expected.
Her hair was almost entirely gray.
For several seconds, they stared at each other.
Then Laura covered her mouth.
“Oh God.”
Adrian did not move.
Laura cried.
Not delicately.
Not beautifully.
She folded forward as though grief had finally been given permission to become physical.
Adrian looked at Clare.
Clare stepped backward.
“I'll be outside.”
He caught her hand.
“Stay.”
So she did.
Laura sat.
Adrian remained standing.
Finally Laura whispered, “You look like my father.”
Adrian swallowed.
“I was told I look like you.”
“You have my eyes.”
He looked away.
“I spent my whole life thinking they were Rebecca's.”
Laura flinched.
“I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“Everything.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“No.”
Laura wiped her face.
“Sit, please.”
Adrian sat opposite her.
“Did you give me away?”
Laura looked directly at him.
“Yes.”
“Did you want to?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Laura breathed slowly.
“I was twenty-two.”
Adrian waited.
“Victor was married.”
“I know.”
“He told me he loved me.”
Adrian's expression remained blank.
“I believed him.”
“Did you know Rebecca and Matteo?”
“Not initially.”
Laura looked down.
“When I became pregnant, Victor changed.”
“How?”
“He wanted me to terminate the pregnancy.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“I refused.”
“What happened?”
“He offered money.”
“How much?”
“Enough that he thought poverty would make the decision for me.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“It didn't.”
“No.”
“What changed?”
“Rebecca found me.”
Adrian stared.
“My mother?”
Laura nodded.
“She came to my apartment.”
“Why?”
“She knew Victor.”
“He was her brother-in-law.”
“She knew what he was capable of.”
Laura looked at Adrian.
“She told me she and Matteo had been trying to have another child.”
Adrian already knew where this was going.
“She offered to adopt you.”
“Did she pay you?”
Laura's face collapsed.
“No.”
“Victor did?”
“No.”
“Then why does everyone keep talking about payments?”
“Because Victor paid doctors.”
Clare leaned forward.
“For what?”
“To change records.”
Adrian looked at her.
“What records?”
“Your birth.”
Laura's voice became quiet.
“Victor didn't want evidence that you were his son.”
“Why?”
“His marriage. His reputation. The company.”
“Money.”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked disgusted.
“So Rebecca and Matteo adopted me.”
“Yes.”
“Legally?”
Laura hesitated.
“Eventually.”
That word mattered.
“What does eventually mean?”
“For the first several months, the paperwork was incomplete.”
Clare understood.
“And that's why Evelyn was involved.”
Laura looked at her.
“You're Evelyn's daughter.”
“Yes.”
Laura smiled through tears.
“She was kind.”
Clare's throat tightened.
“She helped correct the records without exposing Laura,” she guessed.
“Yes.”
Adrian looked at Laura.
“Then why did you come back?”
Laura closed her eyes.
“Because I regretted leaving.”
Silence.
“I told myself you were better with them.”
“Was I?”
Laura looked at him.
“Yes.”
The certainty surprised everyone.
“Rebecca loved you before she met you.”
Adrian's eyes filled.
“Then why did she think I was in danger?”
Laura's face changed.
“Because I contacted Victor.”
“Why?”
“I wanted photographs.”
“Of me?”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked down.
“I wasn't asking to take you back.”
Laura continued.
“I just wanted to know you were happy.”
“And Victor?”
“He became afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That I'd expose everything.”
Laura looked at Dominic's empty chair.
“Matteo had already discovered Victor was stealing.”
Clare frowned.
“We thought the money was hiding payments.”
“Some was.”
“And the rest?”
“Victor was stealing from the company.”
The two crimes had overlapped.
Victor had used the children's trusts because transactions involving family accounts attracted less scrutiny.
When Rebecca discovered irregularities, she followed them.
She found Laura.
She found the payments.
Then she found the theft.
“She told Matteo?” Clare asked.
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“They fought.”
“Victor and Matteo?”
“Yes.”
Laura's hands shook.
“Victor threatened Rebecca.”
Adrian went still.
“What kind of threat?”
“He said accidents happened.”
Nobody spoke.
Adrian's face drained.
“My mother's car.”
Laura began crying again.
“I don't know.”
“Did Victor kill her?”
“I don't know.”
“Did he?”
“I DON'T KNOW.”
The words echoed.
Laura covered her face.
Clare watched Adrian.
He looked ready to break something.
Or himself.
“After Rebecca died,” Laura continued, “Matteo sent me away.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“From Victor?”
“Yes.”
“He knew?”
“He suspected.”
“Why didn't he go to police?”
“Because he had no proof.”
Laura looked at Clare.
“And Victor had something Matteo feared.”
“What?”
“Evidence that the adoption paperwork had initially been falsified.”
Adrian understood.
“He could have taken me away.”
“Or exposed everything publicly.”
“Dad chose me.”
“Yes.”
The words hit Adrian hard.
Matteo had spent years under suspicion.
Lost reputation.
Lost family trust.
And somewhere inside that chaos, he had also been protecting a child who was not biologically his.
Adrian lowered his head.
For a long time, nobody spoke.
Then he asked the hardest question.
“Why did you disappear again twelve years ago?”
Laura looked toward the door.
“Victor found me.”
“We know.”
“He wasn't alone.”
“Who?”
Laura's face became pale.
“His lawyer.”
Dominic entered from the hallway.
He had apparently heard enough.
“What lawyer?”
Laura looked at him.
“Thomas Vale.”
Dominic froze.
Clare recognized the name.
Thomas Vale had served as outside counsel for Romano Construction for nearly thirty years.
He was still alive.
More importantly, he was still working.
Dominic's voice became quiet.
“Vale handled my father's estate.”
Laura nodded.
“He helped Victor hide the money.”
Adrian stood.
“And he threatened you?”
“Yes.”
“Is he the one who shot me?”
“I don't know.”
“Is he the one who called Dominic?”
“I don't know.”
Dominic pulled out his phone.
Clare caught his wrist.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling Ruiz.”
“Good.”
His eyes were cold.
“What did you think I was doing?”
“Something stupid.”
Adrian almost laughed.
Dominic called the detective.
Laura stared at the brothers.
“I'm sorry.”
Adrian looked at her.
“For leaving?”
“For not being brave enough to come back.”
Adrian's expression softened slightly.
“You were threatened.”
“I was still your mother.”
He shook his head.
“You gave birth to me.”
Laura flinched.
Adrian continued.
“Rebecca was my mother.”
Tears filled Laura's eyes.
“Yes.”
“But…”
He stopped.
Clare waited.
Adrian looked at the woman who had spent nearly thirty years afraid of the consequences of loving him.
“But maybe that doesn't mean you have to be nobody.”
Laura began crying.
Adrian did not embrace her.
Not yet.
He simply sat again.
Sometimes reconciliation did not begin with forgiveness.
Sometimes it began with staying in the room.
Detective Ruiz called an hour later.
Thomas Vale was gone.
His apartment had been emptied.
His office computer wiped.
His car abandoned near O'Hare.
But he had made one mistake.
He had left a safe-deposit key in his desk.
Ruiz obtained a warrant.
Inside the box were financial records.
Photographs.
Copies of Matteo's letters.
And one document that changed everything.
A payment made eighteen months earlier.
Three days before Adrian was shot.
The recipient was a man with a criminal record.
Ruiz recognized the name.
Adrian looked at her.
“Was he the shooter?”
“We'll find out.”
Dominic looked at Clare.
Clare knew what he was thinking.
They were finally close.
But Ruiz had one more piece of information.
“There was also a photograph in Vale's box.”
She placed it on the table.
Clare looked down.
The photograph had been taken outside the Bennett Community Health Center.
Three weeks earlier.
Clare was standing near the entrance.
Dominic beside her.
Adrian several feet away.
Someone had circled Clare's face in red ink.
May you like
Underneath were three handwritten words.
She knows enough.
