Chapter 5 - The Pier Where Everything Began
Pier 17 had been rebuilt.
Grant had never returned.
Until now.
Rain struck the SUV as Daniel drove through the old waterfront district.
Grant sat in the passenger seat.
Hannah had insisted on coming because Amelia might require medical assistance.
Lucy remained safely at the mansion with twenty armed security officers.
The rebuilt pier appeared through Grant’s recovering vision as a world of lights and dark geometric shapes.
He could not yet read signs.
Could not recognize distant faces.
But he could see.
That alone felt impossible.
Daniel stopped behind a warehouse.
“Two guards ahead.”
Grant removed his dark glasses.
Hannah caught his arm.
“Don’t.”
“I’m not walking in blind.”
“That sentence stopped being funny three days ago.”
He looked at her.
For the first time, he saw her face clearly enough to recognize the fear.
Not fear of him.
Fear for him.
Grant softened.
“Stay behind Daniel.”
Hannah shook her head.
“I’m going where Amelia is.”
“You’re a housekeeper.”
“I’m also the reason you know what a pupil is.”
Daniel opened his door.
“She has you there.”
They entered through a side service corridor.
No gunfire.
No dramatic assault.
Daniel’s men had quietly secured the outer building.
Inside an office overlooking the harbor, Amelia sat tied to a chair.
She was alive.
Furious.
“About time.”
Hannah rushed forward.
“Are you hurt?”
“Mostly offended.”
Daniel cut the restraints.
Grant entered behind them.
Amelia stared.
“You came here?”
“You were kidnapped because of me.”
“Which is exactly why you should have stayed home.”
Grant sighed.
“Is everyone going to argue with me now?”
“Yes,” Hannah and Amelia said together.
A slow clap sounded behind them.
Victor Dane entered through the office doorway.
Vernon Hale stood beside him.
Daniel’s security team turned.
Victor lifted both hands.
“No need for theatrics.”
Grant stared.
Victor’s face sharpened through the blur.
Hale looked terrified.
Victor looked irritated.
“You can see,” Hale whispered.
Grant removed his dark glasses.
“Enough.”
Hale stepped backward.
Victor glared at him.
“You told me the medication was working.”
“It should have been.”
Grant’s voice became very quiet.
Hannah looked at Daniel.
They had it.
A confession.
Daniel’s phone was recording from inside his jacket.
Victor realized too late.
“Vernon,” he said, “shut up.”
Grant smiled.
“Please. Let the doctor speak.”
Hale’s face drained of color.
Victor turned toward the windows.
“This proves nothing.”
“No?” Grant asked. “Eight million dollars before the explosion. Quarterly payments afterward. Unauthorized medication. Amelia kidnapped after examining me.”
Victor shrugged.
“You have theories.”
Grant took another step.
“And Caroline?”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
Grant saw it.
“What did she discover?”
“Nothing.”
“Say it again.”
“Nothing.”
Grant’s voice cracked like a whip.
“My wife found your trafficking operation.”
Victor’s composure slipped.
“She should have stayed out of business she didn’t understand.”
Hannah inhaled sharply.
Daniel did not move.
Grant stared at Victor.
Five years of darkness narrowed into one sentence.
“You killed her.”
Victor answered too quickly.
“I didn’t intend for Emma to be there.”
Silence.
Even Hale looked at him.
Grant stopped moving.
“What?”
Victor realized what he had said.
Grant’s face emptied of emotion.
“My daughter.”
“It was supposed to be you and Caroline.”
Daniel whispered, “We have it.”
Victor turned.
Grant’s eyes remained locked on him.
“You ordered the explosion.”
Victor smiled bitterly.
“You were going to destroy everything.”
“You were trafficking people.”
“You were going to hand evidence to federal investigators.”
“Yes.”
“You would have burned every business we built.”
Grant stepped closer.
“I would have burned the entire waterfront before I let you sell human beings through it.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
Hale suddenly spoke.
“He made me do it.”
Victor spun toward him.
Hale backed away.
“He threatened my family.”
“You took eight million dollars,” Grant said.
“I was afraid.”
“For five years?”
Hale started crying.
“The blast damaged your eyes, but not completely. Early tests showed possible recovery.”
Hannah stared.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you suppressed it.”
Hale lowered his head.
“Victor needed Grant dependent.”
Grant asked one final question.
“Did Caroline suffer?”
Hale looked up.
“I don’t know.”
Victor remained silent.
Grant’s fists clenched.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Grant.”
That one word brought him back.
Grant could destroy both men.
Five years ago, he would have.
Instead he looked toward the recording phone.
“No.”
Victor frowned.
Grant continued.
“You’re going to stand in a courtroom.”
Daniel understood.
Grant looked at Victor.
“You wanted me alive because you thought darkness made me powerless.”
Police sirens grew louder outside.
Victor stared.
“You called the police?”
Grant nodded.
“And federal investigators.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“Since when does Grant Mercer cooperate with the government?”
“Since my wife died trying to stop what you were doing.”
Officers entered moments later.
Victor Dane was arrested.
Vernon Hale followed.
As Hale passed Grant, he whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Grant looked directly into his face.
For the first time.
“No.”
Hale froze.
May you like
“You’re sorry I can see you.”
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