I Came Home From Deployment Three Days Early… Then I Found a Notebook With My Name on It
Chapter 6
The man outside introduced himself as Lucas Mercer.
He was in his early thirties, dressed neatly, and carrying a cardboard box.
He didn’t look threatening.
That somehow made Ethan more suspicious.
“I heard you were home,” Lucas said.
“How?”
“Your sister.”
Mia frowned.
“I didn’t tell him.”
Lucas smiled faintly.
“You didn’t have to.”
Ethan stepped outside.
“Why are you here?”
Lucas held up the box.
“Because my father left something with yours.”
Ethan looked at the box.
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why bring it here?”
“Because I found it after my mother passed away.”
Lucas opened the box.
Inside were photographs, receipts, and several handwritten letters.
Ethan recognized his father’s handwriting immediately.
He picked up the top letter.
The date was from twenty years earlier.
The letter was addressed to Daniel Mercer.
Ethan read the first few lines.
Then stopped.
“What?”
Mia asked.
Ethan handed her the letter.
Her eyes moved across the page.
“He knew.”
“Who knew what?”
Mia looked at Lucas.
“Your father wasn’t trying to take the land.”
Lucas shook his head.
“He was trying to protect it.”
Ethan looked confused.
“From whom?”
Lucas didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he reached into the box and pulled out a photograph.
It showed four people standing outside a farmhouse.
Ethan’s father.
Daniel Mercer.
A younger Mia and Ethan’s mother.
And a fourth person.
Ethan stared at the face.
He recognized him.
It was someone he had seen many times growing up.
Someone the family had trusted.
Someone who had attended his father’s funeral.
“That’s impossible.”
Claire looked at the photograph.
“Who is he?”
Ethan whispered the name.
“Robert Hale.”
Mia’s face changed.
“He’s been helping me search for the documents.”
Ethan looked at her.
“You trusted him?”
“I didn’t know.”
Claire stepped closer.
“Maybe that’s why someone was searching the house.”
Lucas nodded.
“My father wrote one thing repeatedly.”
“What?”
Lucas turned the photograph over.
Written on the back were seven words.
Never trust the person who already knows.
