She Found a Forgotten Case File at Work — Then Realized the Recent Murders Were Following Its 20-Year-Old List
Chapter 11
The old courthouse had been abandoned for years.
Mara and Daniel entered through the rear door.
The building smelled of dust and rain.
Their footsteps echoed through empty halls.
“Do you think your father is here?”
“I don’t know.”
They reached the courtroom.
The lights came on.
A man sat behind the judge’s bench.
Older.
Thinner.
His hair almost completely gray.
Mara stopped.
Her knees nearly gave out.
“Dad?”
Jonathan Bennett looked at her.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then he whispered:
“Mara.”
She ran toward him.
He caught her.
She cried into his shoulder.
“You were alive.”
“Yes.”
“You left us.”
“No.”
He pulled back.
“I was taken.”
“By Mercer?”
Jonathan nodded.
“He wanted the evidence.”
“Why didn’t you escape?”
“Because I wasn’t alone.”
Jonathan looked toward Daniel.
“Frank Reed helped me.”
Daniel froze.
“My father?”
“He sacrificed himself to make everyone believe he was corrupt.”
Mara stared.
“Then who killed him?”
Jonathan’s face darkened.
“Mercer.”
Daniel’s hands tightened.
“Why?”
“Because Frank discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
Jonathan looked at Mara.
“The murders twenty years ago were not the beginning.”
Mara felt cold.
“They were the cleanup.”
Jonathan continued.
“There had been an earlier operation. People were killed to hide financial crimes. Frank and I discovered it.”
“And Mercer?”
“He was the man who ordered it.”
Silence.
“Why are the murders happening now?”
Jonathan looked down.
“Because someone found my list.”
Mara whispered:
“The killer.”
Jonathan nodded.
“But the killer isn’t Mercer.”
Daniel frowned.
“Then who?”
Jonathan looked at him.
“Frank’s son.”
Daniel went completely still.
“My brother?”
Jonathan nodded.
“Your father had another son.”
Daniel stared.
“I don’t have a brother.”
“You did.”
Jonathan’s voice softened.
“His name was Ethan.”
Mara looked at Daniel.
“Ethan Reed died twenty years ago.”
Jonathan shook his head.
“No.”
“He survived.”
The lights went out.
A gunshot echoed.
Jonathan collapsed.
Mara screamed.
Daniel pulled her behind the bench.
Then a voice came through the darkness.
“You were never supposed to find him.”
