Chapter 8
The Woman in the Photograph
Adrian did not answer in the elevator.
He took Mara to the penthouse and unlocked a drawer beneath the study desk. Inside was a photograph sealed in plastic.
It showed Quinn Meridian’s roof eleven months before the bankruptcy. Mara’s father stood near the edge. Nathan Mercer stood beside him. A third figure appeared at the far left, half hidden by shadow.
Mara’s mother.
“She was dead,” Mara said.
“She died eight years ago.”
“The photograph is dated eleven months before my father’s collapse.”
“I know.”
On the back, written in Nathan’s hand, were the words: Ask her about the account.
“What account?”
“We don’t know.”
“You spent three years investigating and don’t know?”
“Nathan’s files were stripped after his death.”
“By whom?”
“My uncle.”
Victor’s name filled the room without being spoken.
Mara noticed the old music player on the desk. Her father had given it to her the day after Nathan’s funeral.
“You know what this is.”
“I know your father gave it to you.”
She remembered his words: Keep the old song. New music lies.
She pressed play.
Static filled the study.
Then her father spoke.
“If Mara ever hears this, the account is already compromised.”
Adrian became very still.
“Nathan, if you are listening, do not trust the boy who comes after me.”
The recording ended.
Mara looked at Adrian.
“What boy?”
He did not answer.
The device clicked again.
A second voice whispered beneath the static.
“She signed.”