Chapter 24 - The Last Road-Trip FileFour years after Wesley’s death, Lauren finally watched every road-trip video.
She had avoided some because hearing his laugh still hurt.
One Sunday Grace sat beside her.
“Can we watch Dad?”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
They began with ordinary clips.
Wesley singing badly.
Grace asleep in a car seat.
Lauren arguing with navigation.
Rain hitting the windshield.
Then they found a file dated six weeks before Wesley entered the hospital for the last time.
He was alone in the parked sedan.
The same dashcam angle.
He looked thin.
Tired.
But smiling.
“Lauren will probably delete this because she hates accidental recordings.”
Grace laughed.
“She still does.”
Lauren nudged her.
Wesley continued.
“I’m testing the new memory card because the old one keeps corrupting files.”
Lauren stared at the dashcam.
Wesley had maintained it himself.
He looked into the lens.
“Grace likes watching road trips, so apparently I’m now the family archivist.”
Grace smiled.
Then Wesley’s expression became serious.
“I’ve been thinking about evidence.”
Lauren stopped breathing.
“I keep collecting it because facts matter.”
He looked down.
“But I’m worried I’m teaching myself that nothing counts unless it’s recorded.”
Lauren glanced at Grace.
Wesley continued.
“If Grace ever tells you something happened, believe her first.”
Lauren’s eyes filled instantly.
There was no way Wesley could have known.
No prophecy.
No supernatural coincidence.
He had been speaking generally.
About parenting.
About trust.
And years later Grace had pointed at the dashcam because she thought the recording would make her believable.
Wesley said:
“Then verify. Ask questions. Be fair. But don’t make her prove she deserves to be heard.”
Grace looked at Lauren.
“Dad said the same thing you said.”
Lauren could not answer.
Wesley smiled.
“Also, if she crashes my car at sixteen, ignore everything I just said and demand video.”
Grace laughed.
Lauren cried.
The file continued for another minute.
Then Wesley reached toward the camera.
Stopped.
“One more thing.”
Lauren leaned forward.
“If I’m gone and this car is still around, take it somewhere.”
He smiled sadly.
“Not to court. Not to work. Not to another Mercer meeting.”
“Go somewhere stupid.”
Grace giggled.
“Like the world’s biggest ball of yarn.”
Lauren laughed through tears.
“Eat bad roadside food.”
“Get lost.”
“Let Grace choose the music even though she has terrible taste.”
Grace looked offended.
“I have excellent taste.”
Wesley ended:
“A car should take you somewhere. It shouldn’t only remember where you’ve been.”
The screen went black.
Lauren sat completely still.
Grace leaned against her.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Can we go somewhere stupid?”
Lauren started laughing.
“Your father has created a monster.”
“Road trip.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“You have school.”
“Saturday.”
Lauren pretended to consider.
“Where?”
Grace grabbed the laptop.
She searched for roadside attractions.
Within minutes she found a giant roadside duck in New York.
“That.”
Lauren stared.
“Absolutely ridiculous.”
“So Dad would approve.”
“He probably would.”
Saturday morning they packed the car.
Maria, who still worked with the family but had long since become something closer to family than employee, brought snacks.
“Call me when you arrive.”
Grace rolled her eyes.
“Yes, Maria.”
Lauren put the bags in the trunk.
Then paused before getting into the driver’s seat.
Four years earlier she had opened that door and heard Grace crying.
She remembered Nadine’s false voice.
There was a mosquito in the car.
She remembered Grace pointing upward.
The camera recorded everything.
That moment had torn open every secret the Mercer family tried to protect.
Now Grace jumped into the back seat carrying headphones and three bags of candy.
“Mom!”
“What?”
“Drive!”
Lauren smiled.
The dashcam blinked.
No courtroom.
No evidence bag.
No threat.
May you like
Just a road trip.
She started the engine.
