Chapter 6 - The Man Michael Sent to PrisonDavid Mercer had been twenty-nine when he was arrested.
A systems analyst for Northstar.
Married.
One daughter.
No criminal history.
Police accused him of murdering a federal contractor named Steven Pike.
The evidence looked overwhelming.
Security footage.
Financial records.
DNA.
A witness.
David insisted every piece had been fabricated.
Nobody believed him.
He was convicted.
Three years later, he died in prison.
Daniel sat in Marcus’s office reading the file.
“Michael altered this?”
“At least part of it,” Marcus said.
Daniel stared at a photograph of David Mercer.
Ryan’s older brother.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
“Why frame him?”
Marcus scrolled.
“Pike was apparently about to expose illegal Northstar surveillance contracts.”
Daniel understood.
“They killed Pike.”
“And needed someone outside leadership to take the fall.”
“David knew enough to be believable.”
“Probably.”
Daniel looked at the old case investigators.
One name stopped him.
Detective Thomas Keller.
Daniel’s former mentor.
“No.”
Marcus saw it too.
“Keller led the investigation.”
Daniel stared.
“He trained me.”
“Doesn’t make him innocent.”
Daniel thought of the cloned access card.
Maybe it hadn’t been cloned.
Maybe Keller had simply lied about being home.
Lisa entered.
“We checked his house.”
Daniel stood.
“And?”
“Empty.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“What about the surgery?”
“No hospital record.”
Marcus leaned back.
“So Sergeant Keller invented a knee replacement and vanished.”
Daniel looked at the file again.
Michael had said the leak was inside the department.
Maybe he had known more than he admitted.
Daniel called Keller.
Straight to voicemail.
He left no message.
Then Evan walked into the doorway with the CPS worker.
Daniel frowned.
“You’re supposed to be at the apartment.”
Evan held up a folded paper.
“I remembered something.”
Daniel crouched.
“What?”
“The man Ryan met at the gas station.”
Evan unfolded the paper.
He had drawn a badge.
Not accurately.
But beneath it he had written four numbers.
Daniel frowned.
“What’s that?”
“His car.”
“You remembered the license plate?”
“Part of it.”
Daniel glanced at Marcus.
Michael’s training.
“What kind of car?”
“Black truck.”
“Police?”
“No.”
“Anything else?”
Evan thought.
“He called Ryan ‘Mercer.’”
Daniel leaned closer.
“What did Ryan call him?”
Evan’s brow furrowed.
“Kell.”
Daniel went still.
Marcus stood.
“Keller.”
Evan nodded.
“Maybe.”
Daniel’s pulse sharpened.
Keller hadn’t freed Ryan after the arrest because he was helping Northstar.
He and Ryan already knew each other.
That meant the story was more complicated.
“Did they argue?”
Evan nodded.
“What about?”
“Me.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“What did Keller say?”
Evan concentrated.
“He said, ‘The boy changes nothing.’”
“And Ryan?”
“He said, ‘He changes everything if Reed talks.’”
Daniel stared.
“Which Reed?”
Evan shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
There were now three.
Daniel.
Michael.
Evan.
Marcus walked to the whiteboard.
“Let’s separate motives.”
He wrote:
NORTHSTAR.
RYAN.
KELLER.
“Northstar wants Michael’s evidence buried.”
Daniel nodded.
“Ryan wants revenge for David.”
“Keller?”
Daniel looked at David Mercer’s case file.
“Maybe he’s protecting himself.”
Marcus circled Keller’s name.
“Then why help Ryan?”
Daniel had no answer.
Lisa’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She listened.
“Send it.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What happened?”
“A traffic camera caught Keller’s truck.”
“Where?”
She turned the monitor.
The image showed a black pickup.
License plate ending 318.
Evan pointed immediately.
“That one!”
Daniel looked at the location.
Lake Briar Road.
His childhood cabin.
“They went back.”
Marcus grabbed his coat.
“Probably for the basement evidence.”
Daniel turned to Evan.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“Evan.”
“Ryan knows the house.”
Daniel stopped.
“How?”
“He was there before.”
“When?”
The boy swallowed.
“The night my dad disappeared.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“You saw him?”
“No.”
“I heard him.”
“What did he say?”
Evan looked frightened.
“He told my dad…”
His voice dropped.
“…Daniel Reed was the reason David Mercer died.”
Daniel stared.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Evan shook his head.
“That’s what he said.”
Marcus looked toward Daniel.
Daniel felt something cold settle inside him.
He had never worked David Mercer’s case.
At the time, he had been a rookie patrol officer.
There was no reason his name should have mattered.
Unless Michael had done something using Daniel.
Daniel returned to Michael’s video.
Fast-forwarded.
Near the end, Michael said:
“There’s one more thing about David Mercer.”
Daniel leaned closer.
“I didn’t frame him alone.”
Daniel’s breathing changed.
Michael looked straight into the camera.
“I used your credentials.”
Daniel stopped.
“I copied your access card and logged evidence under your name because I knew no one would suspect a rookie officer.”
Daniel felt the room disappear.
“I’m sorry, Danny.”
His brother’s voice broke.
May you like
“On paper…”
“…you helped send David Mercer to prison.”
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