PART 10 — THE LAST DEAL

Thomas had spent decades being treated like the monster of the family.
Now he was the hostage.
Jason looked at the black ledger inside the locker.
Samuel whispered, “Weller needs that destroyed.”
Daniel nodded.
“It ties him to everything.”
Jason asked, “Can we copy it?”
“Photograph every page,” I said.
Jason looked at me.
I barely recognized myself anymore.
Two days earlier, I had secretly mailed DNA samples because I thought the worst truth in my family was infidelity.
Now we were standing inside a train station planning how to trap a murderer.
Police were brought in.
This time, we told them nearly everything.
The kidnapping.
The ledger.
Weller.
Thomas.
The attempted fraud.
The threats.
A state investigator arrived within an hour.
Then another.
When they saw the ledger, their entire posture changed.
One officer whispered,
“This goes back decades.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
The investigator asked Jason,
“Is Weller expecting you?”
Jason said, “He expects my mother.”
“No,” I said immediately.
Jason turned.
“Mom.”
“He contacted me first.”
“You are not going.”
“I started this.”
“That does not mean you finish it alone.”
Samuel spoke quietly.
“Robert would hate this.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“All of us deciding for Jason what he should do.”
That shut everyone up.
Jason stared at Samuel.
Then at me.
Then Daniel.
Finally he said,
“We all stop deciding for each other.”
He pointed toward the investigators.
“We make a plan.”
The meeting place was the old Mercer construction yard north of Boston.
Of course it was.
Everything kept returning to places where old men had buried old crimes.
Weller instructed us to arrive at midnight.
He wanted the ledger.
He wanted the original trust letter.
He wanted every copy.
We gave him what looked like originals.
The real documents stayed with investigators.
The ledger he would receive had been photographed page by page.
Jason insisted on coming with me.
Daniel came too.
Samuel stayed with Emily and the girls.
At 11:56 p.m., we entered the abandoned yard.
Old cranes stood against the night sky.
Rain began falling.
Weller waited inside a maintenance building.
Thomas was tied to a chair.
Alive.
Barely.
Weller stood behind him holding a pistol.
“Put the bag down.”
I did.
Jason stood beside me.
Weller smiled.
“You really do look like Robert when you’re angry.”
Jason said nothing.
Weller looked at Daniel.
“And the traitor.”
Daniel answered, “Good to see you too.”
“Did you tell them how much money you took?”
Daniel’s face tightened.
Jason looked at him.
Weller smiled.
“Oh, he didn’t.”
I turned slightly.
“How much?”
Daniel said nothing.
Weller laughed.
“Almost four hundred thousand.”
Jason’s face changed.
Daniel finally spoke.
“I took it.”
“Why?”
“Gambling debt.”
Weller smiled wider.
“There he is.”
Daniel continued.
“I paid most of it back.”
“Most?”
“No.”
Daniel looked at Jason.
“I cannot undo what I did.”
Jason stared at him.
“You let my father suspect you killed him.”
“I deserved suspicion.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I was ashamed.”
Weller interrupted.
“This family survives on shame.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
He smiled.
“No?”
“You survive on it.”
His smile faded.
“You make people afraid their secrets are worse than your crimes.”
Silence.
Thomas slowly lifted his head.
“Finally.”
Weller struck him.
Jason moved forward.
The gun lifted.
“Stay back.”
Jason stopped.
Weller pointed toward the bag.
“Kick it over.”
I did.
He opened it with one foot.
Saw the ledger.
The letters.
The flash drive.
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
He laughed.
“You were always easier than Robert.”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
I continued.
“I was just more patient.”
Daniel looked at me.
So did Jason.
Weller suddenly understood.
“You copied it.”
I said nothing.
His face changed.
“You copied everything.”
Outside, lights suddenly flooded the construction yard.
Weller grabbed Thomas by the neck.
“You stupid—”
Jason lunged.
The gun fired.
Everything became noise.
Daniel tackled Weller.
Thomas fell sideways with the chair.
I screamed Jason’s name.
Jason was on the floor.
For one horrible second, I thought he had been hit.
Then he rolled over.
Unhurt.
The bullet had struck the wall.
Daniel and Weller fought near the doorway.
Police shouted from outside.
Weller broke free.
He ran.
Daniel chased him.
Jason untied Thomas.
I grabbed Jason.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
Thomas coughed.
“Go.”
Jason looked at him.
“What?”
“He’ll kill Daniel.”
Jason ran into the rain.
I followed.
Weller had reached an old loading platform.
Daniel cornered him near the edge.
Police were closing in.
Weller pointed the gun at Daniel.
Daniel stopped.
“You killed Robert.”
Weller shouted,
“Robert destroyed himself.”
“You changed the pills.”
“I corrected a problem.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Shoot me.”
Weller’s hand trembled.
Daniel continued.
“That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
“Stop.”
“Another Mercer you can erase.”
“STOP!”
Then Jason appeared.
“Daniel.”
Daniel looked back.
That second was enough.
Weller fired.
Daniel collapsed.
I screamed.
Police opened fire on the ground around Weller, forcing him to drop the weapon.
Officers tackled him.
Jason ran to Daniel.
Blood spread across Daniel’s shoulder.
“Stay with me.”
Daniel looked up at Jason.
For the first time, no manipulation.
No secrets.
No clever explanation.
Just fear.
“Son.”
Jason froze.
Daniel whispered,
“I know I don’t deserve to call you that.”
Jason pressed his hands against the wound.
“Then don’t talk.”
Daniel laughed weakly.
“Robert raised you better than I ever could.”
Paramedics rushed in.
As they lifted Daniel onto a stretcher, he grabbed Jason’s wrist.
“I’m sorry.”
Jason did not say I forgive you.
He did not say I hate you.
He simply said,
“Live long enough to answer for everything.”
And Daniel nodded.
Because sometimes accountability is more honest than forgiveness.