Chapter 4 - FELIX’S FIRST LIE
Felix was standing beside the vending machines when Abram found him.
Dana had gone downstairs to speak with Deputy Morgan.
Felix held a paper cup of coffee he had not touched.
Abram stopped five feet away.
“Where did Dad die?”
Felix looked up.
His expression told Abram everything.
“You know something.”
Felix put down the coffee.
“Abram.”
“Where?”
“Not here.”
Abram stepped closer.
“Seven years is long enough.”
Felix glanced toward Celia’s hospital room.
“She needs you.”
“She is exactly why I’m asking.”
Felix rubbed both hands over his face.
“I was twenty minutes away.”
“From what?”
“When Dad collapsed.”
Abram stopped.
The official story had always been simple.
Elias Mercer had traveled to Pennsylvania to meet an old business associate.
He had suffered a massive cardiac event at a roadside hotel.
Doreen had received the call.
By the time Abram and Felix were told, arrangements had already begun to transport the body home.
There had been no viewing because Doreen insisted Elias would have hated people staring at him.
Abram had believed her.
Felix apparently had not.
“Where were you?”
Abram asked.
Felix looked at him.
“The lake house.”
Abram felt his stomach drop.
Their family owned a cabin at Lake Briar.
It was less than an hour away.
“Dad died at the lake house?”
Felix shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I saw him there that afternoon.”
Abram stared at him.
“After August twenty-ninth?”
Felix nodded.
“What date?”
“September second.”
Abram actually stepped backward.
“That’s four days after Mom told us he died.”
“I know.”
“And you said nothing?”
Felix’s jaw clenched.
“Listen to me.”
“No.”
“Abram.”
“You watched me bury an empty casket?”
“I didn’t know it was empty.”
“You knew Dad was alive.”
“For four days.”
“And you let her tell me he was dead.”
Felix’s voice broke.
“She told me he was dying.”
Abram stared at him.
Felix looked toward the windows.
“Dad had been having episodes.”
“He was confused sometimes.”
“Mom told me the doctors believed stress would make things worse.”
“She said Dad didn’t want you to see him like that.”
“And you believed her?”
“I was twenty-six and drowning in debt.”
“What does your debt have to do with Dad?”
Felix looked down.
“Everything.”
Abram’s anger changed shape.
“Explain.”
Felix took a long breath.
“I had borrowed money.”
“How much?”
“Eighty thousand.”
Abram stared at him.
Felix continued before he could respond.
“My business had failed.”
“I didn’t tell anyone.”
“I borrowed from people I should not have borrowed from.”
“Mom found out.”
“And?”
“She paid it.”
Abram laughed bitterly.
“So she bought your silence.”
“I didn’t know that was what it was.”
“What did you think eighty thousand dollars was?”
“I thought it was my mother saving me.”
Abram stepped closer.
“What happened at the lake house?”
Felix’s face tightened.
“Dad looked sick.”
“Sick how?”
“He was thin.”
“He was angry.”
“He kept asking where his phone was.”
Felix swallowed.
“He said Mom was keeping him there.”
Abram stopped moving.
“What?”
“I thought he was confused.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Felix stared at the floor.
“He grabbed my arm.”
“He said, ‘Don’t sign anything she gives you.’”
Abram’s heartbeat thundered.
“Then what?”
“Mom came in.”
“She said Dad had missed his medication.”
“They started arguing.”
“Dad told me to call you.”
Abram could barely breathe.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Mom told me if I interfered, she would stop paying the people I owed.”
Abram turned away.
He pressed his fist against his mouth.
Felix’s voice cracked behind him.
“I have hated myself for seven years.”
Abram spun around.
“That must be exhausting.”
“I deserve that.”
“You deserve worse.”
“I know.”
“What happened to Dad?”
“I left.”
“You left him there?”
“I left.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“Two days later, Mom called.”
“She said Dad had died overnight.”
“Where?”
“The lake house.”
Abram stared.
“So the Pennsylvania story?”
“A lie.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why did she move the body?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was there a body?”
Felix looked at him.
“Yes.”
“You saw him?”
Felix’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Abram went silent.
That changed something.
At least Elias had truly died.
But nothing else was what Abram had believed.
“Why was the picture dated September fourteenth?”
Felix shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“Could the date have been wrong?”
“Maybe.”
“But Dad was alive after August twenty-ninth.”
“Yes.”
Abram stared at his brother for several long seconds.
Then his phone rang again.
This time it was Deputy Morgan.
“We need you downstairs.”
“Why?”
“Your mother’s attorney just arrived.”
Abram closed his eyes.
“Is she being arrested?”
Morgan paused.
“Come downstairs.”
Doreen sat in a consultation room wearing dry clothes that someone had brought from home.
Her cheek was swollen from Abram’s slap.
Beside her sat Martin Vale.
Abram recognized him immediately.
Martin had been the Mercer family attorney for nearly twenty years.
He had handled Elias’s estate.
He had handled Doreen’s taxes.
He had prepared Abram and Celia’s prenuptial agreement.
He had attended their wedding.
Celia had never seen the man outside the shed.
But Abram knew his voice.
And when Martin spoke, Abram immediately understood who had made the anonymous call.
“Mr. Mercer.”
Abram stared at him.
Martin smiled faintly.
“You look tired.”
Abram looked toward Deputy Morgan.
“That’s him.”
Morgan frowned.
“Who?”
“The man on the phone.”
Martin’s expression did not change.
“What phone?”
“The man who told me to ask Felix where Dad died.”
Felix stepped into the room behind Abram.
Martin glanced at him.
Only once.
But Dana saw it.
So did Morgan.
Doreen leaned back in her chair.
“This is becoming ridiculous.”
Abram looked at his mother.
“You told me Dad died in Pennsylvania.”
Doreen’s face remained still.
Felix entered completely.
“You told both of us.”
Doreen looked toward him.
Felix’s voice hardened.
“I saw Dad alive at Lake Briar four days after you told Abram he was dead.”
Martin immediately placed one hand on Doreen’s arm.
“Do not respond.”
Doreen smiled.
“Why would I?”
Morgan stepped forward.
“Mrs. Mercer, I think we need to continue this interview formally.”
Martin stood.
“My client is leaving.”
Morgan looked at him.
“We have an unlawful confinement allegation.”
“You have a distressed pregnant woman making claims.”
“We have a padlocked shed.”
“On private property.”
“With the alleged victim inside.”
Martin shrugged.
“My client says Mrs. Mercer requested privacy.”
Abram lunged forward.
Felix grabbed his chest.
“Abram.”
Martin watched him.
That was exactly what he wanted.
Abram understood.
He stepped back.
Martin’s smile faded slightly.
Morgan continued.
“We also have evidence Mrs. Mercer possessed Mrs. Abram Mercer’s phone.”
Doreen spoke.
“Celia left it at my house.”
Martin looked at her.
Doreen ignored him.
“She asked me to send Abram a message.”
Abram laughed.
“She asked you while locked in a shed?”
“She wasn’t locked inside when she asked.”
Morgan’s eyes narrowed.
Doreen continued.
“She became irrational later.”
“She refused to leave.”
“So you padlocked the door?”
“For her safety.”
Even Martin looked uncomfortable with that answer.
Abram stared at his mother.
“You put a padlock on a building with a pregnant woman inside for her safety.”
Doreen looked directly at him.
“She was threatening to hurt herself.”
Abram felt sick.
Celia had predicted this.
Doreen would make herself the rescuer.
Morgan asked the obvious question.
“Why didn’t you call emergency services?”
Doreen looked toward her.
“Because my daughter-in-law begged me not to.”
Morgan wrote something down.
“And the sedative?”
Doreen paused.
Martin immediately stood.
“This interview is over.”
Morgan looked at him.
“You haven’t been detained.”
“Then we’re leaving.”
Doreen rose.
Abram could not believe it.
“You’re letting her walk out?”
Morgan’s jaw tightened.
“I’m not discussing procedure with you in front of counsel.”
Doreen picked up her handbag.
She stopped beside Abram.
For several seconds, mother and son stared at one another.
Then Doreen whispered.
“Celia ruined you the moment you married her.”
Abram answered just as quietly.
“No.”
“You did.”
Doreen walked away with Martin.
Felix watched them disappear through the hospital doors.
Dana approached Morgan.
“Tell me you got the recorder.”
Morgan nodded.
“Our digital unit is copying it now.”
“Anything usable?”
Morgan looked down the corridor to make sure Doreen was gone.
Then she lowered her voice.
“We recovered eleven recordings.”
Abram stared at her.
“Eleven?”
“Some are very short.”
“Some are several minutes.”
“What is on them?”
Morgan hesitated.
“One voice is clearly Doreen’s.”
Abram waited.
“And the other?”
Morgan looked toward the glass doors.
“Martin Vale.”
Felix swore quietly.
Morgan continued.
“And there’s something else.”
“What?”
“One recording appears older.”
“How old?”
“We don’t know.”
Abram’s heart began to pound.
Morgan looked directly at him.
“It sounds like your father.”
No one spoke.
“What does he say?”
Morgan’s expression hardened.
May you like
“He says he believes his wife is poisoning him.”
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