"The FBI will take too long to mobilize an interstate raid," Dominic stated, pulling a fresh magazine from his coat and slamming it into a sidearm. He looked at his son, his eyes burning with a dark, apocalyptic fire. "We aren't calling the feds, Caleb. We are going to New York. And we are going to burn the Third Archive to the ground ourselves."
"Marcus," Elena whispered, her voice trembling with a mixture of shock and rising fury. "Are you absolutely certain?"
"I was there, Elena," Marcus replied, his voice heavy with guilt. "I was a junior contractor for Gideon's private security detail. I saw Daniel Mercer accept the sealed envelope from Margaret Sterling. I heard him tell Gideon that the 'loose end' had been managed. I didn't know what was in the envelope until years later."
Alexander stepped forward, his jaw tight. "If Daniel Mercer was Gideon's fixer, why did he end up running a deaf woodworking class in Chicago? Why didn't Gideon just kill him?"
"Because Daniel Mercer wasn't just a fixer," Marcus explained, his eyes darkening. "He was the chief archivist for the Third Archive. He designed the encryption protocols for Gideon's shadow network. He knew where every body was buried, literally and figuratively. If Gideon killed him, a dead-man's switch would have exposed the entire syndicate."
"So they made a deal," Elena deduced, her tactical mind racing. "Daniel scrubs the witness statement and goes into hiding, and Gideon leaves him alone."
"Yes," Marcus nodded. "Daniel took his daughter, Hannah, and disappeared into the Deaf community, hiding in plain sight. He thought he was safe. But when Caleb started digging into Bridge House, Daniel realized the past was catching up to him."
"Where is he now?" Alexander demanded.
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"He's in Chicago," Marcus said. "But he won't be for long. If Victor Raines's mercenaries breached the studio, Daniel knows the syndicate is coming for him. He will run."
"He doesn't get to run," Elena said, her voice dropping into a cold, lethal register. She turned to Alexander. "We are going back to Chicago."
"We cannot tell Caleb," Alexander said quietly, taking the seat beside her. "If Caleb finds out that Hannah's father is the reason his mother had to fake her death... it will destroy him."
"We can't hide it from him, Alexander," Elena argued, turning to face her husband. "This isn't just about Daniel. It's about Margaret. If Daniel knows where she is, we have to find him before the syndicate does. Caleb deserves the truth."
"Caleb is finally happy, Elena," Alexander pleaded, his eyes filled with a desperate need to protect his brother. "He just proposed to Hannah. If we blow this up, we aren't just taking down Daniel Mercer. We are destroying the only family Caleb has left."
"I am not going to let a murderer hide behind his daughter," Elena stated flawlessly. "I am going to get the truth. And if Daniel Mercer tries to run, I will personally drag him back."
The Sterling-Brooks jet touched down at Midway International Airport just before midnight. Marcus had a tactical team waiting on the tarmac. They didn't go to Caleb's apartment. They drove straight to Daniel Mercer's modest home in Logan Square.
The house was dark. Marcus disabled the alarm system and picked the lock on the front door. The tactical team swept the rooms with military precision.