Chapter 10 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Die
Ethan survived the gunshot because the bullet passed through his shoulder instead of his heart. They carried him to a hunting cabin beyond the wash, where Nora cleaned the wound with whiskey and a sewing kit. He screamed once.
Afterward, he stared at the ceiling.
“Grant wants the original deed because it proves the trust never owned the Mercer water.”
Claire sat beside him.
“What does he mean when he says it is in me?”
“Nolan used your memory.”
Rosa looked up from the laptop.
“The Bluebird key contains a biometric lock. It will open only when Claire enters the correct phrase.”
“What phrase?”
Nora placed the bluebird pin on the table.
“Maybe something Nolan said.”
Claire closed her eyes. The hospital room returned. Rain.
Antiseptic. Nolan’s hand over hers. He had asked her to repeat a sentence.
“Water remembers,” she whispered.
The hard drive beeped. A new folder opened. Inside was a video recorded in the Mercer kitchen three years earlier.
Claire and Nolan stood beside the sink, younger and laughing. Wren was a baby, sleeping in a basket near the window. Nolan turned the camera toward Claire.
“Say it.”
Claire in the video rolled her eyes.
“Water remembers.”
“Again.”
“Water remembers.”
The screen went black. Rosa entered the phrase. The folder unlocked.
The original deed appeared, along with an audio file dated the night Nolan died. Claire pressed play. Nolan’s voice was ragged.
“Grant knows the deed exists. Daniel has been discovered. I am moving the original to Claire’s personal archive.”
A second voice spoke. Claire’s voice.
“You cannot leave me with this.”
“You are the only person who can hold it.”
“What if I forget?”
“Then Bluebird will remember for you.”
The recording ended with a car door slamming. Claire turned to Daniel.
“You were at the house that night.”
He looked down.
“I arrived after Nolan left.”
“Did you see him alive?”
“Yes.”
“How long before the crash?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Twenty minutes.” “Why did you never tell me?” “Because Grant told me Nolan was already dead.” Ethan pushed himself up on one elbow.
“Grant lied.”
Daniel nodded.
“I found Nolan’s truck below the ridge. The engine was running, but Nolan was gone.”
Claire felt the room grow colder.
“He did not die in the crash.”
Rosa searched the files.
“The coroner’s report says the body was identified by dental records.” “Whose body?” Nora asked.
Rosa’s fingers stopped.
“There is a correction here.”
She opened a scanned death certificate. The name read NOLAN MERCER. But beside it, in a handwritten note, someone had written:IDENTIFICATION PENDING—FACE UNRECOGNIZABLE.
Claire stood.
“Where is the body?” No one answered.
The cabin door burst open. Silas entered with two armed men. Daniel moved toward his weapon, but one man fired.
The bullet struck the laptop, sending sparks across the table. Rosa shoved Wren beneath the bed. Claire pulled Ethan behind the stove.
Silas stepped over the broken computer.
“You have made this more difficult than necessary,” he said.
Claire held up the bluebird pin.
“You want this?”
Silas smiled.
“No.”
From the doorway behind him came a familiar voice.
“He wants you.”
May you like
Grant Vale entered the cabin. He held Nolan’s wedding ring between two fingers.
“Because Nolan Mercer is not dead,” Grant said.
