Chapter 3 - The File on Lila Hart
Jonathan pulled every Hart file from the shelves.
There were more than twenty.
Lila stood frozen.
"That is my name."
"I know."
"Why are there twenty folders?"
Jonathan did not answer.
He opened the first.
Photograph.
Lila at ten.
Walking into the motel he had arranged through Ruth.
Date:
The day after the grocery store.
Another photograph.
Sam eating cereal beside the motel window.
Another.
Anna leaving County Hospital with a paper pharmacy bag.
Lila backed away.
"Somebody watched us."
Jonathan's jaw tightened.
"Yes."
"After you helped us."
"Yes."
She stared at him.
"Did you know?"
"No."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No."
That answer stopped her.
He kept turning pages.
School attendance.
Shelter contacts.
Anna's hospital visits.
The aunt in Milwaukee.
Lila's first college application.
Jonathan looked sick.
"It continued."
"For how long?"
He opened the newest folder.
Last year.
Lila outside Northwestern Memorial Hospital where she worked nights as an admissions clerk.
Her stomach turned.
"All twelve years."
Jonathan found the authorization page.
Not William Mercer.
Not Claire.
RICHARD MERCER.
Lila read it over his shoulder.
"Your uncle."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Jonathan flipped to the security objective.
SUBJECT MAY HOLD DUPLICATED BM-17 MATERIAL.
RECOVER IF CONTACT WITH J.M. OCCURS.
Lila frowned.
"J.M."
"Me."
She looked at him.
"They thought my mom would send me to you."
"Or evidence through you."
Lila went quiet.
Then she reached for another photograph.
Anna.
Older.
Thin.
Standing outside a diner.
Across from Richard Mercer.
Not being followed.
Meeting him.
Lila's fingers shook.
"No."
Jonathan examined the timestamp.
Six months after the grocery encounter.
Anna and Richard sat in a corner booth.
One picture caught Richard pushing an envelope toward her.
Another showed Anna pushing it back.
Lila whispered, "She knew him."
Jonathan nodded.
"Apparently."
"Why wouldn't she tell me?"
"Maybe she was protecting you."
"Everybody says that when someone lies."
Jonathan looked at her.
Fair.
The archive door banged downstairs.
Someone had entered the building.
Jonathan killed the lights.
Lila's breath caught.
Footsteps climbed.
Slow.
No hurry.
Jonathan moved her behind a shelving unit.
He grabbed a heavy flashlight.
The footsteps stopped outside.
A key entered the lock.
Jonathan whispered, "Only three people have this key."
"You."
"Claire."
"And?"
The door opened.
Richard Mercer stepped inside.
Seventy-two.
Silver hair.
Camel coat.
He saw Jonathan immediately.
Then Lila.
His face did not show surprise.
He looked tired.
"Anna's daughter."
Lila stepped out.
"You knew my mother."
Richard closed the door.
"Yes."
"Why were you watching us?"
He looked at Jonathan.
"Because your nephew has always had a weakness for people who make him feel decent."
Jonathan raised the flashlight.
"Wrong answer."
Richard ignored him.
He reached into his coat.
Lila tensed.
He pulled out an old cassette tape.
"Your mother made this the last time she met me."
Lila stared.
Richard placed it on the table.
"She wanted Jonathan to hear it."
"Then why didn't he?"
Richard's expression hardened.
"Because she changed her mind."
Lila pressed play on an old recorder.
Static.
Then Anna's voice.
"Richard, I don't want your money."
A man's voice answered.
"Then what do you want?"
Anna said:
"Tell Jonathan what happened at the plant."
May you like
Jonathan stopped breathing.
CUT.
