Chapter 4 - The Watch That Should Have Been Buried
Daniel Mercer's watch was supposed to be inside a sealed military effects box.
I'd personally watched the casualty assistance officer present that box to Rebecca after the memorial service.
It contained Daniel's identification tags, a folded American flag, his wedding ring, and the stainless-steel watch Lily had given him for Father's Day.
The watch had a tiny scratch across the face.
Lily had accidentally dropped it while wrapping the gift.
Daniel had refused to repair the scratch.
He'd told her it made the watch special.
“Rebecca,” I said, keeping my voice steady, “how can you see his watch from inside the house?”
“Through the window beside the door. The man is holding it against the glass.”
“Don't go near him.”
Special Agent Brooks was already calling local authorities.
General Harrison had stepped into the hallway to contact military security.
On the phone, Rebecca sounded close to tears.
“He says Daniel wanted me to have it.”
“Rebecca, you already have Daniel's watch.”
“No.”
I froze.
“What?”
“The box we received was missing it.”
I stared at the conference table.
“You never told me.”
“I thought it had been lost during the recovery. They told me some personal effects couldn't be located.”
Another knock sounded.
Then the stranger spoke again.
“Mrs. Mercer, please. Sergeant Hayes sent me.”
I snatched the phone closer.
“Rebecca, ask him his name.”
She repeated the question through the locked door.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the man answered.
“Elias Ward.”
Brooks looked up immediately.
“Put him on speaker.”
I did.
“Mr. Ward,” Brooks called, “this is Special Agent Naomi Brooks. Step away from the residence and keep your hands visible. Local officers are approaching.”
The man's voice changed.
“Agent Brooks? Thank God.”
A door slammed somewhere in the background.
“I've been trying to reach someone who'll listen.”
“Who are you?”
“Former Meridian systems engineer. Owen Hayes told me to contact the Mercer family if anything happened to him.”
Brooks spoke carefully.
“Where's Sergeant Hayes?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why are you carrying Captain Mercer's watch?”
Ward hesitated.
“Because it contains something the Army never recovered.”
A loud engine interrupted him.
Rebecca gasped.
“There's another car!”
I heard footsteps.
Someone shouted.
Then a sharp crash.
Rebecca screamed.
“Sarah!”
The call disconnected.
For one terrible moment, I couldn't move.
Then Brooks shouted into her radio.
“Possible assault at the Mercer residence. Request immediate response!”
I was already heading for the door.
Harrison caught up with me outside the conference room.
“Sarah, where are you going?”
“To Rebecca.”
“Local police are responding.”
“Daniel died trusting me to get his family home. I am not waiting here while somebody terrorizes them.”
He looked at me.
Then he said, “I'm coming.”
We reached the Mercer neighborhood forty minutes later.
Police vehicles lined the street.
An ambulance stood near the intersection.
I saw Rebecca sitting on her porch beneath a blanket, Lily pressed tightly against her side.
They were alive.
I nearly collapsed from relief.
Rebecca stood when she saw me.
“Sarah!”
I embraced her.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Lily wrapped her arms around my waist.
At fourteen, she was nearly as tall as her mother.
“Aunt Sarah, they tried to take the watch.”
I looked down at her.
“What happened?”
“The man at the door dropped it through the mail slot when another car pulled up. Then someone chased him.”
Brooks approached.
“Ward escaped through the backyard. The second vehicle left before officers arrived.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“No serious injuries. But we found a damaged mailbox and evidence of a struggle.”
Rebecca reached into her coat pocket.
Her hands trembled as she produced the watch.
It was unmistakably Daniel's.
The scratch was still there.
But the back plate looked different.
A tiny seam ran along its edge.
Brooks examined it without opening it.
“We'll need an evidence technician.”
Lily shook her head.
“Wait.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Dad used to show me how to open the back when he changed the battery. There's a special notch.”
She pointed to a nearly invisible indentation.
“He told me if I ever saw this watch again, I should remember something.”
Rebecca went completely still.
“What did he tell you, honey?”
Lily swallowed.
“He said people sometimes hide important things in ordinary places.”
A forensic technician carefully opened the watch in the presence of investigators.
Inside was a tiny memory card, protected by a thin waterproof sleeve.
Brooks placed it in an evidence container.
Harrison stared at the watch.
“Daniel planned for someone to find this.”
I nodded slowly.
“He must have known something was wrong before the evacuation.”
Brooks received a call from her technical team later that evening.
The memory card contained three encrypted files.
Two appeared to be communications records.
The third was a video.
May you like
Its filename was simple.
FOR SARAH — IF I DON'T COME HOME.
