Chapter 13 - SunriseThere were four of us in the room.
Me.
Lucy.
My mother.
Caroline.
No one spoke.
The note was on the desk.
The scrapbook was in my hand.
I looked at Caroline.
“Your father is alive?”
“I don't know.”
“But someone is here.”
“Yes.”
I searched the room.
A wardrobe.
Desk.
Bed.
Closet.
Nothing.
Then Lucy pointed toward the wall.
“Daddy.”
“What?”
“There.”
A tiny red light blinked behind a painting.
Camera.
I pulled the painting down.
A speaker was hidden behind it.
A voice came through.
Samuel.
“Good morning, Michael.”
I stared at the wall.
“Where are you?”
“Close.”
“What do you want?”
“The scrapbook.”
“You already know what's inside.”
“I want what is beneath it.”
“The hidden pocket?”
“No.”
My stomach tightened.
“The second compartment.”
I looked at the damaged book.
There was no second compartment.
I checked again.
The spine.
The back cover.
The pages.
Nothing.
Then I noticed a thin metal strip.
I pulled.
The entire spine separated.
A tiny memory card fell into my hand.
Caroline whispered:
“Anna's final evidence.”
Samuel laughed through the speaker.
“Now we can finish this.”
I shouted:
“Why did you kill Anna?”
A long pause.
Then:
“I didn't.”
“Who did?”
“Your father.”
I froze.
“But he wanted no blood on his hands.”
Samuel continued.
“So he made Caroline choose.”
Caroline closed her eyes.
“Choose what?”
“Anna or her daughter.”
I looked at Caroline.
She whispered:
“My father had Lucy taken.”
“What?”
“For twenty minutes.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The night Anna died.”
Caroline's voice broke.
“My father took Lucy from the nanny's house.”
I stared at her.
“She was four.”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“I found her.”
Caroline was crying now.
“I found her before he could move her.”
“Then why did you never tell me?”
“Because he said if I did, he'd kill her.”
Lucy looked at Caroline.
“Was that why Mommy gave you the book?”
Caroline slowly nodded.
“She knew I was trapped.”
I looked at the memory card.
“What is on it?”
“A recording.”
We found an old laptop.
The file opened.
Anna appeared on the screen.
She looked exhausted.
There was blood on her forehead.
She whispered:
“Michael, I'm recording this because I don't know who I can trust.”
Then she looked directly into the camera.
“Caroline is not my enemy.”
Caroline began crying.
“She is being controlled.”
Anna continued:
“Your father is involved.”
I felt my heart sink.
“Samuel is the one who built it.”
Then Anna paused.
“And there is one more thing.”
She leaned closer.
“My husband has no idea what happened to his own mother.”
My mother froze.
“What?”
Anna continued:
“Michael, your father didn't just steal money.”
She took a breath.
“He used your mother's medical records to fake her inheritance.”
My mother staggered backward.
“No.”
Anna said:
“Your mother was supposed to receive millions.”
“What does that have to do with Lucy?”
“Everything.”
The video ended.
My mother was trembling.
“What did he do to me?”
Caroline looked at her.
“He took your inheritance.”
“Why?”
“To fund the network.”
I turned back to the laptop.
There was one final file.
Audio only.
Samuel's voice.
“It's time.”
The house lights suddenly went out.
Lucy grabbed my hand.
A door slammed downstairs.
Someone entered the house.
I reached for my phone.
No signal.
Then footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Coming up the stairs.
Caroline whispered:
“That's him.”
“Samuel?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
The footsteps stopped outside the room.
A man's voice spoke through the darkness.
“Michael.”
I knew that voice.
I hadn't heard it in eleven years.
May you like
My father's voice.
“Son.”
