Chapter 2 - THE PHONE THAT SHOULD NOT RINGThe ballroom erupted.
Guests backed away from Victoria as though the phone itself were dangerous.
Michael reached for her handbag.
Victoria grabbed it first.
“No.”
Michael froze.
“Give me the phone.”
“It’s nothing.”
“The caller says Rachel.”
“It’s an old contact.”
“Give it to me.”
Victoria clutched the bag against her chest.
Emily stepped closer.
“Rachel’s number was disconnected three years ago.”
The phone continued ringing.
Nobody moved.
Then the screen changed.
MISSED CALL.
A second later, it rang again.
Michael’s expression hardened.
“Answer it.”
Victoria looked toward the doors.
There were two security guards there.
Guests crowded the room.
There was nowhere to run.
She slowly pulled the phone out.
Michael snatched it from her hand.
“Who is this?”
Silence.
Static.
Then breathing.
A woman’s voice whispered:
“Michael?”
His heart stopped.
It was Rachel.
He knew her voice.
Even after three years.
Even through static.
Even through the distance of death.
“Rachel?”
Victoria covered her mouth.
Emily stepped backward.
Michael gripped the phone harder.
“Rachel, where are you?”
The voice returned.
“You trusted the wrong woman.”
The call cut.
Michael immediately stared at Victoria.
She shook her head.
“I don’t know who that was.”
“Where did you get this phone?”
“It belonged to Rachel.”
“Why was it in your purse?”
“I kept it after the accident.”
“You told me you never had it.”
Victoria’s eyes flickered.
“I forgot.”
“You forgot?”
Michael’s voice echoed through the ballroom.
“You forgot your fiancé’s dead wife's phone was in your handbag?”
Victoria said nothing.
Emily suddenly looked at Lucas.
“Where did you get the key?”
Lucas pointed toward the upstairs corridor.
“Mom gave it to me in the study.”
“What study?”
Michael asked.
“The room Daddy locked after Mom died.”
Michael went still.
He had never told Lucas about the study.
Victoria had.
“Who took you there?” he asked.
Lucas lowered his eyes.
“Victoria.”
Michael turned.
“What were you doing in my study with my son?”
Victoria answered quickly.
“He was misbehaving.”
Lucas shouted.
“She wanted me to tell her where Mom kept the box!”
Michael looked at Emily.
“What box?”
Emily hesitated.
“Rachel had a locked box.”
“What was in it?”
“I never saw.”
“Where is it?”
Emily looked toward the key.
“The number may tell us.”
Michael turned the key over.
There was a tiny scratch along its edge.
Almost invisible.
Emily leaned in.
“That’s not just a number.”
Michael looked closer.
Three letters had been etched beneath it.
P-N-7.
“Pier Nine?” Emily whispered.
Victoria suddenly moved toward the ballroom exit.
Michael caught her arm.
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“This is my home.”
Victoria stared at him.
“No.”
Her voice was suddenly strange.
“This was never yours.”
Michael released her.
“What does that mean?”
Victoria looked toward Lucas.
Then Sophie.
Then the key.
“You have no idea what Rachel left behind.”
She turned toward the doors.
The security guards blocked her.
Michael said quietly:
“Lock the doors.”
The guards did.
Victoria’s face changed.
Michael took the phone from his pocket.
“I'm calling the police.”
Victoria laughed.
Not nervously.
Not desperately.
Coldly.
“Then you should ask them why they closed Rachel’s case so quickly.”
Michael froze.
“What?”
Victoria stared straight at him.
“Your wife's death was never properly investigated.”
The room fell silent again.
Emily stepped forward.
“That’s impossible.”
Victoria smiled.
“Ask Detective Harold Kane.”
Michael’s blood ran cold.
Because Harold Kane was the detective who had signed Rachel’s accident report.
May you like
And Michael suddenly remembered something.
Kane had been the only person who insisted there was no reason to inspect Rachel’s brakes.
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