CHAPTER 8 The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
"Richard."
The name fell from Victoria's lips like a confession.
For several seconds, nobody understood what they had just heard.
Then Detective Hayes slowly looked at the phone still in Victoria's hand.
"You're saying..."
"Your dead husband called you?"
Victoria didn't answer.
She simply stared at the screen.
The number was still there.
Unknown.
But she knew that voice.
She had heard it every night in her nightmares.
For thirty years.
Cole stepped closer.
"Give me the phone."
Victoria immediately pulled it away.
"No."
That single word told everyone everything.
Cole's eyes narrowed.
"You were terrified."
"I wasn't."
"You were."
Victoria looked around.
For the first time, the powerful matriarch of the Carter family looked trapped.
"I need to leave."
The police officers immediately blocked the hallway.
"No one leaves."
Victoria laughed softly.
"You think you can stop me?"
Hayes stepped forward.
"Right now, yes."
Inside the operating room, Emily opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was Cole.
His face was exhausted.
His eyes were red.
But he was there.
"You stayed."
He smiled.
"I promised."
Emily looked weakly toward the babies.
"Are they..."
Cole nodded.
"They're alive."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"Both?"
"Both."
She closed her eyes.
Relief.
Pure relief.
Then she whispered,
"Did you find out?"
Cole knew exactly what she meant.
"Everything."
Her face filled with fear.
"You're angry."
He was silent.
"I should have told you."
"Yes."
The honesty hurt.
Emily looked away.
"But I'm not angry because you hid the truth."
She looked back.
"I'm angry because you carried all of this alone."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I was scared."
"I know."
"I thought if Victoria knew..."
Cole took her hand.
"She knew anyway."
Emily nodded.
"I know."
Outside the operating room...
The mystery of Richard Carter's phone call became the center of attention.
Samuel Boone looked at Victoria.
"You always feared this day."
Victoria's eyes hardened.
"Be careful."
"Why?"
"Because if Richard is alive..."
She paused.
"...everything changes."
Cole heard that.
"Explain."
Victoria didn't respond.
Samuel did.
"Richard Carter's death was never fully investigated."
Cole looked at him.
"What?"
"The official story was a heart attack."
"But?"
Samuel sighed.
"But Richard was healthy."
"Very healthy."
"He had no history of heart problems."
Cole's face darkened.
"You're saying..."
Samuel nodded.
"I suspected he was murdered."
The hallway went silent.
Detective Hayes looked at Victoria.
"And you inherited everything after his death."
Victoria smiled coldly.
"Careful, detective."
"Suspicion isn't evidence."
Samuel replied,
"Maybe not."
"But we may have evidence now."
He pointed toward the phone.
"The caller."
Hayes held out his hand.
"Unlock the phone."
Victoria refused.
"No."
"You don't have a choice."
"I always have a choice."
Cole stepped forward.
"Not anymore."
For a moment, Victoria looked at him.
Then she laughed.
"You really think this ends with me?"
She shook her head.
"You don't understand the Carter family."
"Nobody wins."
Suddenly...
The hospital lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then went completely dark.
Emergency lights activated.
Everyone froze.
A hospital alarm began screaming.
"What happened?"
A nurse ran down the hallway.
"The security system has been hacked!"
Hayes immediately grabbed his radio.
"Lock down the building."
"No one enters."
"No one leaves."
Then every television screen in the hallway turned on again.
The same black screen.
The same white letters.
YOU WANT THE TRUTH?
A second line appeared.
THEN WATCH.
A video began playing.
A man appeared.
Older.
Gray hair.
Sitting in a dark room.
Nobody spoke.
Because everyone recognized him.
Cole couldn't breathe.
"Father..."
Richard Carter looked directly into the camera.
"If you are watching this..."
His voice was older.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
"...then Victoria failed."
Victoria stumbled backward.
"No."
Richard continued.
"Cole."
"My son."
"I am sorry."
Cole stared at the screen.
His entire life had been built around the belief that his father was gone.
Now he was looking at him.
Alive.
Richard continued.
"The day everyone believed I died..."
"I disappeared."
"Because I discovered something."
He looked away.
"Someone inside my family was trying to destroy everything I built."
The video switched.
Documents appeared.
Bank transfers.
Secret accounts.
Names.
Richard's voice continued.
"I spent thirty years building Carter Industries."
"But I spent the last years of my life investigating the person closest to me."
The screen showed a name.
Everyone saw it.
VICTORIA HARRINGTON CARTER
Victoria shook her head.
"No."
"This is fake."
Richard's voice continued.
"Victoria."
"If you're watching this..."
"You know I survived."
"You know why."
The screen changed again.
A photograph appeared.
It showed Richard.
Standing beside another man.
The man looked exactly like him.
Except younger.
Cole frowned.
"What..."
Samuel stared.
His face became pale.
"Impossible."
Hayes looked at him.
"What?"
Samuel whispered,
"That's..."
He couldn't finish.
Cole stepped closer to the screen.
The caption appeared beneath the photograph.
RICHARD CARTER AND HIS IDENTICAL BROTHER, MICHAEL CARTER
The entire hallway froze.
Richard's voice continued.
"You believed I was dead."
"But the person who died that night..."
"...was not me."
Victoria suddenly screamed.
"TURN IT OFF!"
Nobody moved.
The video continued.
"I discovered Victoria's plan."
"She didn't only want my fortune."
"She wanted my identity."
The screen showed another document.
A birth certificate.
Everyone stared.
Richard's voice became darker.
"Because Victoria wasn't my wife."
Silence.
"She was someone else."
The document zoomed in.
The name was revealed.
ELIZABETH VOSS
Cole looked confused.
"Who is Elizabeth Voss?"
Samuel answered quietly.
"A woman who disappeared twenty-five years ago."
"After being accused of..."
He stopped.
"What?"
Samuel looked at Victoria.
"...murdering her entire family."
The screen went black.
Then one final message appeared.
COLE.
YOU HAVE 24 HOURS.
FIND THE REAL VICTORIA.
OR YOUR CHILDREN WILL DISAPPEAR LIKE GRACE DID.
The hospital fell silent.
Then...
A gunshot echoed from the end of the hallway.
Everyone turned.
One of the security guards collapsed.
And standing behind him...
Holding a weapon...
Was the woman everyone thought was dead.
May you like
Eleanor Carter.
End of Chapter 8...
