Chapter 7 - The Woman in the VideoNobody moved.
Olivia stared at the blank screen.
“My mother.”
Richard's chest tightened.
“That wasn't possible.”
Ethan said nothing.
Detective Mason leaned over the laptop.
“We need to determine whether that was a recording.”
“It sounded real,” Olivia whispered.
“It could have been synthesized,” Mason said.
Richard looked at him.
“Are you saying someone can imitate my wife's voice?”
“Yes.”
“But that face…”
“The feed was deliberately dark.”
Richard turned to Olivia.
“Your mother died in front of me.”
“I know.”
“She was buried.”
“I know.”
“I held her hand.”
Olivia looked down.
“Then why would someone use her face?”
Richard had no answer.
An hour later, Mason received a report.
The video had been routed through eight servers.
The source could not be identified.
But one detail had been recovered.
The upload originated from a private network.
Inside the Grand Bellamy Hotel.
Richard stared at Ethan.
“Your family owns the network.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Not that server.”
“Then whose?”
Ethan answered slowly.
“Mine.”
Richard's anger exploded.
“You had a hidden server?”
“Not intentionally.”
“What does that mean?”
“Three months ago, someone hacked my office system.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
“I thought I'd fixed it.”
Richard laughed bitterly.
“This family has more secrets than rooms in this hotel.”
Olivia whispered,
“Dad.”
Richard turned.
“Something else happened that night.”
“What?”
“Mom wasn't alone.”
Richard frowned.
“When?”
“The night she died.”
Olivia's eyes narrowed.
“I was awake.”
Richard froze.
“What?”
“I was seven.”
“You remember?”
“I remember hearing voices.”
Richard sat down.
“What voices?”
“One was Mom's.”
“And the other?”
Olivia closed her eyes.
“A woman.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“She said something.”
“What?”
Olivia trembled.
“She said, ‘The girl goes to the Harts. The money goes to the Coles.’”
Richard's heart pounded.
“What money?”
“I don't know.”
Mason exchanged a look with Ethan.
Richard immediately saw it.
“What?”
Ethan looked away.
“Tell me.”
“There was a settlement.”
“Between our families?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
Ethan swallowed.
“Twenty-four million dollars.”
Richard felt sick.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“You know.”
“I know there was a settlement. I never knew why.”
Richard turned to Olivia.
“Did Julian know?”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell you?”
“He said our families made a deal before I was born.”
Richard suddenly remembered Maria's final weeks.
She had been terrified.
She had wanted to leave town.
She had told Richard they were being watched.
He had assumed it was stress.
Then she died.
A car accident on a rainy road.
At least, that was what he had been told.
Richard suddenly stood.
“I need her accident file.”
Mason looked surprised.
“Why?”
“Because I never saw the original.”
They requested the archived records.
An hour later, a courier arrived with the old case file.
Richard opened it.
Photographs.
Police reports.
Witness statements.
Then one detail caught his eye.
The vehicle's brake line had been damaged.
Richard stared.
“That wasn't in the report.”
Mason leaned over.
“That's significant.”
“Yes.”
Ethan looked pale.
“My father investigated the accident.”
Richard turned.
“How do you know?”
“Because I found his notes.”
“Where?”
“In his study.”
“Show me.”
Ethan opened his phone.
A photograph of a handwritten note appeared.
Maria Hart knew about the child exchange.
Richard's blood ran cold.
“What child exchange?”
Ethan looked at Olivia.
“I think it means you.”
Olivia shook her head.
“No.”
Richard kept reading.
Beneath the sentence was another.
Evelyn arranged it.
His eyes snapped toward Ethan.
“Your mother took my child?”
“No.”
“Then what does this mean?”
Ethan shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Richard's phone rang.
Grace.
He answered immediately.
“Grace!”
Her voice was faint.
“Mr. Hart…”
“Where are you?”
“Basement.”
“Which basement?”
“The old service tunnels.”
“I'm coming.”
“Don't.”
“Why?”
Grace whispered,
“They're looking for you.”
“Who?”
“I found the person who ordered the dessert.”
Richard's heart raced.
“Who?”
A long pause.
Then Grace said,
“It's someone standing in the room with you.”
Richard slowly looked around.
Olivia.
Ethan.
Detective Mason.
Two nurses.
Three officers.
No one else.
“Who?”
Grace's voice broke.
“The one wearing the silver watch.”
Richard's eyes moved to Ethan.
Ethan's wrist was bare.
Then the door opened.
Detective Mason's partner stepped inside.
He wore a silver watch.
Grace screamed through the phone,
“NOT HIM!”
The call ended.
The detective looked at Richard.
Confused.
“What happened?”
Richard stepped backward.
Because the watch on the man's wrist had the same black face.
The same scratch across the glass.
But there was something else.
A tiny engraved symbol.
May you like
A letter.
J.
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