Chapter 7 - The Demand
Richard read the message twice.
Then he deleted it from Ethan’s view even though the child was upstairs.
Detective Ortiz immediately held out her hand.
“Give me the phone.”
Richard passed it over.
She photographed the messages.
“No.”
Richard stared.
“No what?”
“You are not taking Ethan anywhere.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Marcus watched him.
Ortiz did too.
Richard noticed.
“I said I wasn’t.”
Ortiz folded her arms.
“Good.”
Richard looked back at the photograph of Julian.
“Vanessa has him.”
“Maybe.”
“You think the photograph is staged?”
“I think someone who built an operation around hidden rooms and false deaths deserves skepticism.”
Marcus nodded.
“Victor could be controlling both.”
Richard thought of the demand.
Bring Ethan.
Why would Vanessa ask for the boy?
If Vanessa wanted to escape, Ethan would slow her down.
If Victor wanted Ethan, he already had opportunities before.
Unless Ethan possessed something.
Richard looked toward the ceiling.
“The recorder.”
Ortiz understood.
“They think Ethan recorded more.”
“He said he recorded all the secrets.”
Marcus frowned.
“We only played two files.”
Richard looked at Ortiz.
“Where is the recorder?”
“Evidence.”
“How many files?”
She called one of the technicians.
A minute later she had the answer.
“Twenty-three.”
Richard stared.
“We heard two.”
Ortiz nodded.
“The rest are being copied.”
“Play them.”
“Some may be difficult to hear.”
“I don’t care.”
Ortiz studied him.
Then nodded.
They moved to the manor security office.
An evidence technician connected the copied audio to speakers.
File three began.
Ethan’s breathing.
Footsteps.
Vanessa crying.
Not pretending.
Actually crying.
Then her voice.
“I did what you asked.”
Victor answered.
“Not everything.”
“I gave Richard the doses.”
“You reduced them.”
“He’s Ethan’s father.”
“Your father was your father.”
Vanessa’s voice broke.
“Richard did not kill him.”
“No.”
Victor sounded almost amused.
“But Richard enjoys everything Adrian lost.”
The recording stopped.
Richard stared at the table.
Marcus said quietly.
“Victor wanted revenge too.”
“Victor wants power.”
Richard answered.
“He uses revenge to control her.”
File four.
Julian’s voice.
“I want my shares restored.”
Victor replied.
“When Richard is gone.”
“You promised the chairmanship.”
“I promise many things.”
Julian sounded angry.
“I am not your employee.”
Victor laughed.
“You are worse.”
Silence.
“You are my debtor.”
Richard looked at Marcus.
So Julian’s gambling debts had not disappeared when Richard paid them.
Julian had found new ones.
File five.
Charles Wexler.
“The board will never approve Vanessa.”
Victor replied.
“They will if the alternative is insolvency.”
Wexler sounded nervous.
“What insolvency?”
Victor answered.
“The one we manufacture.”
Richard felt the scale of the plan expanding.
This was not simply about killing him.
Victor intended to collapse Sterling Global.
Then rescue it through Vanessa.
File six.
Dr. Graves.
“You cannot keep dosing Richard.”
Victor replied.
“You will.”
Graves whispered.
“He could die unexpectedly.”
“That is the idea.”
The file ended.
Richard’s face went hard.
File seven contained mostly movement.
Then Ethan’s voice.
“Mommy?”
Vanessa gasped.
“Ethan?”
A chair scraped.
Julian cursed.
“What is he doing here?”
Vanessa said.
“Baby, come to Mommy.”
Victor interrupted.
“No.”
Vanessa shouted.
“Do not touch him.”
Ethan began crying.
Then Victor spoke gently.
“Hello, Ethan.”
Ethan whimpered.
“Grandpa?”
Victor laughed.
“That’s right.”
Richard closed his eyes.
There it was.
The reason Ethan called him Grandpa.
Victor had encouraged it.
The recording continued.
Vanessa said.
“He heard everything.”
Julian answered.
“He’s two.”
Victor said.
“Two-year-olds become five-year-olds.”
Vanessa whispered.
“I’ll take care of it.”
Victor asked.
“How?”
Long pause.
Then Vanessa.
“I’ll make Richard believe Ethan is dead.”
Richard stopped the audio.
Nobody spoke.
His wife had invented the plan herself.
Marcus looked away.
Richard pressed play again.
Vanessa continued.
“If Richard believes Ethan is dead, he will shut down.”
Victor replied.
“Or become uncontrollable.”
“I know him.”
“You clearly don’t.”
Vanessa answered.
“I can hide Ethan until this ends.”
Julian laughed.
“This never ends.”
Vanessa said.
“It does when I get my father’s files.”
Victor became silent.
Then he replied.
“Fine.”
“You have seventy-two hours.”
“If the boy talks after that, I handle him.”
The recording ended.
Richard stared at the speakers.
Seventy-two hours.
Ethan had been hidden for five days.
Vanessa had missed Victor’s deadline.
Perhaps that was why she had panicked when Hannah found him.
Perhaps she knew Victor was already coming.
“Next.”
File eight.
Marcus’s voice.
“I won’t do this.”
Vanessa answered.
“Look at the phone.”
Silence.
Then Marcus crying.
Richard glanced at him.
Marcus stared at the floor.
On the recording, Vanessa said.
“Victor sent me the video ten minutes ago.”
Marcus whispered.
“Olivia.”
Vanessa continued.
“He says we move Ethan or Olivia dies.”
Marcus shouted.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
Marcus’s voice broke.
“You brought this into my house.”
Vanessa answered quietly.
“I know.”
“Fix it.”
“I’m trying.”
The file ended.
Marcus wiped his face.
“I thought she had Olivia.”
Richard said.
“She let you think that.”
“Yes.”
“She used your fear.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Yes.”
Richard did not forgive him.
But he understood more.
File nine contained the most disturbing sound yet.
A child crying.
Not Ethan.
A girl.
Marcus stood instantly.
“Olivia.”
The recording had likely happened through a phone speaker.
Victor’s voice followed.
“Marcus.”
Marcus on the recording answered.
“I moved Ethan.”
“Good.”
“Let Olivia go.”
Victor laughed.
“Not yet.”
Olivia cried.
“Daddy?”
The present-day Marcus gripped the desk.
His knuckles whitened.
The recording continued.
“Daddy, Mommy is here.”
Marcus stopped breathing.
Victor ended the call.
The file stopped.
Marcus looked at Richard.
“She said Elena was there.”
“Yes.”
“My wife is alive.”
“Maybe.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed at the speaker.
“That is Olivia.”
Richard nodded.
“And she said Mommy.”
Marcus began pacing.
“Then Elena is with Victor.”
“Or imprisoned by him.”
“Or helping him.”
The possibility hurt.
Richard understood.
File ten began.
Vanessa whispered.
“Elena, I need more time.”
Richard and Marcus stared at each other.
A woman answered.
“You don’t have it.”
Marcus dropped into a chair.
Elena’s voice.
Alive.
Clear.
Vanessa said.
“Victor is losing control.”
Elena replied.
“Victor never had control.”
“What does that mean?”
“You still think he is in charge.”
Silence.
Vanessa asked.
“Who is?”
Elena’s answer was barely audible.
“You.”
Vanessa sounded confused.
“What?”
“You are.”
The file ended.
Richard frowned.
Marcus replayed it.
Same words.
“You are.”
“What does that mean?”
Richard asked.
Marcus shook his head.
The evidence technician examined the audio.
“There’s background noise after the cutoff.”
He amplified it.
A faint whisper appeared.
Not Elena.
A man.
“He knows too much.”
Then a loud click.
End.
File eleven was empty.
File twelve contained Ethan humming.
File thirteen contained footsteps and a door opening.
Then Vanessa.
“Where did you get that recorder?”
Ethan laughed.
“Daddy desk.”
Richard almost smiled despite everything.
The recorder belonged to him.
He used it for dictating notes.
Ethan must have taken it from the library desk.
Vanessa said.
“Give it to Mommy.”
Ethan replied.
“No.”
Vanessa sighed.
“Ethan.”
The child ran.
His footsteps became distant.
Then the file continued for nearly seven minutes without voices.
Near the end, a woman whispered.
“Sweetheart.”
Ethan stopped moving.
“Blue lady.”
Elena.
Marcus leaned closer.
Her voice was gentle.
“You have to hide this.”
Ethan asked.
“Why?”
“Because bad people want it.”
“Mommy?”
Long silence.
Elena answered carefully.
“Your mommy is scared.”
“Daddy?”
“Your daddy doesn’t know.”
“Grandpa?”
Another pause.
“Grandpa is very bad.”
Marcus shut his eyes.
Elena continued.
“Put the recorder in your jacket.”
Ethan giggled.
“Secret.”
“Yes.”
“Big secret.”
“The biggest.”
The file ended.
Richard looked at Marcus.
“Elena helped him.”
Marcus whispered.
“She was inside the manor.”
“Apparently.”
“Why didn’t she come to me?”
Richard did not answer.
They played file fourteen.
Elena again.
This time speaking with Vanessa.
“You need to get Ethan out tonight.”
“I can’t.”
“Victor moved the schedule.”
“To when?”
“Tomorrow.”
“What happens tomorrow?”
“Richard dies.”
Vanessa inhaled sharply.
“He promised me three days.”
“He lied.”
Vanessa said.
“Help me.”
Elena replied.
“I already am.”
“How?”
“Room Seventeen.”
“What about it?”
“I found the original ledger.”
Silence.
Vanessa whispered.
“My father’s?”
“All of it.”
“Where?”
“I moved it.”
“Where?”
Elena’s voice lowered.
“Somewhere Victor cannot reach.”
“Tell me.”
“No.”
“Elena.”
“If you want Ethan alive, stop asking questions and get him out.”
The file ended.
Richard felt something click into place.
The demand to bring Ethan was not about Ethan.
It was about the recorder.
The recorder might reveal where Elena hid the original ledger.
They continued.
File fifteen.
Elena.
Talking to Ethan.
“Do you remember where we put the book?”
Ethan answered cheerfully.
“Lion.”
“Good.”
“Big lion.”
“Very good.”
“Don’t tell Mommy.”
“Why?”
“Because Mommy might tell Grandpa.”
The file stopped.
Richard stood.
“Lion.”
Marcus frowned.
“There are lion statues throughout the estate.”
“Hundreds.”
Ortiz, who had been listening silently, spoke.
“Could be a book with a lion.”
Richard thought.
Then remembered something.
The nursery.
A carved wooden lion stood beside Ethan’s bookshelf.
It had belonged to Richard when he was a child.
His father had given it to him.
Richard ran.
He took the stairs two at a time.
Ortiz and Marcus followed.
They entered Ethan’s nursery.
Everything remained exactly as it had been before the supposed drowning.
Richard crossed to the carved lion.
It stood nearly three feet tall.
Heavy oak.
He lifted it.
Nothing.
Marcus examined the base.
“There.”
A small seam.
Richard used a screwdriver.
The base opened.
Inside was a black ledger.
Old.
Leather-bound.
A note lay on top.
Richard unfolded it.
RICHARD,
IF YOU ARE READING THIS, I FAILED TO GET ETHAN OUT.
DO NOT TRUST VANESSA.
DO NOT TRUST JULIAN.
DO NOT TRUST THE POLICE OFFICER WHO ARRIVES FIRST.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, DO NOT TRUST THE MAN WHO CALLS HIMSELF VICTOR.
VICTOR STERLING DIED ELEVEN YEARS AGO.
Richard read the last line again.
Marcus stared.
“What?”
Richard handed him the note.
Marcus went pale.
Detective Ortiz took it.
Her face hardened.
Richard whispered.
“If Victor died eleven years ago…”
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A familiar older male voice spoke.
The voice Ethan called Grandpa.
“Did you find the ledger?”
Richard looked at the note.
“Who are you?”
The man laughed.
Then said.
May you like
“The only Sterling your father was ever truly afraid of.”
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