Chapter 3 - The Voice Behind the Wall

Victor pulled the second panel open.

There was no person behind it.

Only a small audio recorder.

Old.

Battery powered.

The crying came from its speaker.

Victor pressed stop.

The silence that followed felt worse.

Lily stared at the device.

“When was that recorded?”

Victor turned it over.

A date had been written on masking tape.

Five years earlier.

Three days before Amelia died.

Victor pressed play.

Static crackled.

Then Amelia’s voice filled the room.

“If this recording is found, Serena has already gone too far.”

Victor closed his eyes.

Ethan looked up.

“That’s Mommy?”

Victor swallowed.

“Yes.”

The recording continued.

“I discovered the amendments hidden inside the Hale Family Trust.”

“Someone changed the succession structure after Victor’s father became ill.”

“I believed the changes were legitimate until Mara checked the signatures.”

“They were forged.”

A chair scraped somewhere in the recording.

Amelia sounded frightened.

“If Ethan dies before age five, the controlling shares move temporarily to Serena Vale as trustee of the secondary estate.”

Lily’s stomach tightened.

Temporary trustee.

Enough power to control the company.

Enough money to control almost anything.

Amelia continued.

“I confronted Serena yesterday.”

“She denied everything.”

“But tonight, I found payments from Hale accounts to someone named C. Mercer.”

Victor whispered.

“Charles Mercer.”

Lily looked at him.

“Who is that?”

“Our former chief security officer.”

The recording continued.

“If anything happens to me, find Mercer.”

“He knows why the west stair cameras failed the night my car was tampered with.”

Victor’s head snapped up.

Lily stared at him.

“Car?”

Amelia’s voice became weaker.

“I know Victor thinks my crash was caused by rain.”

“It wasn’t.”

Ethan pressed closer to Lily.

Victor remained completely still.

“I found the maintenance report.”

“My brake line had been cut.”

The recording stopped.

Victor’s breathing changed.

He looked as though someone had struck him.

For five years, Amelia’s death had been classified as an accident.

Victor had blamed himself for not answering her final phone call.

Now every memory had changed.

Lily placed a hand on Ethan’s shoulder.

Victor stared at the recorder.

“There should be more.”

He pressed play again.

Nothing.

The file ended.

Then Lily noticed the leather notebook.

She opened it.

Pages of names.

Dates.

Bank transfers.

Security shifts.

One entry had been circled.

CHARLES MERCER - PAID 250,000 - DECEMBER 14.

Amelia died December 16.

Victor looked toward the door.

“I’m calling the police.”

Lily nodded.

Then her phone vibrated.

Unknown number.

A photograph appeared.

It showed Serena standing beside a black SUV.

The timestamp was three minutes old.

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Under it was one message.

STOP DIGGING OR THE NEXT CHILD WON’T COME HOME.