Chapter 4 - THE HIDDEN PHONE
Detective Brooks immediately contacted the officers executing the search warrant.
Dad tried to leave with her.
She stopped him at the door.
“Colonel, you cannot enter an active crime scene.”
“My daughter’s evidence is inside.”
“And my officers will protect it.”
Dad looked ready to argue.
I reached for his hand.
“Stay.”
He turned back toward me.
“I need you here.”
That was enough.
He sat beside my bed while Detective Brooks rushed from the room.
For the next forty minutes, we heard nothing.
Every minute felt longer than the one before it.
I imagined Ryan’s friends tearing apart the closet.
I imagined Linda crawling through the fire escape.
I imagined the phone crushed beneath someone’s shoe.
Dad remained quiet, but his knee moved constantly.
He had never been good at waiting when someone he loved was in danger.
Finally, Detective Brooks called.
The person inside the apartment was Linda.
She had been released after questioning because the officers initially lacked enough evidence to arrest her.
Instead of going home, she returned through the fire escape.
She claimed she wanted medication from the bathroom.
The officers found her kneeling inside my closet.
A screwdriver was in her hand.
The loose floorboard had already been lifted.
She had found the phone.
However, she did not have time to destroy it.
The officers arrested her for interfering with a police investigation and attempting to tamper with evidence.
Detective Brooks brought the phone to the hospital later that night.
The screen was cracked.
The battery was almost dead.
But the files remained intact.
A technician connected it to a secure laptop.
Dozens of photographs appeared.
My bruised shoulder.
My swollen wrist.
A split lip.
A dark mark across my ribs.
The images became worse as the dates moved forward.
Dad stood behind the technician.
He watched every photograph without moving.
When the first audio recording played, I wanted to disappear beneath the blanket.
Ryan’s voice filled the hospital room.
“You will sign the transfer papers.”
My own voice answered.
“No.”
A loud crash followed.
Then Linda spoke.
“Stop making him angry.”
“I’m pregnant.”
“Then behave like a mother instead of a spoiled child.”
Ryan’s voice came closer to the phone.
“Your father can’t save you.”
The recording ended with my crying.
Dad turned away.
He placed both hands against the wall.
Captain Mason stood near the door.
“Sir?”
Dad did not respond.
Mason moved closer.
“Colonel.”
Dad finally looked at him.
“We do this correctly.”
“Yes, sir.”
“No phone calls to pressure anyone.”
“No favors.”
“No threats.”
“Understood.”
“We let the evidence destroy them.”
Dad returned to my bedside.
That moment changed something inside me.
Ryan had always claimed Dad would lose control.
He said my father was dangerous.
He said one accusation could ruin Dad’s career.
But Dad did not need violence.
He trusted the truth.
The second audio file began.
Linda was speaking quietly.
“She is still refusing the pills.”
Ryan answered.
“Put it in her tea.”
“I already doubled the dose yesterday.”
“You said it would keep her confused.”
“It does.”
“Then why does she still remember the account password?”
My blood turned cold.
The technician stopped the audio.
Detective Brooks stared at the screen.
“That is conspiracy.”
Dad looked at her.
“Conspiracy to do what?”
“We need the rest of the recording.”
The technician pressed play.
Linda’s voice returned.
“Once the court declares her incompetent, you won’t need the password.”
“You will control everything.”
Ryan laughed.
“And after the baby comes?”
There was a pause.
Then Linda answered.
“We make sure Emily never gets the chance to change her story.”
The room became completely silent.
Dad looked at Detective Brooks.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know yet.”
The technician opened another folder.
Most of the files were photographs.
One was a video recorded accidentally through a narrow opening in the closet door.
Ryan stood in the bedroom with a stack of papers.
Linda sat on the edge of the bed.
Ryan pointed to one page.
“The insurance company approved it.”
Linda smiled.
“How much?”
“Two million dollars.”
I stopped breathing.
May you like
Detective Brooks turned toward me.
“Emily, did you know your husband had taken out a life insurance policy on you?”
