Chapter 6 - A VOICE FROM THE PAST
Vanessa lunged for the recorder.
Rachel blocked her.
“Don’t.”
“Move!”
Rachel didn’t.
Vanessa shoved her.
Mia screamed.
Daniel caught Vanessa’s arm.
“Touch her again and we’re done pretending this is civilized.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“We were already done pretending.”
Noah set the recorder on the piano.
He pressed play.
Static filled the chapel.
Then Vanessa’s voice.
“What if Daniel finds out what really happened to Claire?”
Another voice answered.
Male.
Low.
Muffled.
“He won’t.”
Daniel looked at Eric.
“That’s not him.”
Eric slowly shook his head.
“No.”
Vanessa backed toward the wall.
Thomas studied her.
“Who is it?”
She said nothing.
The recording continued.
Vanessa: “Eric thinks he knows everything.”
The unknown man laughed.
“He knows what I let him know.”
Eric’s face tightened.
Daniel noticed.
“You recognize him?”
Eric said nothing.
On the recorder, Vanessa whispered, “And Mia?”
Unknown man: “The girl goes away after the transfer.”
Mia pressed against Daniel.
Daniel pulled her close.
Vanessa: “Boarding school?”
Unknown man: “Whatever keeps her quiet.”
Daniel felt his vision narrow.
Noah stopped the recording.
“That’s where I walked back into the room. They heard me.”
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
“Who was he?”
She shook her head.
“Vanessa.”
“He’ll kill me.”
Thomas laughed once.
“Now you’re scared?”
She looked at him.
“You should be too.”
Eric pushed away from the wall.
“This is getting stupid.”
Daniel turned.
“You knew there was someone else?”
Eric’s jaw flexed.
“I suspected.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Thomas spoke softly.
“I might.”
Everybody looked at him.
He opened his folder again and removed a photograph.
Old.
Creased.
Vanessa standing beside Thomas.
And behind them, half hidden, was another man.
Daniel took it.
The man looked familiar.
Very familiar.
Older now, maybe.
But familiar.
Daniel stared.
“No.”
His mother stepped closer.
She saw the photograph.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
“Oh my God.”
Mia looked up.
“Who is that?”
Daniel couldn’t answer.
The man in the photograph had worked for Carter Aerospace for more than twenty years.
He had attended Daniel’s father’s funeral.
He had comforted Daniel after Claire died.
He was currently chairman of Daniel’s board.
Marcus Vale.
Thomas looked at Daniel.
“You know him.”
Daniel’s mouth went dry.
“He helped raise me.”
Thomas nodded.
“He helped Vanessa disappear from our marriage too.”
Vanessa shouted, “Thomas!”
But it was too late.
Daniel looked at her.
“You knew Marcus before you knew me?”
She closed her eyes.
“How long?”
No answer.
“How long, Vanessa?”
“Seven years.”
Daniel stared.
“You met him before Eric?”
“Yes.”
Eric snapped toward her.
“What?”
For the first time, Eric looked genuinely blindsided.
Vanessa looked at him with disgust.
“You thought you recruited me?”
She laughed.
“Marcus recruited you.”
Eric stepped backward.
“No.”
“He knew you hated Daniel.”
“No.”
“He knew you were stealing.”
“Shut up.”
“He knew about Claire.”
Eric lunged.
Daniel blocked him.
Vanessa screamed, “HE USED YOU!”
Eric froze.
She pointed at him.
“You were never the mastermind. You were insurance.”
Daniel stared at his brother.
Eric looked like someone had pulled the floor out from under him.
Then Vanessa said the words that shattered whatever control he had left.
“And when this was over, Marcus planned to blame everything on you.”
Eric went still.
“No.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Oh, yes.”
She looked toward Daniel.
“Your brother was supposed to go to prison.”
Eric’s face twisted.
“And you?”
Vanessa stopped laughing.
Her silence answered.
Daniel understood.
Vanessa had planned to disappear too.
Thomas slowly turned toward the locked chapel doors.
“Then there’s something you all need to understand.”
Daniel followed his gaze.
“What?”
Thomas’s face had gone pale.
“If Marcus is behind this…”
A loud metallic bang came from outside.
Then another.
Someone was working on the chapel’s main electrical box.
May you like
The lights flickered.
Thomas whispered, “He knows the plan failed.”
