Chapter 3 - THE VOICE FROM THE LAKE
Eleanor tried to leave.
She turned toward the private elevator.
Two uniformed officers stepped in front of her.
The guests started whispering louder.
Phones came out.
Julian looked at me.
“Chloe, please.”
“Don’t.”
“I can explain.”
“Not yet.”
My hands were shaking.
I needed answers before I let him touch me again.
Detective Hayes walked to Pastor Miller.
“Reverend.”
The pastor nodded.
“You found it.”
“After eleven months of searching.”
Eleanor snapped.
“You have no warrant to hold me.”
The detective looked almost tired.
“You’re not under arrest.”
“Then move.”
“Not until you hear what your son recorded.”
Her expression changed.
Julian closed his eyes.
The detective connected a small speaker to the recorder.
Static filled the rooftop.
Then Liam’s voice came through.
Weak.
Breathing hard.
“If anyone finds this…”
A long pause.
“I need you to know my mother knows about Rachel.”
Eleanor shouted, “Turn that off!”
Nobody moved.
Liam’s voice continued.
“She offered Rachel money to disappear.”
The guests went silent.
“She said the Sterling trust could not pass to a child outside an approved marriage.”
I felt sick.
Liam coughed.
“I told her I was going to marry Rachel.”
Then another voice appeared on the recording.
Eleanor’s.
“You will destroy this family.”
Liam answered.
“No, Mom.”
“You already did that.”
The recording crackled.
Eleanor’s face was gray.
Then came the sound of wind.
Water.
A struggle.
Liam yelled.
“Give me the keys!”
Eleanor’s voice came back, sharper.
“You’re drunk.”
“I had one drink.”
“You’re not driving.”
Then a third voice appeared.
A man.
“Mrs. Sterling, we need to go.”
Julian’s head snapped up.
“Who was that?”
Detective Hayes paused the audio.
“We don’t know yet.”
Eleanor suddenly smiled.
“There.”
She pointed.
“You don’t know.”
The detective watched her.
“That isn’t the defense you think it is.”
She turned toward the guests.
“This is disgusting.”
Then toward me.
“And you.”
I stared at her.
“You brought this circus into my family.”
“I didn’t even know Liam had a girlfriend.”
“You brought weakness.”
The words landed strangely.
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Eleanor’s eyes flicked toward my stomach.
Pastor Miller stepped closer.
“Eleanor.”
“Stay out of this.”
“You made me lie at Liam’s funeral.”
“You chose to.”
“I was told he had taken his own life.”
The crowd murmured.
My eyes widened.
“What?”
Julian looked sick.
Pastor Miller continued.
“She told me Liam had been drinking.”
Eleanor screamed.
“HE WAS!”
The detective restarted the recorder.
Liam’s voice came through again.
“You drugged my drink.”
Everything stopped.
Eleanor’s mouth fell open.
On the recording, Liam’s breathing was ragged.
“I saw you put something in it.”
Then her voice.
“You’re imagining things.”
“I’m calling the police.”
A struggle.
A loud crash.
Then the sound of the boat engine roaring.
Liam shouted.
“STOP!”
The recording filled with water.
Then silence.
Nobody spoke.
I looked at Julian.
His eyes were locked on his mother.
“You told me he was drunk.”
Eleanor said nothing.
“You told me Liam crashed the boat because he was drunk.”
“I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“From him.”
Julian stepped forward.
“He was my brother.”
“He was going to destroy everything.”
The words slipped out.
Eleanor froze.
Julian’s face changed.
“Everything?”
Detective Hayes leaned in.
“What exactly was Liam going to destroy, Mrs. Sterling?”
She looked around.
Three hundred witnesses.
Dozens of cameras.
No escape.
Her mouth tightened.
Then the elevator dinged.
A young woman stood inside.
Thin.
Pale.
Holding the hand of a little boy.
Eleanor looked at them.
Her knees nearly gave out.
Pastor Miller whispered, “Rachel.”
The woman stepped onto the rooftop.
The little boy had Liam’s eyes.
May you like
And Rachel looked directly at Eleanor.
“You told everyone we were dead.”
