Chapter 6 - THE FOURTH VOICE
The basement went completely dark.
Not the kind of darkness caused by a power outage.
The kind of darkness that feels intentional.
Controlled.
Everyone stopped moving.
For a few seconds, nobody spoke.
Nobody breathed.
Then I heard it again.
The voice.
A voice that did not belong to Elias Voss.
A voice that did not belong to Captain Hayes.
“Welcome back, Detective Miller.”
My grip tightened around my Glock.
I aimed toward the basement door.
“Who are you?”
No answer.
Only footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Walking above us.
I moved toward the stairs.
Captain Hayes grabbed my arm.
“Don’t.”
I looked at him.
“After everything you’ve hidden from me, you’re giving me orders?”
His expression changed.
Not anger.
Fear.
That was the first time I had ever seen Robert Hayes afraid.
“He knows this house better than we do.”
“Who?”
Hayes didn’t answer.
Elias did.
“The man who created me.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
I turned toward him.
“You expect me to believe you were created?”
Elias looked at the old files on the floor.
“I was a broken man before they found me.”
His voice became quieter.
“They didn’t turn me into a killer.”
“They turned me into a story.”
The basement door suddenly opened.
A shadow appeared at the top of the stairs.
I raised my weapon.
The figure stepped backward.
Gone.
I ran upstairs.
The house was empty.
The front door was still locked.
The windows were closed.
No one could have escaped.
Then I saw something on the kitchen table.
A cup of coffee.
Still warm.
Someone had been sitting there.
Waiting.
Beside the cup was a small recorder.
I pressed play.
My own voice came from the speaker.
A recording from ten years earlier.
Me.
Talking about a case.
But I had never heard this conversation before.
My younger voice said:
“If the killer is connected to the department, nobody can know.”
I froze.
Because I remembered that case.
The victim.
The evidence.
The suspect.
But I never remembered saying those words.
The recording continued.
Another voice spoke.
Captain Hayes.
“You understand what happens if the truth comes out.”
My younger self answered:
“I’ll take care of it.”
The recording ended.
I stared at the device.
My hands felt numb.
Because the voice was mine.
The decision was mine.
The secret was mine.
Elias walked into the kitchen.
“You’re starting to remember.”
I looked at him.
“Remember what?”
He stared directly at me.
“That you weren’t hunting the monster.”
“You were protecting one.”
Before I could answer, every light in the house turned on.
The television in the living room activated.
A live video appeared.
A man sitting in a dark room.
His face hidden.
But his voice was clear.
“You finally found the truth, James.”
A pause.
“But now you have to decide.”
The screen changed.
Two names appeared.
ELIAS VOSS.
ROBERT HAYES.
Then a third name appeared.
JAMES MILLER.
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The message underneath was simple.
“WHO SHOULD PAY?”
