Chapter 6 - The Voice From the Grave
"Sweetheart..."
I couldn't move.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't even convince myself that what I was hearing was real.
My father's voice was coming through my phone.
The same voice that used to call me every Sunday morning.
The same voice that told me I worked too hard.
The same voice that laughed when Noah took his first steps.
The same voice I heard for the last time inside a hospital room four years ago.
But that voice was impossible.
Because my father was dead.
Rebecca had stopped the car in the middle of the empty road.
She was staring at me.
Her face had lost all color.
"Sabrina," she whispered.
"Who is it?"
I couldn't answer.
My hand shook as I held the phone.
The voice came again.
"Sabrina, are you there?"
My lips parted.
"Dad?"
Silence.
Then a long breath.
A breath filled with emotion.
"Yes."
My entire body went numb.
A thousand questions crashed into my mind at once.
How?
Why?
Where?
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to throw the phone away.
I wanted to believe it was a trick.
But my heart knew that voice.
A daughter knows her father's voice.
Even after years.
Even after death.
"Where are you?" I whispered.
The line became quiet.
Too quiet.
Then my father answered.
"Somewhere Ellis can never reach."
I closed my eyes.
Tears filled them instantly.
"You let me think you were dead."
"I know."
"Do you know what I went through?"
My voice broke.
"I buried you."
"I know."
"No, you don't."
I wiped my face.
"You don't know what it felt like to lose you."
My father was silent.
Then he said:
"I watched."
That word made my blood freeze.
"What?"
"I watched everything."
Rebecca looked at me.
Her expression changed.
"Sabrina, put him on speaker."
I did.
My father's voice filled the car.
"Rebecca."
She froze.
"You know me?"
"I know everyone who tried to help my daughter."
Rebecca covered her mouth.
"Henry..."
My father's voice softened.
"You're alive."
"So are you."
Neither of them spoke for several seconds.
I felt like I was watching two ghosts recognize each other.
Finally, I asked the question that had been burning inside me.
"Why?"
The word came out broken.
"Why did you let me believe you died?"
My father's voice became heavier.
"Because if Ellis knew I survived, you wouldn't have survived."
I stared at the phone.
"No."
"Sabrina."
"No."
I shook my head.
"Ellis didn't know you were alive."
"He did."
The answer was immediate.
"He knew."
I looked at Rebecca.
She looked away.
That was when I realized.
Everyone had known more than me.
Everyone had been protecting me from something.
Everyone except me.
"What happened that night?"
My father sighed.
"Your mother was already asleep. You were at home with Noah. I went to meet Ellis."
"Why?"
"Because I found the evidence."
My fingers tightened.
"The evidence against him?"
"Yes."
"What did he do?"
My father paused.
"I accused him of stealing from investors. I told him I would report everything."
"And?"
"He attacked me."
The car became silent.
"I fought back."
My father's voice was quiet.
"But I was old. He was younger. Stronger."
I closed my eyes.
"Then what?"
"He thought he finished the job."
A chill moved through me.
"He left me there."
"How did you survive?"
"Someone found me."
"Who?"
My father didn't answer.
That silence bothered me.
"Dad."
"I can't tell you yet."
I almost laughed.
After everything.
After four years.
After pretending to be dead.
He still had secrets.
"I deserve the truth."
"You do."
"Then tell me."
"I will."
A pause.
"But first, you need to understand something."
"What?"
"Ellis didn't want custody of Noah because he loved him."
My heart stopped.
"He wanted Noah because Noah discovered the same thing I did."
The world suddenly became quiet.
My son.
Twelve years old.
Caught in the middle of a war between adults.
"What did Noah find?"
My father answered:
"Proof."
"What kind?"
"Proof that Ellis wasn't just hiding illegal money."
My grip tightened around the phone.
"What else?"
"He was hiding a person."
Rebecca looked at me.
"A person?"
My father continued.
"Someone who disappeared years ago."
"Who?"
The line suddenly became filled with static.
"Dad?"
No answer.
Then his voice returned.
But it sounded different.
More urgent.
"Sabrina, listen carefully."
I sat straighter.
"Do not go home."
"I wasn't planning to."
"Do not contact Ellis."
"I won't."
"And do not trust the person who tells you they are trying to help."
I looked at Rebecca.
She noticed.
"Why?"
My father's voice dropped.
"Because the person who betrayed me was not Ellis."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"The person who gave Ellis information about me..."
Static.
"Dad?"
The connection weakened.
"The person who destroyed our family..."
The call began breaking apart.
"Dad!"
One final sentence came through.
A sentence that made Rebecca grab my arm.
"It was someone who shared your blood."
The call ended.
Nobody spoke.
I stared at the blank screen.
Someone who shared my blood.
My mind raced through every person I knew.
My mother was gone.
My father was alive.
My relatives.
Friends.
Family.
Who could it be?
Rebecca looked terrified.
"What did he mean?"
"I don't know."
But even as I said it, a memory appeared.
A small moment.
Something I had ignored.
Something that seemed meaningless four years ago.
The day of my father's funeral.
Someone had arrived late.
Someone who shouldn't have known about the private ceremony.
Someone who had hugged me and whispered:
"Your father would want you to be strong."
At the time, I thought it was kindness.
Now it felt different.
I grabbed my phone.
I opened my old photographs.
I searched.
Rebecca watched me.
"What are you looking for?"
"A picture."
"Of who?"
I didn't answer.
Because I had already found it.
The funeral photo.
My father.
My mother.
Me.
And standing behind us...
Someone else.
Someone who had been there the entire time.
My fingers went cold.
Rebecca looked over my shoulder.
Then she whispered:
"No."
I looked at her.
"You know them?"
She didn't answer.
"Rebecca."
Her face turned pale.
"Sabrina..."
"Who is it?"
She looked at the photograph again.
Then at me.
"That's the person Ellis was afraid of."
My heart pounded.
"Who?"
Rebecca slowly pointed at the picture.
At the person standing behind my family.
The person I trusted.
The person I never questioned.
"The person who gave Ellis everything he needed."
My phone vibrated.
A new message.
From Noah.
I opened it immediately.
Only five words appeared.
"Mom, you found them."
Then another message arrived.
"He knows you know."
I looked at Rebecca.
Outside the car, headlights appeared in the distance.
One vehicle.
Then another.
Then three more.
Rebecca grabbed the steering wheel.
"Sabrina."
"What?"
Her hands tightened.
"We need to leave."
"Why?"
She looked into the mirror.
Her face was filled with fear.
"Because those cars aren't following us."
I looked behind us.
The vehicles stopped.
May you like
The doors opened.
And the person stepping out of the first car was someone I had trusted my entire life.
