Chapter 6 - The Recording Nobody Was Supposed to Hear
I couldn't move.
Claire stared at the phone.
Neither of us reached for it.
It rang again.
And again.
Finally, Claire picked it up.
"Hello?"
Nothing.
Then a man's breathing.
Claire's face changed.
"Daniel?"
I grabbed the phone.
"Who is this?"
Silence.
Then:
"Mara."
I dropped the phone.
The voice had been his.
Older.
Rougher.
But his.
Claire whispered:
"It can't be."
The phone rang again.
I answered.
"Daniel?"
A pause.
Then:
"I knew you'd come."
I started crying.
"Where is Lily?"
"Safe."
"Let me speak to her."
"Not yet."
"Who are you?"
"You know me."
I looked at Claire.
She looked terrified.
"Tell me who you are."
The voice said:
"Play the recorder."
The call ended.
I looked at the old recorder on the table.
I pressed the button.
Daniel's voice filled the room.
"March 18."
A pause.
"The payment came through again."
Another voice spoke.
A man's voice.
"How much?"
"Enough."
"Then you're finished."
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"No. I'm just beginning."
The recording continued.
The men discussed bank accounts.
Hotel rooms.
False identities.
Payments.
Names.
Then I heard Claire's voice.
She sounded younger.
"Daniel, you have to stop."
Daniel replied:
"I can't."
"You'll destroy everyone."
"They already destroyed themselves."
Then a fourth voice appeared.
A voice I recognized.
My father.
I stopped breathing.
He said:
"Daniel, you don't understand what you're dealing with."
I turned toward Claire.
"My father?"
She nodded slowly.
"Your father knew."
"How?"
"He was involved with the hotel."
"My father died before Daniel."
"I know."
The recording continued.
My father said:
"If you expose this, Mara and Lily will become targets."
Daniel answered:
"They already are."
I covered my mouth.
Then came the sound of a door opening.
A woman screamed.
The recording ended.
I stared at Claire.
"Who screamed?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
"You were there."
"Not that night."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
The phone rang again.
I answered immediately.
"Where is my daughter?"
The voice said:
"Your father wasn't the person who betrayed Daniel."
"Then who was?"
"You're looking at her."
I turned toward Claire.
She went pale.
"Me?"
The voice continued:
"Ask Claire why she kept the second device."
Claire whispered:
"No."
"Where is it?" I asked.
She didn't answer.
"Claire."
She closed her eyes.
"Daniel gave it to me."
"When?"
"The night he disappeared."
"Why?"
"Because he knew they would search him."
"What did he give you?"
"The original recording."
I stared at her.
"Where is it?"
She slowly reached into her purse.
But before she could take it out, the lights went off.
The room went black.
I heard Claire gasp.
Then something crashed.
I reached for her.
"Claire?"
No answer.
"Claire!"
I found her arm.
She was shaking.
The emergency lights came on.
The recorder was gone.
So was the purse.
And Claire was staring at the doorway.
A man stood there.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
The same man from the photographs.
Jonathan.
He looked at me.
Then at Claire.
And said:
"I'm sorry."
Claire whispered:
"Jonathan, no."
He raised both hands.
"I'm not here to hurt you."
"Then where is Lily?" I demanded.
Jonathan looked at me.
"She's with the only person who can keep her alive."
"Who?"
He hesitated.
May you like
Then he said:
"Daniel."
