Chapter 2 - The Recorded Room
Marcus grabbed a heavy wooden easel.
He shoved it into Greg’s chest.
Greg stumbled backward against the door frame.
The crowbar dropped onto the concrete floor.
It clattered loudly in the dark room.
Marcus grabbed the cassette tape from the desk.
He shoved it into his jacket pocket.
He scooped Toby up in his arms.
They ran through the side emergency exit.
Rain poured down on them in the alleyway.
Greg shouted behind them in the dark.
Marcus ran all the way to the car.
He locked the doors immediately.
Toby was shaking uncontrollably in the back seat.
Marcus looked in the rearview mirror.
Greg stood at the mouth of the alley, watching them.
Greg did not chase them further.
He simply pulled out his phone and made a call.
Marcus backed the car out fast.
His hands were trembling on the steering wheel.
“We can’t go home,” Marcus said aloud.
Toby shook his head violently.
Marcus pulled into the parking lot of a 24-hour diner.
The bright neon lights washed over the dashboard.
Marcus took the cassette tape out of his jacket.
He looked at Toby.
“Is this your mother’s voice?” Marcus asked.
Toby nodded once.
Marcus remembered the old tape player in the glove box.
He pulled it out.
He inserted the tape.
He pressed play.
Static filled the small car.
Then a woman’s voice spoke.
It was Sarah.
Marcus’s throat tightened immediately.
“Marcus, if you are listening to this, I am already gone,” Sarah said.
Her voice sounded weak on the recording.
“Clara is not who she says she is.”
“She came to the studio last month.”
“She offered to manage the studio finances.”
“Then I found the bank transfers.”
Marcus froze.
He leaned closer to the speaker.
“She was taking money from Toby’s trust fund,” Sarah’s voice continued.
“She threatened to take Toby away if I told you.”
“She said she would make me look unstable.”
“She said no court would believe a sick woman.”
Static cut through the recording.
Toby reached forward and touched the tape player.
Sarah’s voice came back.
“Toby heard her threatening me in the kitchen.”
“That is why he stopped talking.”
“He is trying to protect you, Marcus.”
“She told him if he spoke, she would hurt you.”
The recording stopped.
Complete silence filled the car.
Marcus lowered his head onto the steering wheel.
A heavy tear fell onto his lap.
He had brought Clara into their home.
He had trusted her with his grieving son.
He had called Toby difficult.
He had forced Toby to sit at dinner with her every night.
“I’m sorry,” Marcus whispered to the empty air.
“Toby, I am so sorry.”
Toby reached over the seat.
He laid his small hand on Marcus’s shoulder.
Marcus squeezed his son’s hand tightly.
“We are going to make this right,” Marcus said.
Suddenly, headlights flashed into the car.
A white SUV pulled up behind them.
It blocked Marcus’s car in the parking spot.
Clara got out of the passenger side.
Greg got out of the driver’s side.
Clara walked up to Marcus’s window.
She knocked sharply on the glass.
Her face was emotionless.
Marcus rolled the window down two inches.
“Get out of the car, Marcus,” Clara said calmly.
“You have the wrong idea.”
“I have the tape, Clara,” Marcus said.
Clara did not panic.
She smiled slightly.
“That tape proves nothing.”
“Sarah was sick.”
“She was confused.”
“Who will the police believe?”
“A grieving, stressed father, or me?”
“I have power of attorney over the estate.”
“I signed the paperwork yesterday while you were at work.”
Marcus stared at her in disbelief.
“You forged my name?”
“I protected our family’s future,” Clara said.
“Now open the door.”
Greg stepped up beside her.
He held a envelope in his hand.
“We called child protective services, Marcus,” Greg said.
“We reported an unstable father running away with a non-verbal child in the rain.”
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