Chapter 5 - The Voice From Beyond The Grave
"Evan..."
My hand tightened around the phone.
I couldn't move.
I couldn't speak.
Because there were some voices a person never forgot.
A mother's voice.
A child's voice.
And a father's voice.
The voice that had guided me through every difficult decision in my life.
The voice that I had heard for the last time twenty years ago.
"Who is this?"
My words came out barely above a whisper.
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then the voice answered.
"You still ask the wrong questions."
My heart stopped.
I looked at Marcus.
He was staring at me.
He knew.
Somehow, he knew exactly what I was hearing.
Claire stepped closer.
"Is it him?"
I didn't answer.
Because I was afraid.
Afraid that saying the words would make them real.
Afraid that my entire life had been built on a lie.
The voice continued.
"You found the notes."
I looked at the yellow sticky note on my desk.
The warning.
The message.
Everything that started this nightmare.
"How are you calling me?"
Another pause.
Then:
"Because I never stopped watching."
The call ended.
I stared at the phone screen.
No number.
No record.
Nothing.
Like the conversation never happened.
But I knew it did.
Because my hands were shaking.
My father was alive.
Or someone wanted me to believe he was.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Marcus broke the silence.
"You need to leave."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"Now."
"Why?"
His expression was different.
Not the calm security director I had known for years.
The man standing in front of me looked like someone who had been waiting twenty years for this moment.
"Because they know you heard him."
I looked around the office.
"Who?"
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
That scared me more than anything.
"The people who made your father disappear."
Claire stepped forward.
"You knew he was alive?"
Marcus looked at her.
"I knew there was a possibility."
Her face changed.
"A possibility?"
"Your father planned everything carefully."
I stared at him.
"You mean he planned his own disappearance?"
Marcus nodded.
The room went silent.
My entire body felt numb.
"No."
The word escaped before I could stop it.
"My father died."
Marcus looked at me.
"That's what everyone needed you to believe."
I felt anger rising.
"Everyone?"
I pointed toward the door.
"Who is everyone?"
Marcus looked at Rachel.
She immediately looked away.
That answer was enough.
The people around me.
The people I trusted.
The people who were supposed to protect my father's legacy.
They all knew something.
And they all decided I wasn't allowed to know.
"Start talking."
Marcus sighed.
Then he walked to the window.
Twenty floors below, the city continued moving.
People walking.
Cars driving.
A normal world.
A world where my life hadn't just collapsed.
"Your father discovered a secret inside Mercer Holdings."
"The fraud?"
Marcus shook his head.
"No."
He turned back.
"Something much bigger."
Claire held her father's photograph.
"What?"
Marcus looked at her.
"Control."
Nobody spoke.
"Your father built this company. But after he became successful, investors began pushing for more power. They wanted influence over every decision."
I listened carefully.
"Your father refused."
"And?"
"And he discovered some of those investors had created a hidden network inside the company."
"North Vale."
Marcus nodded.
"North Vale wasn't created to steal money."
He looked at the documents on my desk.
"It was created to slowly take control."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"So they were replacing him."
"Yes."
"And my father found out."
"Yes."
I looked at the photograph again.
The picture of my father and Rachel's father.
"Then why involve Rachel's father?"
Marcus was quiet.
Too quiet.
Claire noticed.
"Marcus."
He looked at her.
"Tell us."
Finally, he spoke.
"Because Robert Bennett was the only person your father trusted."
Claire froze.
"My father?"
Marcus nodded.
"They worked together to expose the people behind North Vale."
"Then why did my father disappear?"
Marcus looked at me.
"Because someone betrayed them."
The words landed heavily.
"Who?"
Nobody answered.
Because everyone in that room was thinking the same thing.
Someone close.
Someone trusted.
Someone who had access.
My phone suddenly vibrated.
A new message.
I opened it.
Unknown sender.
One sentence.
Marcus knows more than he is telling you.
I looked up.
Marcus was watching me.
He knew.
"You got a message."
It wasn't a question.
I stared at him.
"How did you know?"
His face changed.
Just slightly.
But enough.
"You received messages before."
The room went quiet.
I stepped closer.
"How many?"
Marcus didn't answer.
"How many messages have you received?"
His silence confirmed it.
I felt something break inside.
Not because Marcus had lied.
Because I expected better from him.
"You knew."
"I was trying to protect you."
"No."
My voice became sharper.
"You were protecting the secret."
Marcus looked down.
"I was protecting your life."
Before I could respond, the office lights flickered again.
The monitors turned on.
This time, there was a video.
A security camera recording.
A timestamp.
Twenty years ago.
I watched the screen.
My father walked through an old Mercer Holdings office.
He looked younger.
Healthy.
Alive.
He carried a briefcase.
Then another person entered the room.
I leaned closer.
The quality was poor.
But the face became clear.
My breathing stopped.
Because I knew that person.
Everyone in the company knew that person.
The person who had spent twenty years pretending to help me.
The person who had stood beside me at every board meeting.
The person who had advised me after my father's death.
Daniel Cross.
My CFO.
My oldest business partner.
My father's closest friend.
The video showed Daniel handing my father a document.
My father read it.
Then his expression changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
The screen froze.
A message appeared.
Now you know who betrayed him.
Claire stepped back.
"No..."
Marcus looked toward the door.
His hand moved slowly toward his phone.
"What's wrong?"
He didn't answer.
Then his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
And all the color disappeared from his face.
"Who is it?"
Marcus looked at me.
His voice was barely audible.
"It's Daniel."
Nobody moved.
The phone kept ringing.
Then Marcus answered.
The first words Daniel said were loud enough for all of us to hear.
"Marcus, if Evan is with you..."
A pause.
Then:
"Run."
The call ended.
A second later, every lock on the executive floor clicked open at the same time.
May you like
The hallway lights turned red.
And footsteps stopped outside my office door.
