Chapter 6 - The Voice From The Grave
The basement door opened.
Slowly.
Quietly.
Like someone had been waiting for us to notice it.
Nobody moved.
Not me.
Not Evelyn.
Not Victor.
Because we all understood the same thing.
That door had been closed.
And nobody was standing near it.
I looked at my phone.
The call was still there in my recent history.
The voice.
My father's voice.
A voice that should have disappeared ten years ago.
"Do not trust Evelyn."
The words repeated inside my head.
I looked at the woman standing beside me.
The woman who had saved me.
The woman who had lied to me.
The woman my father warned me about.
"Who are you really?"
My voice was barely above a whisper.
Evelyn looked hurt.
Not angry.
Hurt.
"Claire..."
"No."
I stepped back.
"I need the truth."
Victor remained silent.
That worried me more than anything.
Because he knew.
He had known this entire time.
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Then she slowly nodded.
"You deserve to know."
She walked toward the basement.
"I didn't tell you because your father asked me not to."
I followed her with my eyes.
"My father trusted you."
"Yes."
"Then why did he tell me not to trust you?"
Evelyn stopped.
And for the first time, she looked afraid.
"Because your father knew I failed him."
The answer shocked me.
"What does that mean?"
She looked down the dark staircase.
"It means I was there when he died."
The words hit me again.
I already knew.
But hearing it directly made it real.
"What happened that night?"
Evelyn took a deep breath.
"Your father called me."
"When?"
"The night he died."
The cabin became silent.
"He told me he found proof against Brandon and Victor."
I looked at Victor.
His face remained unreadable.
"What proof?"
"The proof that Brandon wasn't working alone."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"Who else?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"You."
I froze.
"What?"
"Not because you were involved."
She shook her head quickly.
"Because your father knew you were the only person Brandon couldn't control."
I didn't understand.
"Then why hide everything from me?"
"Because Brandon was watching you."
She pointed toward the notebook.
"Your father believed someone close to you was giving Brandon information."
My heart sank.
"Someone close to me?"
Evelyn nodded.
"Someone who knew your daily life. Someone who knew where you were. Someone who knew your father trusted me."
I thought about everyone.
Friends.
Family.
People who had smiled at me.
People who had hugged me.
People who told me they cared.
Suddenly, nobody felt safe.
Victor finally spoke.
"Your father made one mistake."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"He trusted that people could be saved."
His voice was cold.
"But some people only understand power."
I stared at him.
"You mean yourself?"
For the first time, Victor's expression changed.
Anger.
Just for a second.
Then it disappeared.
"I was trying to stop your father from making a mistake."
"My father was trying to expose criminals."
"No."
Victor stepped closer.
"Your father was trying to destroy an entire organization."
I laughed bitterly.
"Good."
Victor looked at me.
"You still don't understand."
"Then explain."
He looked at the flash drive.
"That drive doesn't contain evidence."
I frowned.
"What?"
"It contains names."
My heart started beating faster.
"Whose names?"
Victor didn't answer.
Evelyn did.
"Everyone involved."
I looked at the tiny device in my hand.
Brandon.
Victor.
Other people.
Maybe even people I knew.
"This is why Brandon tried to kill me."
Victor nodded.
"Yes."
"Because he thought I had it."
"Yes."
"But I didn't even know it existed."
Victor looked at me.
"Your father planned it that way."
I felt confused.
"Why?"
"Because the moment you knew about it, you became a target."
I looked at the notebook.
The photographs.
The evidence my father left behind.
He had spent years protecting me.
And I never knew.
A loud sound interrupted us.
A car engine.
Outside.
Victor immediately moved toward the window.
His face changed.
"They're here."
Evelyn grabbed my arm.
"We need to leave."
"Who?"
She didn't answer.
That scared me.
Because Evelyn was afraid.
We moved through the back of the cabin.
Snow covered the ground outside.
The forest was dark.
The kind of darkness where anyone could be watching.
We had only walked a few steps when a flashlight appeared between the trees.
Someone was coming.
Victor pulled us behind an old storage building.
"Stay quiet."
I wanted to ask why I should trust him.
But I didn't have time.
Footsteps approached.
Slow.
Heavy.
A man stepped into view.
Brandon.
My heart stopped.
He wasn't alone.
Two other men stood behind him.
He looked toward the cabin.
Then toward the forest.
"Claire."
Hearing my name from his mouth made my skin crawl.
He wasn't shouting.
He sounded calm.
Almost gentle.
Like he was still my husband.
"I know you're here."
I covered my mouth.
Evelyn whispered:
"Don't move."
Brandon walked closer.
"You don't understand what you're holding."
I looked at the flash drive.
He knew.
"I don't want to hurt you."
The lie almost made me angry.
Because I remembered falling.
I remembered his face.
"You already did."
The words escaped before I could stop them.
Everyone froze.
Brandon slowly turned.
Our eyes met.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then his face changed.
Not guilt.
Not regret.
Relief.
Like he had finally found what he was looking for.
"Claire."
He smiled.
"You survived."
I stared at him.
"Disappointed?"
His smile disappeared.
"No."
He stepped closer.
"Actually, I'm impressed."
I hated how normal he sounded.
Like this was a conversation between strangers.
Not husband and wife.
"You killed my father."
His expression changed.
Small.
Almost invisible.
But I saw it.
"Who told you that?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
He looked toward Evelyn.
Then Victor.
Then back at me.
"Because you're starting to believe the wrong people."
I laughed.
"The man who pushed me off a mountain is telling me who to trust?"
Brandon looked down.
Then quietly said:
"You have no idea what your father really did."
I felt anger rising.
"Don't talk about him."
"He wasn't innocent."
I stepped forward.
"You don't get to say that."
Brandon's eyes became colder.
"Your father ruined lives."
"By exposing criminals?"
"No."
He shook his head.
"By hiding the truth."
The words confused me.
"What truth?"
Brandon looked at Victor.
Then Evelyn.
And finally me.
"The truth about the night your father died."
Nobody spoke.
Because suddenly everyone looked afraid.
Not of Brandon.
Of the answer.
"What happened that night?"
Brandon opened his mouth.
But before he could speak, a gunshot exploded through the forest.
Everyone dropped.
The sound echoed between the trees.
I fell to the ground.
Evelyn grabbed me.
Victor looked toward the cabin.
Someone was there.
Someone none of us expected.
A second shot fired.
Then silence.
When I looked up, Brandon wasn't looking at me anymore.
He was looking behind me.
His face had lost all color.
Because standing at the edge of the trees was a person carrying an old photograph of my father.
A person Brandon thought was dead.
May you like
And the person whispered...
"Brandon, you should have buried the truth with me."
