Chapter 3: The Voice That Wasn't Supposed to Exist
"Turn it off.""
Daniel barely recognized his own voice.
The recording continued.
On the projector, a man wearing Daniel's black winter coat stood beside a parked car. The camera angle was poor, but the man's face turned toward the lens for a fraction of a second.
It looked exactly like Daniel.
Same broad shoulders. Same close-cropped hair. Same small scar above the left eyebrow from a childhood bicycle accident.
Then the recorded voice spoke again.
"Nobody can know she was here.""
Daniel stumbled away from the screen.
"That's not me.""
Marcus moved beside him.
"Dan, take a breath.""
"That's not me!"" Daniel shouted, turning toward the guests.
"I have never said those words in my life!""
Vanessa stood near the altar, both hands pressed against her stomach. Her wedding dress seemed to swallow her as she stared at the recording.
Evelyn pushed through the front row.
"Who made this?"" she demanded.
"Who brought this into the chapel?""
Nobody answered.
The man on the screen opened the driver's door and leaned inside. His face disappeared behind the roof of the vehicle.
The audio crackled.
Then another voice emerged.
A woman's voice.
Camille's voice.
"Daniel, please. You promised me.""
Daniel's knees nearly gave way.
He grabbed the back of a chair.
"No.""
The woman on the recording sounded frightened, but she was unmistakably Camille. Daniel knew the little catch in her breathing when she was trying not to cry. He knew the softness of her voice when she called his name.
He had listened to hundreds of old recordings since she disappeared.
He had kept the last voicemail she left him on his phone.
He knew her voice better than his own.
And now it was coming from the chapel speakers.
"Please," the recorded Camille repeated.
"Think about Lily.""
The man in Daniel's coat said something too quiet to hear.
Camille answered.
"Then tell her the truth.""
The video abruptly cut to a blank frame.
A collective gasp swept through the chapel.
Daniel stared at the screen.
"What truth?""
The recording did not answer.
He turned toward Vanessa.
"You knew about this.""
She shook her head.
"I never saw that file.""
"Stop lying!""
"I'm not lying!""
"Your face was on the other video. You had her bracelet. You told me Camille called you that night. How could you know all of that and not know about this?""
Vanessa's mouth trembled.
"Because I wasn't the person who made the recording.""
"Who was?""
"I don't know.""
Daniel laughed once, a hollow, disbelieving sound.
"You expect me to believe that?""
"No," she whispered.
"I expect you to hate me.""
She reached into the folds of her gown and pulled out a small silver object.
A key.
She held it between her fingers.
"I came here today because I thought I could finally put this behind me.""
Daniel stared at the key.
"What does it open?""
Vanessa looked at Lily.
Then at Evelyn.
Then back at Daniel.
"Something Camille left behind.""
Daniel's pulse thundered.
"Where?""
Vanessa closed her fist around the key.
"I can't tell you unless you promise me something.""
He stepped toward her.
"You are in no position to make demands.""
"Then you will never find out what happened to your wife.""
Daniel stopped.
Vanessa's eyes filled again, but her voice had steadied.
"Camille left instructions. I followed them for two years. I waited because I was told that if I spoke too soon, Lily would be in danger.""
Lily clutched the side of Daniel's jacket.
"I'm right here," she whispered.
Vanessa looked at the little girl.
"I know, sweetheart.""
"Don't call me that.""
Vanessa's face crumpled.
Daniel moved Lily behind him.
"Whatever you know, you tell me now.""
Vanessa shook her head.
"Not in front of everyone.""
"You brought me to the altar in front of everyone. You let my daughter find those videos. You let me believe you were the person who could help me start over.""
"I was trying to help you.""
"By hiding my wife's bracelet?""
"By keeping you alive!""
The words exploded across the chapel.
Vanessa immediately covered her mouth.
Daniel stared at her.
"Alive from what?""
She looked toward the guests, then toward the double doors at the back of the chapel.
"I shouldn't have said that.""
Marcus stepped into the aisle and blocked her path.
"No," he said.
"You're not walking out of here until somebody explains what we've just watched.""
Vanessa looked at him with open hostility.
"Move.""
"Not until you answer him.""
"You have no idea what you're involved in.""
Marcus didn't move.
"Then educate me.""
For the first time, Vanessa seemed to consider that she might not be able to control the room.
She looked down at the key again.
"Camille gave this to me three days before she disappeared," she said.
"She told me to keep it somewhere safe. She said someone would come looking for it.""
Daniel's throat tightened.
"Why didn't she give it to me?""
Vanessa looked directly at him.
"Because she was afraid you would take it from her.""
He recoiled as though she'd slapped him.
"That's insane.""
"She said you weren't the man she thought you were.""
Daniel shook his head.
"Camille and I were happy.""
"Were you?""
The question landed with brutal precision.
Daniel opened his mouth.
He remembered their last months together: Camille growing quiet at dinner, the late-night phone calls she took in the laundry room, the way she sometimes looked at him as though she were trying to decide whether to say something.
He had assumed she was exhausted.
She had been working longer hours at the medical billing company where she'd been employed for six years. She said her supervisor was difficult. She said there were problems with a project.
When Daniel offered to help, she kissed his cheek and told him not to worry.
Then she disappeared.
"What did she think I had done?"" he asked.
Vanessa's shoulders shook.
"I don't know everything.""
"Tell me what you do know.""
She looked at Lily again.
"Your wife discovered something about a person close to your family. She believed that person was stealing money, and she found proof. She told me that if anything happened to her, I had to make sure the proof reached you.""
Daniel felt cold despite the bright daylight filling the chapel.
"Who was stealing money?""
Vanessa didn't answer.
"Who?""
Her eyes shifted toward the front row.
Toward Evelyn.
Daniel followed her gaze.
His mother stood perfectly still, one hand gripping the back of a chair. The other hand had disappeared inside her pale blue handbag.
"Mom?"" Daniel asked.
Evelyn's face drained of color.
"Don't look at me like that.""
"Vanessa was looking at you.""
"She's trying to save herself.""
"Is she?""
Evelyn straightened.
"Your wife was troubled, Daniel. You know that. She was always suspicious of people. She thought everyone was hiding something.""
Daniel stared at her.
"Camille was never suspicious of you.""
"She should have been.""
The words came out so quietly that, for a second, Daniel wondered whether he'd heard them correctly.
Evelyn's lips pressed together.
Marcus took a step toward her.
"What did you just say?""
"Nothing.""
"You said she should have been suspicious of you.""
"I said nothing of the sort.""
Daniel looked from his mother to Vanessa.
Two women who had stood beside him during the worst two years of his life.
Two women who had comforted him while he searched for Camille.
Two women who now looked as though they were waiting for him to make the wrong move.
Lily tugged at his sleeve.
"Daddy?""
He crouched beside her.
"What is it, sweetheart?""
She reached into the little white purse hanging from her wrist and removed a folded piece of paper.
"I found this inside the pocket of Vanessa's coat yesterday.""
Vanessa's eyes widened.
"Lily, where did you get that?""
Lily held the paper tightly.
"You said it was trash.""
Daniel unfolded it.
The paper contained a handwritten message in blue ink.
He recognized the handwriting immediately.
Camille's looping capital letters. The way she crossed her sevens. The tiny heart she sometimes drew beside his name.
There were only two sentences.
Daniel, if you're reading this, it means Vanessa kept her promise.
But if your mother is standing beside you, don't trust a word she says.
Daniel slowly raised his head.
Evelyn was no longer looking at him.
She was staring at the chapel doors.
May you like
And when the handle began to turn, Vanessa whispered a name that made Lily scream.
"Camille.""
