Chapter 7: The Voice in the Dark
The silhouette stepped into the study.
For one impossible second, I believed my father had come back.
Then the emergency lights flickered on.
It wasn't him.
The man standing in the doorway was the family friend from the photograph.
The man Vanessa had named.
The man whose name was now attached to a breaking-news alert.
His suit was torn at the shoulder. Blood streaked one side of his forehead.
He looked directly at me.
“Maya,” he said, “you need to listen to me.””
Marcus stepped in front of me.
“You're supposed to be unconscious.””
The man smiled weakly.
“I was.””
Vanessa stared at him.
“You're alive.””
“Barely.””
Daniel moved toward him.
“You shouldn't be here.””
The man's expression changed.
“And you shouldn't have failed.””
Daniel stopped.
I looked between them.
“You two know each other.””
Neither answered.
Marcus raised his phone.
“Everyone stays where they are.””
The man looked at him.
“You're Marcus.””
Marcus frowned.
“How do you know my name?””
“I know a lot about you.””
“That's not an answer.””
“No,” the man said.
“It isn't.””
I stepped around Marcus.
“Did you kill my father?””
The man's face became still.
Vanessa whispered, “Maya, don't.””
I didn't look away from him.
“Did you?””
He lowered his eyes.
“No.””
The answer came too quickly.
Then he added, “But I know who did.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“You're still lying.””
The man looked at him.
“You're one to talk.””
Marcus moved toward the door.
“Everybody's going downstairs.””
“No,” the man said.
His voice was suddenly sharp.
“That's exactly where they want you.””
A loud crash came from the lower floor.
Everyone froze.
The man's eyes moved toward the hallway.
“They're already inside.””
Marcus turned to me.
“Stay here.””
“No.””
“Maya—”
“I need to know what happened to my father.””
The man looked at me.
“Then you need to see what he left behind.””
He reached inside his jacket.
Marcus immediately grabbed his wrist.
“Slowly.””
The man pulled out a small brass key.
Nothing more.
He placed it on the desk.
“This belonged to your father.””
I stared at it.
A tiny black number was engraved on the metal.
*27.*
“What does it open?””
“A safe.””
“Where?””
The man looked at Daniel.
“Ask him.””
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
The man smiled.
“Tell her.””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“There was a private vault.””
My heart pounded.
“Where?””
“Under the house.””
I looked at the floor.
“The basement?””
“Not exactly.””
The man pointed toward the wall behind my father's desk.
“There's a concealed stairway.””
Marcus ran his hand along the wood paneling.
“Here?””
“Yes.””
Daniel suddenly moved.
“Don't open it.””
Marcus turned.
“Why?””
“Because there's nothing down there.””
The man laughed.
“You're still using the same lie.””
Vanessa looked at Daniel.
“You told me there was nothing.””
Daniel said nothing.
I stared at him.
“You knew about the vault.””
“I knew your father had one.””
“And you never told me?””
“You were never supposed to know.””
The words hung in the air.
Then the house lights flickered again.
A woman's scream came from downstairs.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Marcus reached for his phone.
“No signal.””
The man looked at me.
“That's why they're here.””
“Who?””
“People cleaning up the evidence.””
I looked at the key.
“What evidence?””
He hesitated.
“Your father's final recording.””
Daniel's face changed.
“You said it was destroyed.””
“It was.””
“Then how—”
The man cut him off.
“Your father made a second copy.””
I felt my pulse in my throat.
“Where?””
He pointed to the key.
“Inside the vault.””
A heavy sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Three people.
Maybe four.
Approaching the study.
Marcus grabbed the brass key.
“Move.””
We rushed toward the wall.
Marcus pushed the panel.
Nothing.
He tried again.
Daniel whispered, “Left side.””
Marcus pressed a hidden latch.
The panel opened.
Behind it was a narrow staircase descending into darkness.
Vanessa stared at it.
“You knew this was here?””
Daniel nodded.
“Everyone who mattered knew.””
I looked at him.
“Except me.””
“Yes.””
The footsteps reached the top of the stairs.
Marcus pushed me through the opening.
“Go.””
We descended.
The man followed.
Then Vanessa.
Daniel came last.
Before the panel closed, I looked back.
A shadow crossed the study doorway.
Someone had entered.
A man's voice called out.
“Maya!””
It sounded exactly like my father.
But this time, I knew it wasn't him.
The hidden door slammed shut.
Marcus whispered, “Keep moving.””
We reached the bottom.
A steel door waited ahead.
Number 27 was engraved above the lock.
I inserted the key.
It turned.
The door opened.
Inside sat a single black metal box.
And on top of it was a photograph.
I picked it up.
My father was standing beside the family friend.
Beside Daniel.
Beside Vanessa.
And beside one other person.
My breath caught.
The fourth person was someone I had never expected to see.
May you like
My mother.
Alive.
