Chapter 9: Before Midnight
Kiara couldn't breathe.
Darnell stood against the concrete wall, staring at nothing.
“I don't remember carrying you,” he whispered.
Rochelle wiped her face.
“You were holding her.””
“Why?””
“Marcus asked you to.””
Darnell's head snapped up.
“What?””
“He asked you to protect her.””
Kiara stared at her mother.
“Protect me from what?””
Rochelle shook her head.
“I don't know.””
“You said Marcus was alive.””
“He was.””
“And Darnell took me.””
“Yes.””
“Where?””
“The nursery.””
Kiara looked at Darnell.
“You left me there?””
“I would never leave you.””
“You just said you don't remember.””
“I remember the hospital. I remember you crying. I remember your mother screaming.””
Rochelle whispered, “I wasn't screaming.””
Darnell looked at her.
“You were.””
“No.””
“You were.””
Rochelle shook her head.
“I was crying because Marcus told me someone was coming.””
Andre stepped closer.
“Who?””
Rochelle stared at him.
“I don't know.””
Kiara suddenly noticed something on the floor beneath the safe.
A small cassette recorder.
She picked it up.
“There’s a tape.””
Darnell looked at it.
“Marcus used those.””
Andre found a battery in the black box.
He inserted it.
The machine clicked.
Static filled the basement.
Then a man's voice emerged.
Marcus.
Kiara froze.
“Rochelle, if you're hearing this, something happened.””
Rochelle covered her mouth.
Marcus continued.
“I don't know who I can trust.””
The recording crackled.
“If the baby is mine, she deserves the truth.””
Kiara's eyes filled.
“If she's not mine, she deserves the truth anyway.””
Darnell looked at Rochelle.
Marcus's voice continued.
“I know you've been seeing Darnell.””
Rochelle closed her eyes.
“I know you told him you were pregnant.””
Darnell's face tightened.
“I also know the dates don't make sense.””
Kiara looked at her mother.
Marcus continued.
“That means one of us is wrong.””
Static.
Then his voice returned.
“But there's something worse.””
The recording paused.
A faint sound could be heard in the background.
A car door.
Marcus whispered:
“Someone is outside.””
Rochelle's face drained of color.
“Turn it off.””
Kiara shook her head.
“No.””
“Kiara, please.””
The recording continued.
Marcus was breathing hard.
“If anything happens to me, don't trust the person who tells you I died in an accident.””
Darnell went completely still.
Marcus continued.
“The person who opened the car door wasn't trying to kill me.””
A pause.
“They were trying to get something from me.””
Kiara whispered, “What?””
The tape answered.
“The paternity records.””
Rochelle began sobbing.
Marcus's voice became faint.
“I found out who changed them.””
The recording suddenly distorted.
Then one final sentence came through clearly.
“And Rochelle knows his name.””
The tape clicked off.
Nobody moved.
Kiara turned slowly toward her mother.
“You knew.””
Rochelle was shaking.
“I knew part of it.””
“His name.””
“I can't.””
“You have to.””
“I was afraid.””
“Of who?””
Rochelle looked at Darnell.
Darnell's expression changed.
“Rochelle.””
She whispered, “He threatened me.””
“Who?””
“He said if I ever told Kiara, he'd make sure she disappeared.””
Andre's eyes hardened.
“Who said that?””
Rochelle began to cry harder.
“I thought he was dead.””
Kiara stepped closer.
“Who?””
Rochelle looked directly at her.
“It wasn't Marcus.””
Darnell's voice was barely audible.
“Then who?””
Rochelle swallowed.
“The man who changed the paternity records.””
Kiara waited.
Rochelle finally said:
“Your grandfather.””
The words hit the room like an explosion.
Darnell stared at her.
“My father?””
Rochelle nodded.
“He knew Marcus was investigating the paternity.””
Kiara's face went pale.
“My grandfather knew who my father was?””
“Yes.””
“Then why hide it?””
Rochelle's eyes filled with terror.
“Because he wasn't trying to protect our family.””
She looked at the safe.
“He was protecting someone else.””
Andre stepped forward.
“Who?””
Rochelle shook her head.
“I never found out.””
Kiara grabbed her mother's shoulders.
“You're lying.””
“No.””
“You know.””
“I swear—”
A noise came from above them.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Everyone froze.
Another step.
Then another.
Someone was walking across the ground directly above the basement.
Darnell raised a finger to his lips.
The footsteps stopped.
A shadow passed across the narrow basement window.
Kiara held her breath.
Then the basement door handle moved.
Once.
Twice.
The lock clicked.
Darnell whispered, “Stay behind me.””
The door began to open.
And Rochelle suddenly whispered:
“No…”
Kiara looked at her.
May you like
Rochelle's eyes were fixed on the doorway.
“I know that face.””
