Chapter 3: The Voice on the Recording
My father's voice filled the living room.
“Just make sure she never reaches the police station.””
For a moment, I convinced myself I'd heard it wrong.
The recording crackled. Rain battered the microphone. Somewhere in the background, a horn blared.
Then Dad spoke again.
“Selena, do you understand me? If Claire talks, we're finished.””
My mother's name.
My mother's fear.
My father's voice.
Noah began sobbing on the stairs.
Maya wrapped both arms around him, but she was staring at Dad as though she no longer recognized the man standing in front of us.
“Turn it off,” Dad ordered.
Selena held the phone tighter.
“Daniel, you need to tell them.””
“Give me the phone.””
“No.””
He crossed the room in three strides.
I stepped between them.
“Don't touch her.””
Dad stopped inches from me.
His face was red, and the veins along his neck stood out beneath his collar.
“Move.””
“No.””
“I'm your father.””
“And Mom was your wife.””
For the first time that evening, he looked genuinely stunned.
I had never spoken to him that way.
Not when he grounded me for missing curfew.
Not when he refused to let me study out of state because he said the family needed me.
Not even when he told me I had to be strong at Mom's funeral because Maya and Noah were watching.
But something inside me had finally broken.
Dad lowered his voice.
“You have no idea what you're talking about.””
“Then explain it.””
He looked at Selena.
“Tell him the recording is incomplete.””
She swallowed.
“It is incomplete.””
“Tell him it's been edited.””
“I didn't edit it.””
“Then tell him what happened!””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I wasn't driving the SUV that night.””
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
“Then who was?””
Selena pressed a shaking hand to her mouth.
Dad answered before she could.
“No one here is going to discuss this without a lawyer.””
Maya came down the stairs, leaving Noah in the hallway.
“A lawyer?”” she repeated.
“Why would we need a lawyer if you didn't do anything?””
Dad pointed toward her.
“You're a child. You don't understand adult problems.””
“I'm seventeen, not stupid.””
“Then stop behaving like it.””
Maya flinched, but she didn't retreat.
“Mom used to say that people get angry when they're afraid of the truth.””
Dad's face darkened.
“Your mother said a lot of things.””
“And you spent the last month telling us she was a wonderful woman,” Maya replied.
“You cried at her funeral. You held my hand. You told Noah that she loved us more than anything in the world.””
Her voice broke.
“Was any of that real?””
Dad opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
The silence hurt more than an answer would have.
I turned back to Selena.
“Tell us what happened.””
She looked at the phone.
Then she looked at the front door.
I realized she was considering running.
“Selena,” I said, “if you leave without telling us, I'll give the police your name and this recording.””
Dad gave a humorless laugh.
“You think you can threaten people now?””
“I think Mom is dead, and you know why.””
He lunged toward me.
I barely had time to raise my arms before his hands caught my shoulders.
“Listen to me carefully,” he said through clenched teeth.
“You will not destroy this family because of some misunderstood conversation.””
I stared at him.
“You're hurting me.””
He tightened his grip.
“Then stop making me do things I don't want to do.””
The words struck me like a slap.
Maya screamed.
“Let him go!””
Dad released me.
I stumbled backward into the coffee table. The police report slid to the floor.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Selena whispered, “This is exactly what happened before.””
Dad turned toward her.
“Be quiet.””
“You told Claire she was imagining things. You told her she was making trouble. You told her nobody would believe her.””
My hands went cold.
“What things?”” I asked.
Selena wiped her cheeks.
“Your mother discovered that your father had been transferring money from their joint account into a business account. She confronted him about it. He told her he was investing in property.””
Dad laughed sharply.
“She didn't understand the finances.””
“She understood enough to know you were lying,” Selena said.
Dad walked toward the fireplace.
“You don't know what you're talking about.””
“I helped you move the money, Daniel. Remember?””
I looked from one to the other.
“Move it where?””
Selena hesitated.
“Into an account controlled by a company called Monroe Holdings.””
Her last name.
The name on the accident report.
I crouched and picked up the papers.
“Why would Mom care about that?””
“Because she discovered the company was being used to hide money from creditors,” Selena replied.
“And because she found out that the house had been used as collateral without her knowledge.””
I looked at Dad.
The house.
Our house.
The one Mom had spent fifteen years turning into a home.
“Is that true?””
He rubbed his forehead.
“It's complicated.””
“Is it true?””
“Yes,” he snapped.
“But I was going to fix it.””
“With what money?””
He didn't answer.
Selena stepped closer to me.
“Claire found the bank statements three days before the accident. She told Daniel she was taking them to the police. She also told him she was going to speak to a lawyer about the house.””
Dad's expression turned vicious.
“You promised you wouldn't tell them.””
“I promised you I wouldn't tell them if you stopped lying.””
“I never lied.””
“You told Claire that I was handling the business accounts. You told her I'd stolen the money. You let her believe I was responsible for everything.””
Selena's voice trembled.
“You used me as your shield, Daniel. And when Claire discovered the truth, you called me that night and said we had a problem.””
I struggled to breathe.
“Did you cause the accident?””
Dad looked at me.
“No.””
The answer came too quickly.
“Did you tell Selena to hit Mom's car?””
“Absolutely not.””
“Then what happened?””
Selena closed her eyes.
“I was driving the SUV.””
Maya made a strangled sound.
Noah cried out from the hallway.
I felt as if the room had suddenly dropped several feet beneath me.
“You were driving?””
She nodded, tears slipping down her face.
“I was supposed to meet your father at a restaurant that evening. He told me Claire was going to the police and that we needed to talk before she did anything. I was driving to meet him when your mother called.””
“What happened at the intersection?””
Selena shook her head.
“I don't remember everything clearly. It was raining. I was upset. I had been looking at my phone because Claire kept calling.””
“You ran the red light.””
“I don't know.””
“You don't know?””
“I remember the impact. I remember the airbag. I remember getting out of the car and seeing your mother's vehicle against the barrier.””
Her voice collapsed.
“I remember hearing her calling for help.””
Maya slapped a hand over her mouth.
I gripped the report until the paper crumpled.
“You left her there?””
Selena sobbed.
“I panicked.””
“You left my mother dying in the rain!””
“I know!””
She dropped to her knees.
“I know what I did. I hear it every night. I see the car whenever I close my eyes.””
I wanted to hate her.
I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and force her to explain how a person could walk away from another human being trapped inside a wrecked car.
But my father was still standing beside the fireplace.
And something about his silence frightened me more than Selena's confession.
I turned toward him.
“What did you do?””
He shook his head.
“Nothing.””
“Selena said you knew.””
“I didn't know she'd hit your mother.””
“Then why did you tell her to make sure Mom never reached the police station?””
His eyes flickered toward the phone.
“Because I knew Claire was going to expose the business. I was angry. I said something stupid.””
“Something stupid?””
He spread his hands.
“You don't understand the pressure I was under.””
I stared at him.
“Mom was under pressure, too. She was trying to save our house. She was trying to protect us.””
“And I was trying to protect this family!””
“By letting Selena leave Mom to die?””
Dad's mouth tightened.
“I didn't know she was going to leave.””
Selena looked up at him.
“You called me afterward.””
He went still.
“You told me to go home,” she continued.
“You said the police would find the car. You told me not to say anything until you'd spoken to your lawyer.””
“I was trying to keep you from making things worse.””
“You told me that if I confessed, we'd both go to prison.””
Dad's voice dropped.
“Because you were driving.””
“And you were the reason I was there!””
The two of them stared at each other.
Then Selena reached into her handbag again.
This time, she removed a small black flash drive.
Dad's expression changed instantly.
“Where did you get that?””
She held it up.
“Claire gave it to me.””
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“When?””
“The afternoon before she died.””
Dad took one step toward her.
“Give it to me.””
“No.””
“Selena, don't be stupid.””
She stood, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand.
“Your wife knew what you were doing. She knew about the money, the house, and the company. She had copies of everything.””
She turned to me.
“Before the accident, Claire told me she had made a backup of the files. She said if anything happened to her, I should give them to the police.””
I could barely speak.
“Why didn't you?””
“Because Daniel told me the police would arrest me. He said I'd lose everything. He said I would never see my daughter again.””
Her daughter.
I had never heard Selena mention a child.
Dad looked away.
I caught it.
“You have a daughter?””
Selena nodded.
“She's twelve.””
“And you stayed silent because you were afraid of losing her?””
She looked at me with red, swollen eyes.
“Yes.””
For the first time, I understood that fear could make someone do terrible things.
But it didn't make those things forgivable.
I reached for the flash drive.
Selena placed it in my palm.
“Your mother wanted you to have the truth,” she whispered.
Dad suddenly moved.
He snatched the flash drive from my hand and threw it into the fireplace.
The plastic struck the burning logs.
Maya screamed.
I lunged forward, but Dad shoved me aside.
“It's over!”” he shouted.
“Do you hear me? It's over!””
I stared at the flames.
The drive began to melt.
For a second, I thought everything Mom had tried to protect us with was gone.
Then Selena reached into her handbag and pulled out a second flash drive.
Dad froze.
She held it between two fingers.
“You should have checked whether I made a copy.””
He stared at her, his face drained of color.
I took the drive from her.
“What is on this one?””
Selena looked at Dad.
“Everything Claire found. The bank transfers. The property documents. The emails.””
“And the accident?””
She hesitated.
“There's something else.””
Dad shook his head violently.
“Don't.””
Selena's voice dropped to a whisper.
“Your mother recorded a conversation with your father the night before she died.””
I felt Noah move behind me.
Maya gripped my arm.
I looked down at the flash drive, then at the man who had raised us.
“What's on the recording?””
Selena swallowed hard.
“Your father tells Claire exactly what he plans to do if she goes to the police.””
Dad's face crumpled.
For the first time in my life, I watched him look truly afraid.
Then Selena added one final sentence.
“And Ethan, there's something in that recording about the accident itself that neither your father nor I ever expected you to hear.””
I turned toward Dad.
He didn't deny it.
May you like
He only whispered, “Please don't play it.””
And that was when I knew the worst secret hadn't been revealed yet.
