Chapter 10 - The Voice Ethan Remembered
Victor replayed the recording.
Ethan listened with his eyes closed.
“That one,” he said when the man spoke. “He told me not to open the red door.”
Victor lowered the volume.
“Did you see his face?”
“He wore Daddy’s black mask.”
Victor looked at Lily.
During the Hale Foundation winter gala, the men wore black masks during the charity performance. Dozens were stored in the costume room.
“What else did he say?” Lily asked.
Ethan thought carefully.
“He said Serena was making a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“He said she was supposed to scare me, not let Daddy see.”
Victor stood.
The person in the nursery was not helping Serena escape. He was correcting her.
Serena had been a tool.
Conrad might have been another.
Victor opened the door and called for Marcus.
The former security chief entered under police supervision.
“Listen to this voice.”
Victor played the audio.
Marcus’s face remained still, but his eyes changed.
“You recognize it,” Victor said.
“I’m not certain.”
“Who is it?”
Marcus looked toward the detective.
“I need protection for my daughter.”
Victor stepped closer.
“You helped put my son in danger.”
“I know.”
“Then begin repairing it.”
Marcus swallowed.
“Two months ago, Conrad brought a man to the security room after midnight. He wore a mask and never faced the cameras.”
“Did he speak?”
“Yes.”
“The same voice?”
Marcus listened again.
“It could be.”
“What did he want?”
“Access to the old tunnel and nursery.”
“Why?”
“He said the family was preparing a test.”
“What test?”
Marcus looked at Ethan.
“To see whether Serena could complete the transfer without Victor discovering it.”
Victor felt cold.
His son’s fear had been a test to them.
A rehearsal.
“Where did you meet this man?”
“Foundation headquarters. Private elevator. Floor thirty-one.”
“There is no floor thirty-one.”
Marcus nodded. “Not on the public plans.”
Victor’s phone rang.
His independent attorney, Elena Ward, spoke rapidly.
“I reviewed the trust amendment. Celeste’s restriction is valid, but Serena’s petition triggered an automatic hearing at eleven tomorrow. Until then, the court may authorize temporary transfer if the submitted evidence appears credible.”
“Can we stop it?”
“We need the original recording or proof that Serena planned the incident.”
“The phone was stolen.”
“Was Lily’s recording uploaded anywhere?”
Lily shook her head.
Then she remembered.
“The housekeeper application.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Celeste installed an emergency backup system years ago. If a staff phone records for more than three minutes inside the mansion, the file uploads to the domestic safety server.”
Marcus moved to the computer.
“That server was deactivated after Celeste died.”
“I never deleted the application,” Lily said.
“Where is the server?”
Marcus looked at the ceiling.
“Inside the old clock tower.”
The mansion’s clock tower had been sealed after lightning damaged the upper mechanism.
Victor, Lily and Marcus climbed the narrow stairs while the detective remained with Ethan.
At the top, they found the server cabinet.
The lock had been forced.
Cables hung loose.
Someone had reached it before them.
Lily searched beneath the fallen equipment.
A small storage drive remained connected to an emergency battery.
Marcus opened the files.
One upload had been completed that morning.
LILY BENNETT AUDIO.
Victor played it.
Serena’s voice spoke clearly.
“Victor’s child must disappear before the trust activates.”
Conrad responded.
“Northbridge will keep him under the false name until the board vote is complete.”
Serena asked, “And afterward?”
“That depends on whether Victor obeys.”
There was a third voice in the room.
The same distorted voice from Celeste’s final recording.
“You will release the boy only when I control the foundation.”
Victor looked at Marcus.
“Can you identify the source device?”
Marcus examined the file data.
“The third voice wasn’t in the salon.”
“What do you mean?”
“It came through Serena’s earpiece.”
Victor remembered the small diamond Serena always wore in her right ear.
Someone had been directing her remotely.
The audio continued.
Serena said, “You promised Ethan would not be harmed.”
The man answered.
“I promised nothing.”
Then, just before the file ended, a notification sounded from the man’s device.
A computer voice announced an appointment.
Board briefing with Chairman Hale in ten minutes.
Victor stopped the recording.
There was only one man currently addressed as Chairman Hale.
Victor himself.
May you like
But he had not attended any board briefing that morning.
Someone else had been using his name.
