Chapter 3 - THE RECORDING
Doctors rushed Emma into the maternity emergency unit.
A nurse cut away the damaged fabric of her dress.
Another attached monitors to her abdomen.
The steady rhythm of her daughter’s heartbeat filled the room.
Emma clung to that sound.
“Is she safe?” Emma asked.
Dr. Patel examined the monitor.
“The heartbeat is strong, but you are having contractions.”
“I’m only thirty-two weeks.”
“We’re giving you medication to stop them.”
Ethan stood near the door with his hands clenched at his sides.
He looked like a man who had entered the wrong life and did not know how to leave it.
Emma watched him.
“Ask me what was on the drive.”
Ethan did not move.
“What was on it?”
“Bank records.”
“From where?”
“The Hawthorne Foundation’s private archive.”
“You searched my family’s files?”
“I found them while cataloging documents for the anniversary exhibit.”
“That archive is restricted.”
“Your mother gave me access because she thought I was harmless.”
Ethan flinched.
Emma continued.
“The records show that money was transferred into shell companies controlled by Vanessa.”
“My sister doesn’t control any companies.”
“She controls five.”
“That still doesn’t prove your father was innocent.”
“The transfers began three months before he was accused.”
Ethan looked away.
Emma reached toward the chain around her neck.
A tiny silver pendant hung beneath her collarbone.
She opened it.
Inside was a digital voice recorder no larger than a fingernail.
“I recorded the argument.”
Ethan’s head snapped toward her.
Emma pressed the playback button.
Vanessa’s voice filled the hospital room.
Give it to me.
You have no idea what you’re holding.
Then Emma’s recorded voice answered.
My father died with everyone believing he was a thief.
Vanessa responded.
He was a thief.
The audio continued.
I already called Detective Ruiz.
There was a sharp rustle.
Then came the sound of Emma striking the first marble step.
Ethan’s breathing changed.
He stared at the recorder.
“She pushed you.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about the investigation?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“You asked whether I trusted my mother.”
“And you told me never to question her again.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
The door opened.
Detective Ruiz stepped inside.
“We searched Vanessa’s bedroom and the family offices,” she said.
“We recovered several ledgers, but the most important files are missing.”
“The flash drive?” Emma asked.
Ruiz shook her head.
“Maria disappeared before we could question her again.”
Ethan looked confused.
“The maid?”
Ruiz placed a clear evidence bag on the table.
Inside was a small piece of green silk.
“We found this clenched in Emma’s hand.”
It matched Vanessa’s dress.
Before Ethan could respond, his phone rang.
The caller was his mother.
May you like
When he answered, Eleanor spoke only six words.
“Come home before Emma destroys us.”
