CHAPTER 9 — THE NIGHT OF THE RECORDING
CHAPTER 9 — THE NIGHT OF THE RECORDING
The clock began counting down.
10:00.
9:59.
9:58.
Rebecca stood in the center of the living room, staring at the black television screen.
Ethan was beside her.
Chloe stood several feet away.
Neither of them spoke.
Michael's face was still burned into Rebecca's mind.
Blood.
Fear.
A chair.
And Arthur Vale's final words.
Trust no one.
The clock continued.
9:41.
Rebecca finally moved.
“Where is the security panel?”
Ethan pointed toward the hallway.
“Behind the staircase.”
She ran.
Chloe followed.
“Rebecca!”
Rebecca turned.
“What?”
Chloe held up her phone.
“There was another message.”
“Read it.”
Chloe swallowed.
“It says, ‘The recording is in the house.’”
Rebecca froze.
“What recording?”
Chloe looked at Ethan.
“I don't know.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Maybe that's what Daniel wants us to find.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel didn't mention a recording.”
She looked at the clock.
8:57.
“He wants us to think we're solving his puzzle.”
Ethan frowned.
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
Rebecca looked toward the old staircase.
“Find the recording before he does.”
The house had belonged to Rebecca's family long before Daniel entered her life.
Her father had built it as a retreat.
A place where nobody outside the family could enter.
There were hidden rooms.
Old safes.
False walls.
Secret passages Rebecca hadn't thought about since childhood.
She ran her fingers along the wooden panel beneath the staircase.
Nothing.
Ethan searched beside her.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“There.”
He pointed at a small scratch.
Rebecca leaned closer.
Three numbers had been carved into the wood.
0914.
Her heart dropped.
September 14.
Again.
She pressed the numbers.
A section of the wall clicked.
Then opened.
Behind it was a narrow compartment.
Inside was a tape recorder.
An old one.
Dust covered its surface.
Rebecca stared.
“This is it.”
Ethan picked it up.
“There's a tape.”
Rebecca saw the label.
Her father's handwriting.
THE NIGHT OF THE RECORDING.
She reached for it.
Then stopped.
“What?”
Ethan asked.
Rebecca stared at the label.
“My father recorded something.”
“Then play it.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted someone to hear it.”
Ethan frowned.
“Isn't that the point?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“Not if the person hearing it isn't supposed to hear it yet.”
The clock beeped.
7:32.
Chloe looked toward the television.
“We're wasting time.”
Rebecca inserted the tape.
The recorder clicked.
Static filled the room.
Then a man's voice.
Rebecca's father.
“September 14, 2003.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
The recording continued.
“If you're hearing this, then the first part of the plan has failed.”
Ethan looked at his mother.
Rebecca whispered:
“Keep listening.”
Her father's voice continued.
“Eleanor believes we have been compromised.”
A pause.
“She is right.”
Rebecca's breathing slowed.
“Arthur has discovered the accounts.”
Chloe frowned.
“What accounts?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I don't know.”
The recording continued.
“Daniel is becoming impatient.”
Ethan froze.
Rebecca looked at him.
Daniel's name.
On a recording made before Ethan was even born.
“He believes Rebecca will eventually open the trust.”
Static.
Then:
“But he is wrong.”
The tape clicked.
A second voice appeared.
A woman's voice.
Eleanor.
Rebecca's mother.
“William, we can't keep doing this.”
Rebecca's heart stopped.
Her mother's voice sounded younger.
Terrified.
“We promised her.”
“I know.”
“She deserves to know.”
“She will.”
“When?”
“When it's safe.”
Eleanor's voice cracked.
“It will never be safe.”
Silence.
Then her father said:
“Then we'll make it safe.”
Rebecca covered her mouth.
Ethan stared at the recorder.
His grandmother was alive when this was recorded.
His grandfather knew.
And both had been planning something.
Then another voice entered the recording.
A man.
Daniel.
“You're wasting your time.”
Rebecca froze.
Ethan's face changed.
Daniel was there.
On the night of the recording.
The recording continued.
Daniel sounded younger.
But his voice was unmistakable.
“I know what you're doing.”
William answered:
“Then you know what happens if you interfere.”
Daniel laughed.
“You think you can threaten me?”
“No.”
William's voice became cold.
“I think I can warn you.”
A chair scraped.
Then Eleanor spoke.
“Daniel, please.”
Daniel replied:
“You promised me access.”
“I promised nothing.”
“You promised the trust.”
William interrupted.
“The trust belongs to Rebecca.”
Daniel laughed.
“Not for long.”
Silence.
Rebecca's hand tightened around the recorder.
Then Daniel said something that made her blood run cold.
“I know about the child.”
Ethan looked at Rebecca.
“What child?”
Rebecca couldn't answer.
The recording continued.
Eleanor's voice became frantic.
“You don't know anything.”
“I know enough.”
Daniel's voice was calm.
“Arthur told me.”
Rebecca froze.
Arthur.
Again.
Daniel continued:
“He told me the child isn't mine.”
Ethan stared at his mother.
Rebecca couldn't breathe.
The recording went silent for several seconds.
Then William spoke.
“You will never tell Rebecca.”
Daniel answered:
“Then give me the trust.”
“No.”
“Then she learns the truth.”
Eleanor cried:
“Please.”
Daniel said:
“I'll give you twenty-three years.”
Rebecca's eyes widened.
“What?”
Ethan whispered:
“What does that mean?”
The recording continued.
Daniel:
“Twenty-three years.”
William:
“For what?”
Daniel:
“For me to play the husband.”
Silence.
Rebecca's entire body went cold.
She looked at Ethan.
The truth was worse than she had imagined.
Daniel hadn't simply married her for money.
He had negotiated her entire marriage.
The recording continued.
William said:
“You're a monster.”
Daniel laughed.
“No.”
His voice became quiet.
“I'm a man who understands what you are protecting.”
Then the recording stopped.
Rebecca stared at the machine.
“No.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Mom.”
She shook her head.
“That can't be the whole recording.”
Chloe pointed at the tape.
“There's more.”
She was right.
The recorder had not stopped.
The audio had simply changed.
Another conversation.
This one recorded later that night.
Rebecca's father's voice.
“Arthur, she's suspicious.”
Arthur replied:
“She should be.”
“Daniel knows about Ethan.”
“I know.”
“If he tells her—”
“He won't.”
“How can you be certain?”
Arthur answered:
“Because Daniel believes the boy is his.”
William said:
“He knows the truth.”
Arthur laughed softly.
“He knows what I allowed him to know.”
Rebecca's blood ran cold.
Allowed him?
Arthur continued:
“Daniel thinks Ethan is my son.”
William asked:
“He isn't?”
“No.”
Rebecca stopped breathing.
Ethan stared at her.
Arthur's voice continued.
“Blood isn't what matters.”
William sounded confused.
“Then who is the father?”
Silence.
A long silence.
Then Arthur said:
“That's the secret.”
The recording ended.
Rebecca stared at the machine.
Ethan's face was pale.
Chloe whispered:
“What does that mean?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I don't know.”
But deep down, she knew.
There was one person who could answer.
Her mother.
The clock showed:
5:48.
The television turned on by itself.
Daniel appeared.
He was sitting in a dark room.
His face looked exhausted.
“You found it.”
Rebecca stepped toward the screen.
“Where is Michael?”
“Alive.”
“Let me speak to him.”
“Later.”
“Now.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You always were impatient.”
Rebecca's eyes hardened.
“You've lied to me for twenty-three years.”
Daniel looked away.
“I know.”
“You made a deal with my father.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Ethan might not be yours.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother was alive.”
“Yes.”
Rebecca's voice broke.
“And you still married me.”
Daniel looked directly at her.
“I loved you.”
Rebecca laughed.
“No.”
“I did.”
“You loved the trust.”
“At first.”
“At first?”
Daniel nodded.
“Then things changed.”
Rebecca stared.
“When?”
“When Ethan was born.”
Silence.
Daniel's eyes filled with emotion.
“I held him.”
He swallowed.
“And I realized I didn't care whose blood he carried.”
Rebecca's expression softened for half a second.
Then she remembered everything.
“You still lied.”
“Yes.”
“You still cheated.”
“Yes.”
“You still tried to take everything from me.”
Daniel lowered his head.
“Yes.”
“Then don't tell me you loved me.”
Daniel looked up.
“I loved the woman you were before you learned the truth.”
Rebecca stared.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I knew if you ever understood who your father really was, you'd hate me.”
Rebecca froze.
“My father?”
Daniel nodded.
“He wasn't the man you think.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You don't.”
“Then tell me.”
Daniel looked at the clock.
“Five minutes.”
“Where is Michael?”
“I'll trade him.”
“For what?”
“The recording.”
Rebecca stared at him.
“You want the tape?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because that isn't the original.”
Rebecca's heart stopped.
“What?”
Daniel smiled bitterly.
“You found a copy.”
Rebecca looked at the recorder.
“How do you know?”
“Because I made the original.”
She froze.
Daniel continued:
“And the original contains the part your father never wanted you to hear.”
“What part?”
Daniel leaned toward the camera.
“The identity of Ethan's real father.”
Rebecca's breath caught.
“Tell me.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“You want Michael?”
“Yes.”
“Bring me the original tape.”
“Where?”
“Your father's study.”
Rebecca frowned.
“We're in the house.”
“I know.”
“There's no other tape.”
“There is.”
“How?”
Daniel smiled.
“Because your father hid it from everyone.”
The screen went black.
The clock showed:
4:11.
Rebecca ran to the study.
Ethan followed.
Chloe stayed behind.
Rebecca searched the desk.
Drawers.
Shelves.
Books.
Nothing.
Ethan looked around.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“What's this?”
He pointed to an old portrait of Rebecca's father.
Rebecca walked toward it.
The frame was slightly crooked.
She removed it.
Behind it was a small metal safe.
She tried the handle.
Locked.
Ethan looked at the numbers.
“Try September 14.”
Rebecca entered 0914.
Nothing.
“Try my birthday.”
Nothing.
“Grandpa's?”
Nothing.
Ethan stared at the safe.
“Maybe it's not a date.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“What else?”
Ethan pointed to the portrait.
“Look at his hand.”
Rebecca leaned closer.
Her father's painted hand was resting on a book.
The book's title:
THE REPUBLIC.
Rebecca pulled the same book from the shelf.
It opened immediately.
Inside was a key.
She inserted it into the safe.
The door opened.
Inside was another tape.
Older.
Larger.
And a photograph.
Rebecca picked up the photograph.
Her mother.
Her father.
Arthur.
Daniel.
And a fifth person.
Rebecca stared.
She knew him.
She had seen him before.
In the family photographs.
At her father's company.
At her wedding.
At Ethan's birth.
She whispered:
“Nathaniel.”
Ethan looked at the photograph.
“Who is he?”
Rebecca swallowed.
“I don't know.”
But she did.
Nathaniel Ross.
The man who had claimed to know everything.
The man who had approached Chloe.
The man who had said he created the plan.
Rebecca turned the photograph over.
There was a handwritten note.
The fifth man knows the truth.
Then another line.
But he is not the traitor.
Rebecca stared.
“Then who is?”
The tape recorder suddenly clicked.
The tape began playing by itself.
A man's voice filled the room.
Nathaniel.
“Rebecca.”
She froze.
“If you are hearing this, then you've found the second recording.”
Ethan stepped closer.
Nathaniel continued:
“Your father asked me to protect you.”
Rebecca's heart pounded.
“I failed.”
A pause.
“Not because I betrayed him.”
“Because I trusted the wrong person.”
Rebecca looked at Ethan.
Nathaniel continued:
“The person who betrayed your family was not Arthur.”
Static.
“Not Daniel.”
Rebecca's eyes widened.
“Not even your father.”
Ethan whispered:
“Then who?”
Nathaniel's voice answered:
“Eleanor.”
Rebecca froze.
“No.”
The recording continued.
“She betrayed them all.”
Rebecca stared at the recorder.
Her mother.
Her mother had betrayed them.
Nathaniel continued:
“She didn't disappear because she was being hunted.”
“She disappeared because she chose to leave.”
Rebecca's eyes filled with tears.
“She took the original trust documents.”
“She took the money.”
“And she took something else.”
A pause.
“Ethan.”
Rebecca stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
“She took the child.”
Ethan stepped backward.
“What?”
Rebecca turned toward him.
“No.”
Nathaniel's voice continued.
“But she did not take Ethan from you.”
“She took another child.”
Rebecca stared.
Another child?
Nathaniel continued:
“Because Ethan was never the only child.”
The recording stopped.
Silence.
Ethan looked at his mother.
“What does that mean?”
Rebecca couldn't speak.
Chloe entered the room.
“What happened?”
Rebecca slowly turned toward her.
“There's another child.”
Chloe stared.
“Whose?”
Rebecca looked at Ethan.
“I don't know.”
The clock beeped.
2:00.
Then the television turned on.
Daniel appeared again.
But this time, he wasn't alone.
Michael was beside him.
Bound.
And behind them stood a woman.
Older.
Silver hair.
Tired eyes.
Rebecca knew her immediately.
Her mother.
Eleanor.
Rebecca stepped toward the screen.
“Mom?”
Eleanor looked directly into the camera.
“Rebecca.”
Rebecca began crying.
“Where are you?”
Eleanor's face was full of sorrow.
“I am sorry.”
“For what?”
“For everything.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You left me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Ethan's father.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Then tell me.”
Eleanor opened her eyes.
“Not yet.”
Rebecca screamed:
“Twenty-three years!”
Eleanor flinched.
“You don't get to say not yet!”
The room went silent.
Rebecca's voice broke.
“You don't get to protect me anymore.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“I know.”
“Then tell me!”
Eleanor looked toward Michael.
Then toward Daniel.
Finally, she whispered:
“Daniel is not the person who betrayed you.”
Rebecca froze.
Eleanor continued:
“And neither am I.”
“Then who?”
Eleanor looked terrified.
“Your father.”
Rebecca stared.
“You said that before.”
“I was wrong.”
“What?”
Eleanor's voice shook.
“I lied about your father.”
Rebecca's heart stopped.
“Why?”
“Because if you knew the truth…”
Eleanor swallowed.
“…they would kill you.”
“Who?”
Eleanor looked directly at the camera.
Then whispered:
“The people who believe Ethan is the key.”
The screen went black.
The clock showed:
1:17.
Rebecca turned toward Ethan.
He was standing completely still.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No voice.
Only a recording.
His own grandmother.
“Ethan, if you hear this, do not trust your mother.”
The call ended.
Rebecca stared at her son.
Ethan stared back.
Chloe whispered:
“What do we do?”
Rebecca looked at the clock.
1:02.
Then at the old tape.
Then at the photograph.
Then at Ethan.
She finally understood.
The recording wasn't meant to reveal the truth.
It was meant to make them doubt each other.
And whoever had created the game knew exactly how to do it.
Rebecca took Ethan's hand.
“Whatever happens next…”
He looked at her.
“…we stay together.”
Ethan nodded.
Then the clock changed.
1:00.
The front door opened.
Footsteps echoed through the house.
Someone was coming.
Rebecca reached for the old photograph.
Ethan stepped in front of Chloe.
The footsteps stopped outside the study.
A man's voice came through the door.
Calm.
Familiar.
“Rebecca.”
She froze.
The door slowly opened.
Nathaniel Ross stood there.
His face was expressionless.
In his hand was a gun.
Rebecca stared at him.
“You.”
Nathaniel nodded.
“Yes.”
“Where is my mother?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Not far.”
Rebecca stepped forward.
“What do you want?”
Nathaniel looked at Ethan.
“I want him.”
Ethan stepped back.
Rebecca moved in front of him.
“No.”
Nathaniel sighed.
“I was hoping you wouldn't make this difficult.”
Rebecca stared at the gun.
Then at Nathaniel.
“You said you protected me.”
“I did.”
“You said you weren't the traitor.”
“I never said I wasn't working for one.”
Rebecca's blood went cold.
“Who?”
Nathaniel smiled.
Then looked directly at Ethan.
“Your father.”
Ethan's face went pale.
Rebecca whispered:
“Arthur?”
Nathaniel shook his head.
“No.”
He smiled.
“The man you've been calling Dad.”
Rebecca froze.
Daniel.
Nathaniel continued:
“Daniel isn't Ethan's father.”
A pause.
“But he knows exactly who is.”
Then the lights went out.
May you like
A gunshot exploded through the darkness.
And someone screamed.
