Chapter 9 — The Voice on the Phone
Chapter 9 — The Voice on the Phone
The footsteps continued down the hidden staircase.
Slow.
Unhurried.
Confident.
Mark held the ledger against his chest.
Sarah stood beside him, her eyes fixed on the doorway.
Margaret remained behind them.
Then Victoria appeared.
She wasn't alone.
Two men stood behind her.
One carried a flashlight.
The other held a handgun.
Victoria looked at the three of them and smiled.
“I knew you'd find it.”
Mark tightened his grip.
“You followed us.”
“Of course.”
“You knew where the house was?”
“I've known about this house longer than you have.”
Mark glanced at the ledger.
“Then why didn't you take it?”
Victoria's smile widened.
“Because I wanted you to find it.”
Sarah stepped forward.
“You're lying.”
Victoria looked at her.
“You always were impatient, Sarah.”
“You tried to kill me.”
“No.”
Victoria's expression became strangely calm.
“I tried to make you disappear.”
“You kidnapped me.”
“I protected you.”
Sarah laughed bitterly.
“From what?”
Victoria looked at Mark.
“From the truth.”
The Phone Call
Mark's phone suddenly rang.
Everyone froze.
Unknown number.
Victoria's smile disappeared.
“Don't answer that.”
Mark looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because you won't like who is calling.”
The phone continued ringing.
Sarah whispered:
“Answer it.”
Mark did.
“Hello?”
For several seconds, there was only static.
Then a man's voice.
Old.
Calm.
Familiar.
“Mark.”
Mark's blood ran cold.
He knew that voice.
He had heard it in his childhood.
In his father's study.
At family dinners.
In the recordings.
“Dad?”
Nobody moved.
The voice on the phone laughed softly.
“I knew you would recognize me.”
Mark couldn't breathe.
“But you're dead.”
“I've been dead for fifteen years.”
“Then who are you?”
A pause.
“Your father.”
Margaret covered her mouth.
Sarah stared at the phone.
Victoria whispered:
“Hang up.”
Mark ignored her.
“Where are you?”
“I don't have much time.”
“Where are you?”
“Listen to me carefully.”
Mark gripped the phone.
“What?”
“Do not trust Margaret.”
Mark looked at his mother.
Her face collapsed.
The voice continued.
“She lied to you.”
Mark shook his head.
“About what?”
“She didn't save me.”
Silence.
“She betrayed me.”
Margaret's Confession
Mark looked at his mother.
“Is that true?”
Margaret couldn't answer.
“Mom.”
She finally whispered:
“Yes.”
Mark's heart sank.
Victoria watched with satisfaction.
Mark turned toward her.
“Then tell me what happened.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“Your father discovered the Circle was planning to take control of the trust.”
“We know.”
“He wanted to expose them.”
“We know.”
“I tried to stop him.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew what they would do to you.”
Mark's voice became angry.
“You said you wanted to protect me.”
“I did.”
“By betraying Dad?”
“I thought I could negotiate.”
“With them?”
“Yes.”
Margaret began crying.
“They promised they wouldn't hurt him.”
Mark stared at her.
“And you believed them?”
“I was desperate.”
“What did you give them?”
Margaret looked down.
“The ledger.”
Sarah gasped.
“You gave them the ledger?”
“Only copies.”
Mark stepped backward.
“Where is the original?”
Margaret didn't answer.
Victoria smiled.
“Ask her.”
The Second Voice
The phone crackled.
Mark lifted it again.
“Dad?”
Nothing.
Then the voice returned.
“Your mother is telling you only half the story.”
Mark's eyes narrowed.
“Then tell me the rest.”
“I didn't disappear because of the Circle.”
“Why?”
“Because I discovered who controlled it.”
“Who?”
The line went silent.
Mark waited.
Then his father's voice said:
“Someone inside our family.”
Mark looked at Thomas's photograph in his mind.
“Thomas?”
“No.”
“Victoria?”
“No.”
“Margaret?”
A long pause.
“No.”
“Then who?”
The answer never came.
The call ended.
Mark stared at the phone.
Victoria slowly approached.
“You see why I told you not to answer?”
Mark looked at her.
“You knew who was calling.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because I've been receiving the same calls.”
Mark's expression changed.
“For how long?”
“Years.”
“From my father?”
Victoria nodded.
“But that doesn't make sense.”
“It doesn't have to.”
She glanced at the ledger.
“You still don't understand what the voice wants.”
“What?”
“It wants you to destroy everyone who ever loved you.”
Mark stared at her.
“And you?”
Victoria smiled sadly.
“I was never one of them.”
The Number
Sarah suddenly reached for Mark's phone.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“Show me the number.”
Mark handed it to her.
She stared.
Then her face changed.
“I know this number.”
“Whose?”
Sarah whispered:
“Arthur's.”
Mark frowned.
“Arthur is dead.”
“I know.”
Sarah looked at the screen.
“But this number was registered to him.”
Mark stared.
“How is that possible?”
Sarah shook her head.
“It isn't.”
Detective Harris called at that exact moment.
Mark answered.
“Mark, get out of the house.”
“We found the ledger.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“We traced your phone.”
Mark froze.
“You've been tracking me?”
“It's the only reason you're alive.”
Mark looked at Victoria.
Then at the men behind her.
Harris continued:
“There is a problem.”
“What?”
“The number that called you just now…”
Mark waited.
“…belongs to a phone that was activated three minutes ago.”
His blood ran cold.
“Where?”
Harris hesitated.
“Inside your house.”
The House
Mark's eyes widened.
“What?”
“The signal is coming from your mansion.”
“That can't be.”
“We're outside.”
Mark stared at the phone.
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
“Search the house.”
“We already did.”
“And?”
“It's empty.”
Mark looked at Victoria.
She seemed genuinely confused.
Sarah whispered:
“Then someone is hiding.”
A sound came from the far side of the underground room.
A faint vibration.
Mark looked toward a wooden cabinet.
His phone vibrated again.
The same number.
Everyone froze.
Mark walked toward the cabinet.
Victoria whispered:
“Don't.”
He opened the drawer.
Inside was an old mobile phone.
It was ringing.
Mark picked it up.
The screen showed one message.
LOOK BEHIND YOU.
Mark turned.
The two armed men were gone.
Victoria was gone.
Only Sarah and Margaret remained.
Then the lights went out.
The Voice in the Darkness
A speaker clicked somewhere in the room.
A man's voice filled the darkness.
“Hello, Mark.”
Mark recognized it.
His father's voice.
But this time it wasn't coming through a phone.
It was coming from the walls.
Sarah whispered:
“It's a recording.”
The voice continued.
“You have the ledger.”
Mark shouted:
“Where is my father?”
Silence.
Then:
“Closer than you think.”
Mark's heart pounded.
“What does that mean?”
“You have spent fifteen years searching for a dead man.”
A pause.
“You never thought to search for the living.”
Mark looked at Sarah.
“What is he talking about?”
Sarah's expression changed.
“I don't know.”
The voice continued.
“Mark, there are three things you must understand.”
The lights flickered.
“First, the woman who raised you isn't your mother.”
Mark froze.
He looked at Margaret.
“What?”
Second:
“The man you called your father isn't the man who raised you.”
Mark felt dizzy.
“And third…”
The voice paused.
“The woman you married knows exactly who you are.”
Mark's blood went cold.
Victoria suddenly appeared at the doorway.
She was crying.
Not fake tears.
Real ones.
“Mark.”
He looked at her.
“What did he mean?”
Victoria shook her head.
“I didn't know.”
“You knew who I was?”
“No.”
“You said you didn't.”
“I didn't.”
“Then why are you crying?”
She stared at him.
“Because you're about to discover what your father did to you.”
The Child in the File
Sarah grabbed the ledger.
“There's something we haven't read.”
She flipped through the pages.
Near the back was a sealed envelope.
Mark recognized the handwriting.
His father's.
Sarah opened it.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Mark's name was printed on it.
But the mother's name wasn't Margaret.
It wasn't Victoria.
It wasn't anyone Mark recognized.
Sarah stared.
“Mark…”
“What?”
“This isn't your birth certificate.”
He took it.
His name was there.
But underneath it was another name.
Father: Richard Cole.
Mother: Unknown.
Mark looked at Margaret.
She was crying.
“Why is my mother's name missing?”
Margaret whispered:
“Because you weren't born in America.”
Mark froze.
“Where?”
“Switzerland.”
Sarah's face changed.
“That's where Victoria lived.”
Margaret nodded.
“She was there too.”
Mark stared at her.
“Why?”
Margaret didn't answer.
The speaker clicked again.
His father's voice returned.
“Because Mark wasn't supposed to be your son.”
Mark's heart stopped.
“What?”
“He was supposed to be someone else's.”
The Last Call
The old phone rang again.
Mark answered.
This time, nobody spoke.
He waited.
Then a woman's voice whispered:
“Mark.”
He knew it immediately.
Victoria.
But she was standing across the room.
He looked at her.
“Who is this?”
The voice on the phone laughed.
“Someone who knew you before your mother did.”
Mark stared at Victoria.
The woman continued:
“I know where Sarah was born.”
Sarah went pale.
“And I know where your father is.”
Mark's heart raced.
“Tell me.”
“You have the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Then bring it to the old train station.”
“When?”
“Midnight.”
“Who will be there?”
The woman answered:
“Your father.”
Mark's breath caught.
“Is he alive?”
A pause.
Then:
“Yes.”
The call ended.
Mark looked at Sarah.
Then Margaret.
Then Victoria.
Three women.
Three versions of the truth.
And one impossible promise.
His father was alive.
The Ledger's Final Page
Before leaving, Sarah turned to the last page of the ledger.
There was a sentence written in red ink.
She read it aloud:
“If Mark ever learns that Richard is alive, the Circle will begin the final phase.”
Mark frowned.
“What final phase?”
Sarah turned the page.
Nothing.
She checked again.
Then she saw a tiny line beneath the binding.
She pulled at it.
A hidden sheet emerged.
Four names were written there.
Margaret Cole.
Victoria Cole.
Sarah Cole.
And finally:
Mark Cole.
Beside Mark's name was a single word.
HEIR.
But beside Victoria's name were three words:
KEEP HIM ALIVE.
Mark stared.
“Why would they need me alive?”
Nobody answered.
Then Sarah noticed something else.
Beneath the four names was a fifth line.
The name had been blacked out.
Only the first letter remained.
E—
Sarah looked at Mark.
“This is the person controlling everything.”
“Can you identify them?”
“No.”
Mark looked toward the door.
“Then we find out tonight.”
Sarah shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
She pointed to the final sentence.
Mark read it.
His father's handwriting.
“Never meet the voice alone.”
Mark looked up.
“The voice?”
Sarah nodded.
“Whoever is calling you isn't your father.”
Mark's blood ran cold.
“Then whose voice is it?”
Sarah stared at the blackened name.
“I think we just found out.”
She slowly turned the page.
Behind the black ink was a hidden photograph.
Mark looked at it.
His face went completely blank.
The person in the photograph was someone he had trusted his entire life.
Someone who had been standing beside him at the cemetery.
Someone who had supposedly been helping him uncover the truth.
Mark whispered:
“No…”
Sarah looked at him.
“Who is it?”
Mark couldn't answer.
Because the photograph showed Detective Harris.
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And on the back were four words:
HE HAS THE ORIGINAL LEDGER.
