Chapter 2 — The Tape Leo Hid
Chapter 2 — The Tape Leo Hid
At 2:13 in the morning, Mark was still staring at the cassette.
He had listened to it six times.
Each time, the same two voices.
Victoria.
And the unidentified man.
Each time, the same sentence.
“Once Mark signs the transfer, Leo can't inherit anything.”
And then—
“And if the boy comes back?”
Victoria's answer had never changed.
“He won't.”
But now Mark had heard something else.
Something he hadn't noticed during the first five listens.
A sound beneath the voices.
Three knocks.
Then a child's breathing.
Then Victoria whispering:
“Don't let him hear that.”
Mark stopped the tape.
His fingers tightened around the recorder.
Someone else had been in that room.
Someone Leo had heard.
Someone Victoria didn't want Mark to know about.
He looked toward the hallway.
The mansion was silent.
For eleven months, silence had been Mark's reality.
Now every quiet corner sounded suspicious.
Every closed door looked like it was hiding something.
He picked up his phone and called Detective Harris.
The detective answered after two rings.
“Mark?”
“I need you to come back.”
“It's almost three in the morning.”
“I found another piece of evidence.”
“What kind?”
Mark looked at the cassette.
“Evidence that my wife planned to erase my son's inheritance.”
There was a pause.
“Don't touch anything else.”
“I already did.”
“Mark.”
“I know.”
The detective sighed.
“I'll be there in twenty minutes.”
Mark hung up.
Then the recorder clicked.
Mark froze.
He hadn't pressed anything.
The cassette had begun playing by itself.
Static.
Then a voice.
Not Victoria.
Not the man.
Leo.
A child's frightened whisper.
“Daddy, if you hear this, don't trust her.”
Mark stopped breathing.
The Second Voice
The recording continued.
“Daddy, I don't know when you'll hear this.”
Leo sounded terrified.
“But Mommy said you can't know I'm alive.”
A pause.
“I don't know why.”
Then footsteps.
Leo whispered:
“She's coming.”
The tape became muffled.
A door opened.
Victoria's voice appeared.
“Leo?”
Silence.
“Leo, I know you're awake.”
The child didn't answer.
Victoria's footsteps approached.
Then came a sound that made Mark's stomach turn.
A lock.
Click.
Victoria spoke softly.
“You're going to stay here.”
Leo began crying.
“Please.”
“You'll be safe.”
“I want Daddy.”
“You can't see Daddy.”
“Why?”
“Because your father doesn't want you.”
Mark slammed his fist against the table.
“That's a lie.”
The recording continued.
Leo's voice broke.
“He does want me.”
Victoria replied:
“Then why did he sign the papers?”
Mark went still.
“What papers?”
The recording ended.
He stared at the recorder.
There was more.
He knew it.
The tape wasn't finished.
But the final portion had been removed.
Someone had cut it.
Someone had deliberately taken out the most important part.
Mark grabbed his coat.
The hospital.
He needed Leo.
Now.
Leo Remembers
Leo was awake when Mark entered the hospital room.
His eyes immediately widened.
“Daddy.”
Mark sat beside him.
“Hey, buddy.”
Leo reached for his hand.
Mark took it.
For a few seconds, neither spoke.
Then Mark asked:
“Do you remember this?”
He held up the cassette recorder.
Leo's expression changed.
“Where did you find it?”
“Inside the wall.”
Leo nodded.
“I put it there.”
“Why?”
“Because Mommy searched everywhere.”
Mark's heart tightened.
“What did you record?”
Leo looked toward the door.
“Is she here?”
“No.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Leo relaxed slightly.
Then he whispered:
“She didn't know about the other tape.”
Mark frowned.
“Other tape?”
Leo nodded.
“I made two.”
Mark stared.
“Where's the second one?”
Leo looked at him.
“I hid it somewhere Mommy never looked.”
“Where?”
Leo hesitated.
“Daddy…”
“Yes?”
“You can't tell anyone.”
“I won't.”
“Not even the police?”
Mark thought for a moment.
“Not until you tell me why.”
Leo swallowed.
“Because the second tape has the man's voice.”
Mark's heart stopped.
“The man from the first tape?”
Leo nodded.
“I saw him.”
“Who was he?”
“I don't know.”
“What did he look like?”
Leo closed his eyes.
“He wore a black coat.”
“Anything else?”
“He had a scar.”
“Where?”
Leo touched the left side of his neck.
“Here.”
Mark's mind raced.
“Did you hear his name?”
Leo nodded.
“He called Mommy…”
He paused.
“Mrs. Vale.”
Mark frowned.
“Mrs. Vale?”
Leo shook his head.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Mrs. V.”
Mark froze.
Victoria's maiden name was Victoria Vale.
The Locker
At dawn, Mark stood outside North Station.
The rain had stopped.
Commuters moved around him, unaware that a man had spent the previous night discovering his entire life was built on lies.
Locker 314 was at the end of an old corridor.
The key fit perfectly.
Mark opened it.
Inside was a black envelope.
Nothing else.
He opened it.
Photographs fell onto the floor.
Leo.
At the hospital.
At school.
At home.
Sleeping.
Playing.
Walking with Hannah.
And one photograph that made Mark's blood run cold.
Victoria standing beside the man from the recording.
The photograph had been taken three months before Leo supposedly died.
On the back was a date.
And a name.
GABRIEL VALE.
Mark stared.
Gabriel Vale.
Victoria's older brother.
A man Mark had been told died twelve years ago.
Mark's phone rang.
Detective Harris.
“Where are you?”
“North Station.”
“What did you find?”
“Victoria's brother.”
There was silence.
“That's impossible.”
“That's what I thought.”
“Mark, listen to me.”
“What?”
“Gabriel Vale isn't dead.”
Mark looked at the photograph.
“Then why did Victoria tell me he was?”
Harris answered quietly:
“Because Gabriel has been wanted for kidnapping, fraud, and attempted murder for over a decade.”
Mark stared at the picture.
“And he's been inside my house.”
“Yes.”
The Hidden File
When Mark returned to the mansion, police had already sealed the foyer.
Hannah was sitting in the kitchen.
She looked exhausted.
Mark walked over.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded.
“I've been better.”
Mark placed the photograph on the table.
“Have you seen this man?”
Hannah looked at it.
Her face changed.
“Yes.”
Mark's stomach tightened.
“When?”
“Several times.”
“Where?”
“Here.”
“Inside the mansion?”
Hannah nodded.
“Victoria told me he was one of her lawyers.”
Mark stared.
“Did you know his name?”
“No.”
“Did you ever see him with Leo?”
Hannah hesitated.
“Yes.”
Mark leaned forward.
“When?”
“The week before Leo disappeared.”
“What was he doing?”
“He was arguing with Victoria.”
“About Leo?”
Hannah nodded.
“I heard him say something.”
“What?”
Hannah looked frightened.
“He said, ‘The boy knows too much.’”
Mark's expression hardened.
“What did Victoria say?”
“She told him not to hurt Leo.”
Mark's hands tightened.
“And then?”
“They argued.”
“About what?”
Hannah swallowed.
“Money.”
Mark walked upstairs.
His father's old office had remained locked since his death.
He opened it.
The room smelled of leather and dust.
He remembered his father telling him something years ago.
Never trust a man who tells you inheritance is only about money.
At the time, Mark had laughed.
Now he understood.
He searched the desk.
Nothing.
The drawers.
Nothing.
Then he noticed the carpet.
One corner was slightly raised.
He pulled it back.
A metal safe was embedded in the floor.
Mark entered the combination he remembered from childhood.
The safe opened.
Inside was a file.
PROJECT LEO.
Mark stared at the words.
His hands trembled as he opened it.
The first page contained a photograph of Leo as a baby.
The second contained medical records.
The third contained a legal document.
And the fourth—
A letter.
From Mark's father.
My son,
If you are reading this, then something has happened to Leo.
Mark stopped.
His heart hammered.
He continued.
Your son was never simply an heir.
He is the key to the family trust.
If anyone tries to convince you that Leo must die for the trust to change hands, do not believe them.
Mark's breathing became shallow.
The final sentence was underlined.
The person you should fear most is the person who knows exactly where the original trust is hidden.
Mark whispered:
“Victoria.”
Then he saw another name.
Gabriel.
The Second Tape
That evening, Mark returned to Leo's hospital room.
The boy was sitting up.
Mark placed the black envelope on the bed.
“Is this where you hid the second tape?”
Leo stared at it.
Then nodded.
“I didn't hide it there.”
Mark frowned.
“Where?”
Leo pointed toward the hallway.
“Under the floor.”
Mark followed his gaze.
“What?”
“In the old house.”
“The mansion?”
Leo nodded.
“There is a loose floorboard near the fireplace.”
Mark remembered.
The west foyer.
The same room where he had found Leo.
“Why there?”
“Because Mommy never went there.”
Mark almost smiled.
“She owned the house.”
“She hated that room.”
“Why?”
Leo looked at him.
“Because Grandma told her never to go there.”
Mark froze.
“Grandma?”
“My grandmother.”
“Victoria's mother?”
Leo shook his head.
“Your mother.”
Mark's breath caught.
His mother had died before Leo was born.
“How could she tell you?”
Leo looked confused.
“She didn't.”
“Then who?”
“Mommy.”
Mark stared.
“Victoria told you Grandma said it?”
Leo nodded.
“She said Grandma knew you would lose everything.”
Mark stood.
He suddenly understood.
Victoria had been using his dead mother's name to manipulate Leo.
But why?
What was hidden beneath the floor?
They returned to the mansion that night.
Detective Harris objected.
“You should not bring a child into an active crime scene.”
“He knows where the evidence is.”
Harris sighed.
“Fine. Five minutes.”
Leo walked into the foyer.
He stopped.
His eyes moved toward the fireplace.
Then toward the wall where he had been imprisoned.
He pointed.
“Here.”
Mark moved the rug.
Nothing.
Leo shook his head.
“Underneath.”
Mark removed the floorboard.
A small metal case was hidden below.
He opened it.
Inside was another cassette.
Mark looked at Leo.
“You really made this?”
Leo nodded.
“I wanted Daddy to know.”
Mark inserted it into the recorder.
Static.
Then Gabriel's voice.
“Victoria, this is the last warning.”
Victoria answered:
“I can't do it.”
“You already agreed.”
“He's my stepson.”
“He's an obstacle.”
“I said no.”
“You want the trust.”
Silence.
Then Victoria whispered:
“I want Mark.”
Gabriel laughed.
“You don't love him.”
“I do.”
“No.”
His voice became colder.
“You love what he owns.”
Mark closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
Gabriel said:
“Once Leo is gone, Mark will sign everything.”
Victoria asked:
“And if he doesn't?”
“Then we make him believe Leo's death was his fault.”
Mark's eyes opened.
Victoria asked:
“How?”
Gabriel answered:
“Drug him.”
Mark stopped the tape.
The room became silent.
Harris looked at him.
“What did he mean?”
Mark stared at the recorder.
“I don't know.”
But deep down, he remembered.
The night Leo supposedly died.
Victoria had given him a drink.
He had felt dizzy.
Then nothing.
He had awakened in the hospital.
Victoria beside him.
Crying.
Telling him their son was gone.
Mark had never questioned it.
Until now.
The Missing Night
Harris took the tape.
“We need to investigate the night Leo disappeared.”
Mark nodded.
“There was an ambulance.”
“Yes.”
“A hospital record.”
“Yes.”
“But Leo wasn't there.”
Mark frowned.
“What?”
Harris looked at the file.
“The medical record says Leo was declared dead before the ambulance arrived.”
Mark stared.
“That's impossible.”
“The death certificate was filed eleven hours later.”
“Who signed it?”
Harris looked at him.
“A doctor named Dr. Adrian Vale.”
Mark's blood ran cold.
“Vale?”
Harris nodded.
“Gabriel's father.”
Silence.
Mark suddenly understood.
The entire story had been constructed.
The doctor.
The ambulance.
The death certificate.
The funeral.
Everything.
Leo had never died.
He had been hidden.
And the people who created the lie had made sure Mark would never question it.
The Message
At 3:00 a.m., Mark's phone vibrated.
One text.
YOU FOUND THE SECOND TAPE.
Mark stared.
Another message appeared.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE PAST ALONE.
Then:
YOUR SON IS NOT THE ONLY ONE IN DANGER.
Mark immediately called Harris.
No answer.
He called Hannah.
No answer.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
Mark answered.
A man's voice whispered:
“You should never have opened locker 314.”
“Gabriel?”
A laugh.
“You remember my name.”
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
Mark looked around the dark mansion.
“What do you want?”
“The tape.”
“You're not getting it.”
“Then someone dies.”
“Who?”
A pause.
Then the voice said:
“Hannah.”
Mark's blood froze.
He ran toward the kitchen.
“Hannah!”
Nothing.
He checked the servants' quarters.
Empty.
Then he saw something on the floor.
Her phone.
The screen was cracked.
Beside it was a note.
THE THIRD TAPE ISN'T WITH LEO.
Mark picked it up.
On the back was one final sentence:
IT'S WITH THE WOMAN WHO FOUND HIM.
Mark stared at the words.
Hannah.
She had been involved from the beginning.
Or someone had planted the evidence on her.
Either way, the mystery had just become more dangerous.
Because Mark now knew two things.
Victoria had lied.
Gabriel was alive.
And the second tape was only the beginning.
Somewhere in the mansion, another recording existed.
A recording that could reveal why Leo had been hidden.
A recording that could expose the person who had ordered it.
May you like
And if Gabriel was telling the truth—
Hannah's life depended on Mark finding it first.
