Chapter 5: The Recording
The voice on the telephone belonged to my father.
I dropped the receiver.
Terrence caught it before it hit the floor.
“Mom?””
I couldn't answer.
My father had been dead for eleven years.
Yet his voice had just spoken my name.
Terrence held the receiver to his ear.
“Who is this?””
Static crackled.
Then my father's voice returned.
“Terrence, if you're listening, don't trust the woman who brought you here.””
Terrence went rigid.
I reached for the phone.
“Dad?””
Silence.
Then the recording continued.
“I know you will be tempted to believe she loves you. She doesn't. She loves what you inherited.””
My eyes filled with tears.
Terrence stared at the floor.
“Dad recorded this?””
“Apparently.””
“Why?””
The recording answered.
“Margaret, Raymond's estate was never about money.””
I looked at the folders.
“What was it about?””
The recording clicked.
Then my father's voice said something that made my skin crawl.
“It was evidence.””
The line went dead.
Terrence slowly lowered the receiver.
“What evidence?””
I opened the second folder.
Inside were copies of police reports.
Court filings.
Bank transfers.
Photographs.
I flipped through them.
The dates went back twenty-four years.
Then I saw a photograph.
A younger Lennox stood outside a bank.
Beside her was an older man I recognized.
Uncle Raymond.
I stared at it.
“Why is she with him?””
Terrence took the photograph.
“I've never seen that man.””
“You have.””
He looked confused.
I pointed.
“That is Raymond.””
Terrence shook his head.
“No. Raymond died before I was born.””
I stared at him.
“What?””
“My father told me Uncle Raymond died in an accident before I was born.””
My hands went cold.
I opened another file.
A death certificate.
*Raymond Hayes.*
But the date of death was different from the date my father had always given us.
Twenty-three years later.
My father had lied.
And so had someone else.
Terrence backed away.
“Mom, what does this mean?””
Before I could answer, the hidden room door moved.
We both turned.
Lennox stood in the doorway.
She had somehow gotten inside.
Her face was calm now.
Too calm.
“You found it.””
Terrence stepped in front of me.
“Stay away from her.””
Lennox laughed.
“You're protecting her now?””
“You locked us in the basement.””
“You were going to leave with something that belongs to me.””
I held up the folder.
“None of this belongs to you.””
Her eyes narrowed.
“You have no idea what your father did.””
“What did he do?””
“He destroyed lives.””
“Whose?””
Lennox looked at Terrence.
“Your father's.””
Terrence shook his head.
“My father is dead.””
“He didn't have to be.””
The room went silent.
I stepped forward.
“What does that mean?””
Lennox looked at the steel safe.
“Raymond was supposed to take the money and disappear.””
I felt dizzy.
“What money?””
“The money your father stole.””
Terrence's face twisted.
“That's impossible.””
“Is it?””
She pointed at the bank statements.
“Read them.””
I did.
Large transfers.
Offshore accounts.
Shell companies.
Payments made to names I didn't recognize.
Then I saw one familiar name.
*Terrence Hayes.*
My son stumbled backward.
“No.””
Lennox smiled.
“That account was opened when you were seventeen.””
Terrence looked at me.
“I swear to God, Mom, I never knew.””
“You didn't need to.””
Lennox's voice was almost gentle.
“Your father made sure the money was waiting for you.””
I shook my head.
“My father would never do this.””
Lennox walked toward me.
“He did.””
She reached for the black notebook.
I pulled it away.
“What is this?””
“Ask your son.””
Terrence stared at the notebook.
“I've never seen it.””
Lennox's expression changed.
“You're lying.””
“No.””
“You were supposed to know.””
“Know what?””
She opened her mouth.
Then a loud crash came from upstairs.
All three of us froze.
Someone had entered my house.
Terrence whispered, “Who else has a key?””
I looked at Lennox.
Then at the hidden safe.
And finally at the notebook in my hands.
Lennox's face suddenly drained of color.
“That's impossible.””
“What?””
May you like
She stared toward the ceiling.
“He was supposed to be dead.””
