Chapter 13 - THE NIGHT OF THE CRASH
Martha told the story.
Nine years earlier, she had received a letter.
It threatened Julian and Clara.
She was told that if she didn't reveal where her husband was meeting Evelyn, her children would die.
“So you told them.”
“Yes.”
“Mom…”
“I thought they would scare him.”
“They killed him.”
“I know.”
Julian walked away.
He was furious.
But he could see the guilt had destroyed her long before tonight.
Clara hugged Martha.
“You were trying to save us.”
Martha cried.
“I failed.”
Julian returned.
“I don't forgive you yet.”
Martha nodded.
“I understand.”
“But you're my mother.”
She looked up.
“And I won't abandon you.”
That was the moment Martha broke.
The family finally began to heal.
But there was one piece left.
Julian returned to his father's hidden vault.
He found an old cassette.
His father's final recording.
“If you're hearing this, I am dead.”
Julian pressed play.
“I made one mistake. I trusted the wrong person.”
A pause.
“It wasn't Evelyn.”
Julian looked at Ethan.
The recording continued.
“The person who betrayed me was someone I considered family.”
Julian's heart raced.
“Someone who had access to my schedule.”
A name was spoken.
Victor.
Julian frowned.
But Victor had already been exposed.
Then the recording continued.
“Victor did not act alone.”
The tape ended.
Julian stared.
“Who else?”
Clara pointed toward the file.
“There.”
A second cassette was hidden beneath the first.
Julian played it.
His father's voice returned.
“The person beside me every day is the one I fear most.”
Julian looked at Martha.
Then Ethan.
Then Clara.
Then Bianca.
Everyone was silent.
Suddenly the lights went out.
A gunshot echoed.
Ethan fell.
“ETHAN!”
Julian caught him.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Clara screamed.
“Call an ambulance!”
Julian looked toward the dark hallway.
A shadow moved.
He chased it.
The figure escaped through a window.
On the floor was a single envelope.
Julian opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
The person in the photograph was standing beside his father on the night he died.
Julian knew the face.
He had seen it every day.
Detective Owen Reed.
The man who had been helping them.
May you like
The man who had been protecting them.
The man who had been lying to them.
