Chapter 9 - THE RECORDING FROM THE DEAD|
The cassette recorder still worked.
Marcus found batteries in the storage unit's maintenance cabinet, and Theodore placed the machine on a metal table. Nadia sat opposite it, holding the letter as though the paper might disappear if she loosened her grip.
For several seconds, the recorder produced only static.
Then a woman's voice emerged.
Margaret.
Nadia covered her mouth.
“My darling Nadia, if this recording reaches you, I have failed to protect you in the way I promised.”
The voice was older than Nadia remembered from childhood recordings, tired and strained.
“I need you to understand that I never abandoned you. They told me you were dead. They showed me a certificate, a photograph, and a grave that contained nothing. I believed them for three years.”
Theodore closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
“Then a nurse contacted me. She said there had been two babies that night, and one had been taken under a false identity. She did not know where you were, but she knew who had ordered the transfer.”
A pause followed.
“Richard Hawthorne.”
Nadia felt anger rise through her grief.
Her mother had spent years searching for her while the Hawthornes lived in wealth and security.
“Richard claimed he was protecting both children from a threat,” Margaret continued. “But I learned that he had made a bargain with a man named Victor Sloane. Victor wanted control of the family's business holdings. Richard promised him a child who could inherit the estate without challenging his authority.”
Theodore opened his eyes.
“Victor Sloane,” he whispered. “He's the chairman of the Hawthorne Foundation.”
Marcus looked up sharply.
“He's been on the board for thirty years.”
The recording continued.
“Your father—if you can call him that—believed a child could be used like a signature on a contract. I refused to cooperate. I tried to expose him. Then the workshop burned.”
A sound came through the recording, perhaps a door closing.
Margaret's voice lowered.
“I survived the first fire. I was taken to a hospital under another name. By the time I recovered, Richard had told everyone I was dead. I had to disappear because he threatened Nadia's life.”
Nadia's eyes filled with tears.
Her mother had survived.
For a few years, at least, she had been alive somewhere in the world.
“Catherine helped me escape,” Margaret said. “She was my sister. She took Nadia when I could no longer keep her safe. We agreed that one day, when the danger had passed, I would find my daughter.”
Nadia looked at the photograph of the woman with the baby.
Catherine Vale was her aunt.
The voice continued.
“But the danger never passed. Richard died, and Victor took his place. He controls the foundation, the adoption records, and the money that was stolen from innocent families. If he learns that Nadia is alive, he will do anything to keep her from claiming what belongs to her.”
The recording crackled.
Then Margaret spoke a final time.
“Nadia, the truth is not in the ledger. The ledger only proves the theft. The truth is in the name of the child who was never counted.”
The tape stopped.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Theodore turned to Marcus.
“Find Victor Sloane. Quietly.”
Marcus nodded.
Nadia looked at Theodore.
“Why would your father give away a child to secure his business?”
“Because he thought he could control every consequence.”
“And now?”
Theodore's expression hardened.
“Now someone is trying to finish what he started.”
Before they could leave, Nadia discovered a second envelope beneath the recorder. It contained a recent photograph of Catherine standing outside a small apartment building in Philadelphia.
On the back, someone had written a date.
Three days earlier.
Catherine was alive.
May you like
But the address beneath the photograph had been crossed out, and a new message had been written in red ink.
If you want to see your aunt, come alone.
