Chapter 13 - THE NIGHT ISABELLA COSTA DIED|
Graham survived surgery, but the bullet wound left him weak.
When he regained consciousness, Tabitha was sitting beside his bed.
He tried to speak.
"Where's Catherine?"
"Safe."
"And Victor?"
"In custody."
Graham closed his eyes.
"Good."
Tabitha touched his uninjured hand.
"You could have died."
"So could you."
"That doesn't make it acceptable."
He looked at her.
"You're beginning to sound like my mother."
The words brought tears to her eyes.
For several moments, they remained silent.
Then Catherine entered.
She carried a small metal box.
"I found this in Victor's vehicle."
Graham attempted to sit up.
"What is it?"
"Something our mother left behind."
Catherine opened the box.
Inside was a cassette tape, a photograph, and a folded letter.
Walter Hayes arrived shortly afterward.
He recognized the tape immediately.
"Isabella's final recording."
They found an old player in the hospital's archive room.
The recording began with Isabella's voice.
She sounded frightened.
"If anyone hears this, it means Victor has discovered the truth."
Graham stared at the machine.
His mother's voice continued.
"Simon Hale has been changing medical records. My husband knows. Anthony Russo's father knows. They have been using the family clinic to conceal payments and silence witnesses."
There was a pause.
Then Isabella said something that made Graham's breathing change.
"Victor believes I intend to leave him. He is right. But I am not leaving without my children."
The recording continued.
"I have arranged for Elizabeth to take Tabitha. Margaret will help Catherine escape. Graham must never know what happened until he is old enough to understand."
Graham lowered his head.
His mother had tried to protect all three children.
But the final section of the recording was worse.
A door opened in the background.
A man's voice said:
"You should have stayed out of this."
Isabella answered.
"You're my husband."
Then came the sound of a struggle.
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Graham sat motionless.
For years, he had built his empire believing his father had been a ruthless but honorable businessman.
Now he understood that the man had murdered his mother and stolen the lives of his sisters.
Catherine wiped her eyes.
"She tried to save us."
Tabitha nodded.
"She did."
Walter placed the cassette back inside its case.
"There's enough here to reopen the investigation, but we need the original financial records."
Graham looked at him.
"Where are they?"
"Your father's private vault."
The same vault that had been sealed after Victor's supposed death.
Graham immediately called his security director.
But Walter stopped him.
"There's something else. The recording contains a reference to a witness."
"Who?"
"Someone named Eleanor."
Catherine suddenly stood.
"Eleanor?"
Walter nodded.
"She was your mother's personal nurse."
Catherine looked frightened.
"She's the woman who raised me."
Tabitha stared at her.
"Where is she now?"
Catherine hesitated.
"She works in a nursing home outside Manhattan."
Graham reached for his phone.
"Send someone to protect her."
But before he could finish the call, a hospital nurse entered carrying a sealed envelope.
"Mr. Costa, someone left this at reception."
Graham opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Eleanor sitting in a wheelchair.
Someone had drawn a red circle around her face.
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On the back were five words:
THE LAST WITNESS WILL NOT SPEAK.
