Chapter 9 - THE LAST RECORDING
Madeline returned to her father's abandoned house the next morning.
The property had been untouched for years.
Dust covered everything.
Her father's office remained exactly as she remembered it.
Rachel searched the shelves.
“Your father was meticulous.”
Madeline touched his desk.
“He hated secrets.”
“Maybe that's why he kept everything.”
They searched for hours.
Finally, Madeline noticed a loose floorboard.
Underneath was a small metal box.
Inside was an old cassette recorder.
And a handwritten label.
FOR MADELINE.
Her hands shook.
She pressed play.
Her father's voice filled the room.
“My little girl…”
Madeline began crying.
“If you're hearing this, I'm probably gone.”
She closed her eyes.
“I discovered that Noelle has been stealing from the company.”
A pause.
“But that's not what frightens me.”
The recording continued.
“I'm afraid of the people she has surrounded herself with.”
Then came a name.
Jeffrey.
Madeline froze.
“Jeffrey is being manipulated.”
She looked at Rachel.
“He knew.”
Her father's voice continued.
“He loves my daughter, but he is weak.”
Madeline cried silently.
“If he ever chooses money over her, she must leave him.”
Then another voice appeared.
Noelle.
“You're making a mistake.”
Her father replied,
“You're finished.”
Noelle laughed.
“You think your daughter is safe?”
Madeline's heart pounded.
“You've already threatened her.”
“I've warned you.”
Then came a sound.
A struggle.
A crash.
The recording ended.
Madeline stared at the recorder.
Rachel whispered,
“That proves intent.”
“But not murder.”
“No.”
They kept searching.
Then Madeline found another compartment.
Inside was a photograph.
Her father standing beside a newborn baby.
The baby was Austin.
Behind the photograph was a date.
And a name.
Daniel Carter.
Madeline's father's name.
Then another document.
A DNA test.
Austin was indeed Daniel Carter's biological son.
But there was more.
The mother listed wasn't Cynthia.
It was another woman.
A woman Madeline recognized.
Noelle.
Madeline's eyes widened.
“No.”
Rachel looked at the document.
“This can't be right.”
Madeline stared.
“Noelle wasn't Austin's grandmother.”
She swallowed.
“She was his mother.”
Everything collapsed into place.
Noelle had given birth to Austin decades later than anyone believed possible.
She had hidden the truth.
Cynthia had been protecting him.
Jeffrey had been used.
And Liam's trust had been the ultimate prize.
Madeline looked at Rachel.
“We've been looking at the wrong family tree.”
Then her phone rang.
It was the hospital.
“Ms. Carter?”
“Yes?”
“We need you to come immediately.”
“Why?”
“Your son is here.”
Madeline froze.
“What happened?”
“He disappeared from school.”
Her blood ran cold.
“When?”
May you like
“Twenty minutes ago.”
Madeline ran.
