Chapter 10: The Voice She Couldn't Forget
### Chapter 10: The Voice She Couldn't Forget
Sergeant Reyes replayed the recording.
Once.
Twice.
Then a third time.
The room remained completely silent.
James's face was calm.
Tired.
But determined.
Across the desk, the mysterious man never appeared on camera.
Only his voice.
Low.
Controlled.
Educated.
"You've always overestimated your importance, James."
Reyes closed her eyes.
She knew that voice.
She had heard it within the last forty-eight hours.
Not years ago.
Recently.
Very recently.
But where?
Arthur watched her carefully.
"Angela?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, she asked the forensic technician,
"Can you isolate the audio?"
The technician nodded.
"I'll clean up the background noise."
---
Minutes later...
The recording sounded much clearer.
A faint ticking clock.
Ice cubes clinking inside a glass.
Then...
A tiny sound everyone had missed before.
Click... click...
Arthur frowned.
"What is that?"
The technician increased the volume.
Click...
Click...
Click...
Reyes suddenly looked up.
"That's not random."
Arthur stared at her.
"It's a lighter."
She nodded.
"The old silver kind."
"The lid makes that exact sound."
Arthur looked confused.
"So?"
Reyes didn't answer immediately.
Instead...
She reached for her notebook.
She flipped through several pages.
Then stopped.
Her eyes widened.
"I remember."
---
The previous afternoon...
While questioning everyone at the Vance estate...
One person had repeatedly opened and closed a silver lighter.
Not because he smoked.
Simply out of habit.
Richard Collins.
James Vance's longtime attorney.
Arthur looked stunned.
"James's own lawyer?"
Reyes frowned.
"I'm not accusing him."
"But I want another conversation."
---
At that exact moment...
Richard Collins was sitting alone inside his downtown office.
The television silently replayed Eleanor's arrest.
He wasn't watching it.
Instead...
He stared at a framed photograph on his desk.
James.
Arthur.
Richard.
Standing together after the completion of the Vance Children's Foundation.
Three friends.
Twenty years younger.
Richard quietly whispered,
"I'm sorry."
Then someone knocked.
Three slow knocks.
Richard immediately stiffened.
"I wasn't expecting anyone."
No answer.
Only three more knocks.
Slower this time.
Richard carefully walked toward the door.
Opened it.
No one stood outside.
Only a small cardboard box rested on the floor.
His expression immediately darkened.
He already knew what that meant.
He carried the box inside.
Locked the office door.
Opened it carefully.
Inside...
There was only one object.
A silver lighter.
Richard's hands began trembling.
Engraved across the side...
Were four words.
We know you talked.
Richard dropped into his chair.
Someone had been watching him.
---
Meanwhile...
Sarah struggled to sleep at the farmhouse.
Every unexpected sound made her jump.
Every creaking floorboard reminded her of the gunshot.
Thomas gently knocked before entering her room.
"I made some tea."
She smiled weakly.
"Thank you."
He sat across from her.
"You've barely slept."
Sarah nodded.
"I'm afraid if I close my eyes..."
"They'll find me."
Thomas looked toward the window.
"They won't."
"You have Arthur."
"You have the sheriff."
"And now..."
"You have me."
Sarah felt tears forming.
"I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of me."
Thomas smiled sadly.
"That's exactly what James used to say."
Sarah looked up.
"You knew him well?"
Thomas nodded.
"He came fishing with Arthur every autumn."
"He talked about you constantly."
Sarah's eyes filled.
"What did he say?"
Thomas smiled.
"He said..."
"'Sarah is the kind of person who apologizes when someone else steps on her foot.'"
Despite everything...
Sarah laughed.
A small...
Honest laugh.
---
Late that evening...
Arthur received an urgent phone call.
It was Richard.
His voice shook.
"We need to meet."
Arthur immediately became alert.
"What's wrong?"
"I can't explain over the phone."
"Tomorrow morning."
"No."
Richard interrupted.
"Tonight."
Arthur grabbed his truck keys.
"Where?"
"The old boathouse."
"Lake Ashford."
Arthur frowned.
"Why there?"
"Because nobody knows about it."
Then Richard whispered something that made Arthur's blood run cold.
"James didn't die from natural causes."
Silence.
Arthur stopped breathing.
"What did you say?"
"I helped hide it."
The line went dead.
---
One hour later...
Rain poured across the empty lake.
Arthur arrived first.
The old wooden boathouse stood abandoned.
Its roof creaked in the wind.
He stepped inside.
Empty.
No Richard.
Only darkness.
Arthur checked his watch.
Ten minutes passed.
Then fifteen.
Headlights suddenly swept across the lake.
A black SUV approached.
Arthur smiled with relief.
"Richard."
But as the vehicle stopped...
Three men climbed out.
None of them was Richard.
All dressed in black.
One carried a metal baseball bat.
Another held a handgun fitted with a suppressor.
Arthur slowly backed toward the rear exit.
The tallest man smiled.
"Mr. Hale."
"Our employer appreciates your curiosity."
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
"Where's Richard?"
The man shrugged.
"He won't be keeping your appointment."
Arthur already knew.
Richard had never intended to betray James.
Someone had intercepted him.
The gunman raised his weapon.
Arthur glanced around the boathouse.
One door.
Three attackers.
No cover.
No escape.
Then...
From outside...
Police sirens erupted across the lakeshore.
Red and blue lights reflected across the water.
The three attackers looked at one another.
The leader cursed.
"Move!"
They sprinted back toward the SUV.
Seconds later...
Sergeant Reyes burst into the boathouse with four deputies.
Arthur stared at her.
"You tracked my phone?"
She nodded.
"I had a feeling."
Arthur looked toward the empty road where the SUV had vanished.
"They got away."
"For now."
Reyes looked at him seriously.
"No."
She held up her phone.
"We got something better."
Arthur frowned.
"What?"
She played an audio recording.
Richard Collins had left her a voicemail just five minutes before disappearing.
His frightened voice echoed through the boathouse.
"If anything happens to me..."
"...don't trust the board."
"It's not just Eleanor."
"It's not just one person."
"It's the entire executive committee."
Arthur felt the weight of James's secret crash down on him.
This had never been about one cruel woman.
Or one attempted murder.
It was a conspiracy...
Hidden inside the Vance empire itself.
And somewhere...
Richard Collins had either gone into hiding...
May you like
Or become its latest victim.
To be continued...
