Chapter 6: The Voice They Tried to Bury
Vivian left the bank before anyone could stop her.
We found her an hour later in the Ashcroft Foundation office with a fireproof case open on her desk.
“You took the cylinder,” I said.
She shut the lid.
“You have no right to enter this office.”
Vincent locked the door behind us.
“Answer her.”
Vivian lifted her chin.
“My father removed several objects from that box after Thomas fell ill.
He was protecting Isabella’s reputation.”
“Your father had been gone six years when this note was written,” Cora said.
“You emptied it.”
Falk emerged from the adjoining room.
Victor gave a humorless smile.
“You two always arrive together when evidence disappears.”
Falk placed a folder on the desk.
“This ends tonight.
Elena signs away every claim and receives half a million dollars.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Your father’s forged documents become public.
The world will remember him as a thief.”
I pushed the folder back.
“The world is about to remember you as one.”
Falk leaned closer.
“Your father had one chance to protect you.
He failed.”
Cora’s hand moved toward her coat pocket.
Vivian noticed.
“Give me your phone.”
“No.”
Vivian seized Cora’s wrist, but I stepped between them.
“Let her go.”
“Your witness has been recording us.”
“And you just confirmed she had something worth recording,” Vincent said.
Falk snatched the phone from Cora’s pocket and dropped it into a glass of water.
Cora watched it sink.
“That was my spare.”
Falk’s face changed.
Victor raised his own phone.
“The recording was sent to me.”
Vivian grabbed the fireproof case.
Vincent stopped her before she reached the side door.
“What is inside?” he asked.
“Family property.”
“My mother’s voice is not your property.”
“You don’t want to hear it,” Vivian said.
“Once you do, you cannot return to the family you thought you had.”
Vincent held out his hand.
“Give it to Elena.”
Vivian looked at me.
“Your father chose your future over his name.
Open this, and you throw away his sacrifice.”
“My father did not sacrifice his name so you could sell it.”
Her fingers remained on the handle.
“How much did you earn?” I asked.
She flinched.
“That is why you kept the secret,” I continued.
“Not loyalty.
Royalties.”
Falk stepped toward me.
“Be silent.”
“No.
You heard me play my father’s ending, and you knew the silence was over.”
Victor pulled the case from Vivian’s grasp.
Inside rested a cylinder, the original handwritten score and twenty-six years of royalty statements.
Every payment had gone to companies controlled by Falk and the Ashcrofts.
Cora placed the cylinder into a portable player from her bag.
Isabella’s voice filled the office.
“Adrian Falk and Edmund Ashcroft have claimed our concerto as their own.
Thomas refused to sign their contract.
If a contract appears, compare the signature with his injured hand.”
Falk lunged for the player.
Vincent forced him back against the desk.
The recording continued.
“My final warning was recorded separately.
If those words are attached to this statement, Adrian has altered my testimony.”
I looked at Falk.
“You added the sentence about the betrayer.”
“To make Vincent suspect whoever stood near him,” Victor said.
Isabella’s voice softened.
“Vincent, Thomas saved you when Edmund tried to use you against me.
He accepted disgrace because they threatened Elena.
If Thomas is gone when you hear this, know that he did not leave this world because his body failed him.”
May you like
The cylinder clicked, then continued.
“He left because Falk and Vivian made certain no hospital would help him.”
