PART 4 — THE RECORDING
Derek tried to take the photograph from my hand.
I pulled it away.
“Don’t.”
His hand stopped.
For the first time, he looked genuinely afraid.
I turned toward the older man.
“Who are you?”
He stared at the photograph.
“My name is Thomas Mercer.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“Daniel’s father?”
He nodded.
Then he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small device.
“I kept something else.”
“What?”
“A recording.”
Derek immediately stepped forward.
“No.”
Thomas looked at him.
“Yes.”
He pressed a button.
Static filled the range.
Then a man’s voice came through the speaker.
Weak.
Breathing hard.
But unmistakably human.
“Claire…”
My entire body froze.
I knew that voice.
Daniel.
The recording continued.
“If you’re hearing this, something went wrong.”
Static.
“I don’t know who you can trust.”
I looked at Derek.
He had gone completely pale.
Daniel’s voice returned.
“They’ll tell you it was an accident.”
A pause.
“It wasn’t.”
Nobody moved.
Thomas looked at me.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the device.
Daniel continued.
“And Claire…”
His voice dropped.
“If your brother tells you he wasn’t there…”
The recording crackled.
Then came the final words.
“Don’t believe him.”
Silence.
The device clicked off.
I slowly turned toward Derek.
He wouldn’t look at me.
“You were there.”
He said nothing.
“Derek.”
Still nothing.
I stepped closer.
“You were there that night.”
He finally raised his eyes.
And the expression on his face told me something the recording hadn’t.
He knew exactly what happened.
But before I could demand an answer, Thomas’s phone suddenly rang.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
He answered.
“Hello?”
A few seconds passed.
He listened without speaking.
Then he looked directly at me.
The color drained from his face.
When the call ended, he lowered the phone.
“What?”
Thomas swallowed.
“They know.”
“Who?”
He looked toward the range entrance.
“They know you’re here.”
Behind us, the heavy metal door suddenly clicked.
Then began to open.