Chapter 6 - THE CALL FROM A DEAD MAN
Nobody moved.
The phone kept ringing.
Our mother stared at it.
“Answer it,” Anna whispered.
She shook her head.
“It's impossible.”
“Answer it.”
Our mother pressed the button.
“Hello?”
Static.
Then a man's voice.
“Hello, Margaret.”
Our mother's face went white.
Anna grabbed the phone.
“Dad?”
Silence.
Then:
“Anna.”
She nearly dropped it.
“Where are you?”
“I don't have much time.”
Our mother whispered:
“You're dead.”
The voice laughed softly.
“Not yet.”
I looked at Anna.
She was crying.
“Dad, why did you do this?”
“I made mistakes.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Everyone keeps saying that!”
Her voice broke.
“You all destroyed my life.”
Silence.
Then our father said:
“You need to leave that house.”
“Why?”
“Because the person who has been watching you is there.”
I looked around.
“What?”
Our mother turned toward the hallway.
A floorboard creaked.
Anna whispered:
“Dad, where are you?”
“Ask Marcus.”
I froze.
“Ask Marcus what?”
The line went dead.
Anna turned toward me.
“What did he mean?”
“I don't know.”
Our mother suddenly looked frightened.
“Marcus, show me your phone.”
“Why?”
“Now.”
I handed it to her.
She opened the recording application.
There was a file I didn't recognize.
Created eight months ago.
The title:
BRIDGE — 11:43 P.M.
I stared at it.
“I never recorded this.”
Our mother pressed play.
My own voice emerged.
“Anna, wake up.”
Anna looked at me.
The recording continued.
“I found him.”
Then Anna's voice.
“Marcus?”
My stomach twisted.
I didn't remember any of this.
The recording captured footsteps.
Then my voice:
“Run.”
A crash.
A scream.
Then Daniel's voice.
“Marcus, you weren't supposed to be here.”
I felt dizzy.
Anna grabbed my arm.
“What happened that night?”
“I don't remember.”
The recording continued.
Daniel said:
“If you tell Anna, I'll kill you too.”
Then my voice whispered:
“Do what you want.”
The recording ended.
I stared at my sister.
“I swear I don't remember.”
Our mother looked devastated.
“You were there.”
I shook my head.
“I wasn't.”
“You were.”
Anna backed away from me.
“Marcus…”
“I didn't hurt you.”
“I know.”
She looked terrified.
“But why don't you remember?”
Our mother answered.
“They drugged you.”
“Who?”
“Daniel.”
I felt sick.
“Why?”
“Because you were supposed to help him.”
“No.”
“He needed someone Anna trusted.”
I shook my head.
“I would never.”
Our mother looked at me.
“You didn't.”
She pointed toward the recording.
“You stopped him.”
I looked at Anna.
“You told me to run.”
She nodded slowly.
“I remember.”
Then we heard a car outside.
Headlights swept across the windows.
Our mother turned off the lights.
A vehicle stopped.
Someone got out.
Anna whispered:
“Who is that?”
Our mother looked through the curtain.
Her face drained of color.
“Rebecca.”
The front door opened.
Rebecca entered alone.
She looked exhausted.
“I know where Daniel hid the original evidence.”
Anna stepped forward.
“Why should I trust you?”
Rebecca began crying.
“Because I'm the reason you're alive.”
Anna froze.
Rebecca reached into her coat.
She pulled out a photograph.
It showed Daniel standing over Anna's unconscious body at the bridge.
And behind him stood someone else.
A second man.
Anna stared.
“Who is that?”
Rebecca whispered:
“The man who paid Daniel.”
I looked closer.
I knew him.
Everyone did.
May you like
He was one of Nashville's most respected businessmen.
And he was my father's closest friend.
