Chapter 9 - THE DEAD MAN'S TELEPHONE
Adrian stared at the ringing phone.
For six years, he'd kept his father's private number disconnected.
Nobody was supposed to have access to it.
Now it was calling him.
He answered.
"Who is this?"
A man's voice came through.
"Adrian."
Adrian went completely still.
I watched the color drain from his face.
"Who is this?"
"You've grown into quite a man."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"My father is dead."
The voice chuckled softly.
"Is he?"
A terrible silence followed.
Then the caller continued.
"I understand you've been asking questions about Project Harbor."
Adrian looked toward Marcus.
Marcus immediately signaled for the call to be recorded.
"What do you want?"
"Your cooperation."
"With what?"
"The records."
Adrian's expression darkened.
"Whoever you are, you made a mistake contacting me."
The man laughed.
"Victor always said you had a temper."
I stepped closer.
Adrian's eyes met mine.
Something in his expression told me he recognized the voice.
"Cross?" he asked.
The caller paused.
Then said, "Good boy."
Adrian's face hardened.
Nathaniel Cross.
My biological father.
The man who had helped operate Project Harbor.
He was on the phone with Adrian Voss.
My hands turned cold.
"Where is he?" I whispered.
Adrian ignored me.
"What do you want with Sophie Carter?"
The caller's voice changed.
"Ah. You've met my daughter."
I felt physically sick.
"Don't call me that," I said.
Silence.
Then Cross laughed.
"Sophie."
I stepped toward the phone.
"You don't know me."
"I know more about you than you imagine."
"No. You know records. Birth certificates. Numbers on paper."
My voice shook.
"You don't know what my mother sacrificed to raise me."
Cross remained silent.
I continued.
"You don't know how she worked nights to pay for school. You don't know how she sat beside my bed when I was sick. You don't know anything about being my father."
A long pause followed.
Then Cross said coldly, "Helen Carter was supposed to hand you over when you turned eighteen."
The room froze.
I stared at the phone.
"What?"
Cross continued.
"Richard disrupted the arrangement."
Adrian's expression sharpened.
"What arrangement?"
Cross laughed.
"You still don't understand what Harbor really was."
Rebecca leaned forward.
"Mr. Cross, this conversation is being recorded."
"Good."
His voice became almost cheerful.
"Then let me make something clear."
I felt my heartbeat pounding in my ears.
"Project Harbor wasn't simply an adoption scheme."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"What was it?"
Cross paused.
May you like
Then delivered the sentence that made my blood run cold.
"It was designed to create heirs."
Related Stories
