Chapter 6 - Elena’s Voice
Arthur inserted the memory card into an isolated laptop.
No internet.
No network connection.
Daniel insisted.
Victoria sat across the room.
Maya and Ethan stood beside Arthur.
He pressed play.
Static.
Then Charles Whitmore’s voice.
“You should have stayed dead.”
Arthur stopped breathing.
A woman answered.
“You should have kept your promise.”
Maya screamed.
“Mom.”
Ethan began crying instantly.
Arthur stared at the screen.
Elena.
Older.
Weaker.
But unmistakable.
Her voice.
Charles spoke again.
“The children are safe.”
“You don’t know what safe means.”
“They have food.”
“They have a home.”
“They have Arthur.”
Silence.
Then Elena said something Arthur never expected.
“He still doesn’t know.”
“No.”
“Keep it that way.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
Even alive, Elena had chosen not to tell him.
The recording continued.
Charles demanded the drive.
Elena refused.
Then Charles said something strange.
“Sebastian is losing patience.”
Elena laughed.
“Sebastian should worry about prison.”
“You still think you can win.”
“I already did.”
The recording ended.
Arthur replayed it.
There was no location.
No date spoken aloud.
Nothing identifying.
Daniel examined the metadata.
“Three weeks ago.”
Victoria nodded.
“I told you.”
Arthur looked at her.
“Where was it recorded?”
“My father’s private medical facility.”
Arthur turned.
“Medical facility?”
Victoria hesitated.
“The Whitmore Recovery Center.”
Daniel knew the name.
“Closed eight years ago.”
“Publicly.”
Victoria looked ashamed.
“My father still uses part of it.”
Arthur stood.
“Address.”
Victoria gave it to him.
Daniel immediately objected.
“We call police.”
Arthur shook his head.
“With what?”
“A recording.”
“Obtained illegally by Victoria.”
Daniel frowned.
Arthur continued.
“Charles owns half the local politicians.”
“Then federal authorities.”
“We don’t know who we can trust.”
Victoria laughed softly.
“You’re finally understanding.”
Arthur looked at her.
“Don’t confuse cooperation with forgiveness.”
“I don’t.”
Before sunrise, Arthur hired a private investigator named Marcus Reed.
Former federal agent.
No connection to the Whitmores.
Marcus inspected the facility remotely.
“Two guards.”
“Cameras.”
“Private road.”
“Could be empty.”
Arthur looked at the photograph.
“Could Elena be there?”
Marcus shrugged.
“Only one way to know.”
They arrived at 10:30 a.m.
The facility looked abandoned.
Broken sign.
Weeds.
Boarded windows.
But the side entrance had a new electronic lock.
Marcus noticed tire tracks.
“Someone uses this place.”
They entered through an old maintenance corridor.
Arthur heard a generator.
Then voices.
They followed them.
A door opened.
A man in medical scrubs stepped out.
He saw them.
He ran.
Marcus caught him.
Arthur entered the room.
Empty bed.
Medical equipment.
Fresh IV bag.
Someone had been there minutes earlier.
Arthur touched the mattress.
Warm.
“Elena?”
No answer.
Then he noticed something beneath the pillow.
A photograph.
Maya and Ethan.
On the back, someone had written:
ARTHUR, IF YOU FOUND THIS, THEY KNOW YOU KNOW.
Below it was another sentence.
DO NOT TRUST VICTORIA.
Arthur slowly turned.
Victoria stood in the doorway.
She saw the message.
Her face went white.
Then the lights went out.
May you like
A gunshot cracked somewhere in the building.
And Victoria disappeared.
