Chapter 8: The Hospital Tape
Isaiah lowered the phone.
Nobody spoke.
Brielle stared at him.
"What did she say?""
He looked at Camille.
"She said you were with my father when he died.""
Camille closed her eyes.
"I was.""
Brielle looked at her mother.
"Mom?""
Camille didn't answer.
Isaiah's voice became sharper.
"Why?""
Camille finally looked at him.
"Because your father asked me to come.""
"Why?""
"He knew he was dying.""
"How?""
"He'd been poisoned.""
Brielle covered her mouth.
Isaiah felt the room spin.
"Poisoned?""
Camille nodded.
"The doctors didn't know at first.""
"Then how do you know?""
"Because he told me.""
Isaiah stared.
"What did he tell you?""
Camille walked toward a chair.
She sat down.
Her hands trembled.
"He said he had been sick for weeks.""
Isaiah looked at Daniel.
"Is that in the records?""
Daniel nodded.
"Yes.""
"Why wasn't it investigated?""
"Because the official cause of death was listed as heart failure.""
Isaiah shook his head.
"My father was forty-nine.""
"I know.""
"He was healthy.""
"I know.""
"Then why did everyone accept that?""
Camille looked at Evelyn.
"Because your grandfather paid for the funeral.""
Isaiah stared.
"What does that have to do with anything?""
"Everything.""
Camille opened her handbag.
She removed an old cassette.
"The recording was made that night.""
Isaiah looked at it.
"Why didn't you give me this before?""
"Because I was afraid someone would kill you.""
Brielle whispered,
"Mom...""
Camille turned to her.
"I told you never to get involved.""
"I didn't.""
"You married into it.""
"I loved him.""
Camille's face softened.
"I know.""
Isaiah stepped closer.
"What exactly happened at the hospital?""
Camille looked down.
"Your father called me around midnight.""
"From the hospital?""
"No. From a pay phone.""
Isaiah frowned.
"Why a pay phone?""
"He said his phone wasn't safe.""
"Who did he think was watching him?""
"Your grandfather.""
Isaiah stared.
"What happened next?""
"I drove to the hospital.""
"And?""
"He was in a private room.""
"Was he conscious?""
"Yes.""
"Did he tell you who poisoned him?""
Camille shook her head.
"He didn't know.""
"Then what did he know?""
"He knew who had access to the money.""
Isaiah's eyes narrowed.
"Who?""
Camille looked at him.
"Your mother.""
Isaiah froze.
"My mother?""
"Your father suspected her.""
"Suspected her of what?""
"Moving money.""
"Was she?""
"No.""
Camille's voice was firm.
"She was trying to stop it.""
Isaiah looked confused.
"Then why did Dad suspect her?""
"Because someone used her credentials.""
Daniel nodded.
"The financial records support that.""
Isaiah rubbed his forehead.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?""
Camille answered,
"Because you were sixteen.""
Isaiah looked up.
"What?""
Camille's eyes filled.
"Your father died when you were sixteen.""
He remembered.
The hospital.
The rain.
His mother sitting beside him.
His grandmother holding his shoulders.
Everyone telling him his father had suffered a sudden cardiac event.
He had believed it.
For twenty years.
His voice became quiet.
"I thought he died peacefully.""
"He didn't.""
Camille looked at the cassette.
"He knew someone had poisoned him.""
Isaiah's hands curled into fists.
"Play it.""
Daniel found an old cassette player in the coordinator's office.
The ballroom guests had been moved to another room.
Only Isaiah, Brielle, Camille, Evelyn, Marcus, and Daniel remained.
Daniel placed the cassette inside.
The machine clicked.
Static.
Then a man's voice.
Thomas Cole.
Isaiah closed his eyes.
His father's voice sounded tired.
"Camille, if you're hearing this later, I'm probably dead.""
Camille covered her mouth.
Thomas continued.
"I found the account.""
Static.
"The money isn't being stolen.""
Isaiah leaned closer.
"It's being hidden.""
A pause.
"Someone is preparing to expose the whole operation.""
The tape crackled.
"I don't know who I can trust.""
Then another voice.
A woman's voice.
Isaiah recognized it immediately.
His mother's.
"Thomas, please.""
His father answered,
"If I don't tell Isaiah now, he may never know.""
His mother said something too quietly to hear.
Then Thomas spoke again.
"The house is the key.""
Isaiah's eyes opened.
The room went silent.
Thomas continued.
"Everything is under that property.""
A chair scraped.
Someone shifted.
The tape crackled.
Then his father said something that made Isaiah's blood run cold.
"Your grandfather didn't build the house.""
Evelyn closed her eyes.
"He bought it.""
Thomas continued.
"With money from the first account.""
Isaiah looked at Daniel.
"What first account?""
Daniel shook his head.
"I don't know.""
The recording continued.
"I put the original ledger in the safe.""
Camille whispered,
"That's what we found.""
Thomas's voice grew weaker.
"If anyone changes the deed, they are trying to get control of the ledger.""
Isaiah looked toward Brielle.
She was crying.
Thomas continued.
"Camille, don't let Brielle anywhere near the house.""
Brielle stopped breathing.
The tape went silent for several seconds.
Then Thomas added,
"Not because of her.""
Isaiah leaned closer.
"Because of who she's connected to.""
The recording clicked.
A door opened somewhere in the background.
Thomas whispered,
"Someone's here.""
A man's voice appeared.
Isaiah couldn't make out the words.
Then Thomas said,
"How did you get in?""
Another voice.
Older.
Cold.
"Your father gave me the key.""
Isaiah's heart slammed against his ribs.
He knew that voice.
He had heard it every Sunday growing up.
His grandfather.
Thomas shouted,
"Get out!""
A crash.
Camille began sobbing.
The tape filled with static.
Then Thomas's voice returned.
Barely audible.
"Isaiah...""
The recording stopped.
Nobody moved.
Isaiah stared at the machine.
"My grandfather was there.""
Daniel nodded.
"Yes.""
"He was at the hospital.""
"Yes.""
"He confronted my father.""
"Yes.""
"And then Dad died.""
Camille looked at him.
"We never proved he killed him.""
Isaiah's voice shook.
"But we know he was there.""
"Yes.""
Evelyn whispered,
"I should have told you.""
Isaiah turned toward her.
"Why didn't you?""
She cried openly now.
"Because your grandfather threatened your life.""
Isaiah stopped.
"What?""
"He told me that if I went to the police, you would disappear.""
Marcus stepped forward.
"What does that mean?""
Evelyn looked at him.
"He had people everywhere.""
Isaiah shook his head.
"Then why did you stay with him?""
"I didn't.""
"What?""
"I left.""
Evelyn reached into her purse.
She removed another photograph.
It showed her standing outside a courthouse.
Beside her was a younger Isaiah.
His mother stood on the other side.
On the back was a handwritten date.
The day after his father's funeral.
Evelyn spoke quietly.
"That was the day we tried to report him.""
Isaiah stared.
"What happened?""
"The detective told us the evidence wasn't enough.""
"Who stopped the investigation?""
Evelyn looked toward Daniel.
"Your grandfather.""
Daniel's expression was grim.
"He had influence.""
Isaiah stared at the floor.
All his memories suddenly felt rearranged.
The house.
His grandfather.
His father's death.
Brielle.
The altered deed.
The missing money.
Everything connected.
But one question remained.
He turned to Camille.
"You said you knew where the original money was.""
Camille nodded.
"Yes.""
"Where?""
She pointed toward the safe.
"Behind the ledger.""
Daniel opened the safe again.
He lifted the black journal.
Behind it was a narrow compartment.
Inside sat a small USB drive.
Isaiah stared.
"That's it?""
Camille nodded.
"That's everything.""
Daniel picked it up.
"It contains the financial records.""
Isaiah took it.
"Then we're done.""
Daniel shook his head.
"No.""
"Why?""
"Because your grandfather anticipated this.""
He pointed to the journal.
"There is one final entry.""
Isaiah opened it.
The last page contained a single sentence.
*If Isaiah ever finds the ledger, ask him why Brielle's father was paid.*
Isaiah looked up.
"Brielle's father?""
Brielle's face went blank.
"My father?""
Camille whispered,
"That's impossible.""
Isaiah turned the page.
A payment record was attached.
One transfer.
A quarter-million dollars.
Paid twenty years ago.
The recipient's name was clear.
*Nathan Hart.*
Brielle's father.
Isaiah looked at her.
"You said your father had nothing to do with this.""
"He didn't.""
"Then why did my grandfather pay him?""
"I don't know.""
Daniel stared at the date.
His expression changed.
"This payment was made three days after your father's death.""
Camille stood abruptly.
"No.""
Isaiah looked at her.
"Mom?""
Camille shook her head.
"I knew about the money.""
"You knew?""
"I knew someone had paid Nathan.""
"Why?""
"Because Nathan told me.""
"Why didn't you tell Brielle?""
"Because he made me promise.""
Isaiah's voice hardened.
"What was he hiding?""
Camille looked at Brielle.
Then at Isaiah.
"He wasn't hiding money.""
She swallowed.
"He was hiding a child.""
Brielle stared at her mother.
"What child?""
Camille's eyes filled.
"Your father had another daughter.""
Silence.
Isaiah looked at Brielle.
She shook her head.
"No.""
Camille whispered,
"Her name is Ava.""
Isaiah frowned.
"Where is she?""
Camille looked toward the ballroom doors.
"She's been at this wedding all afternoon.""
Isaiah turned.
"Who?""
May you like
Camille pointed toward the hallway.
"The woman who signed your wedding guest book.""