Chapter 2 - The Man at the Door
Clara moved before I did.
She killed the kitchen light, grabbed Eva, and hissed, "Don't make a sound."
The front door opened.
"William? You home?"
I knew that voice.
Owen Price, my father's former security chief - the man who had stood beside me at my father's funeral six years ago.
"Why is he here?" I whispered.
Lily flinched so violently she nearly fell.
"Don't let him see me."
Owen stepped into the kitchen doorway and stopped when he saw the open floor panel.
His pleasant smile disappeared.
"Well," he said quietly. "That makes tonight complicated."
I put myself between him and Lily.
"Get out of my house."
"Your house?" He looked around as if the room belonged to someone else. "You really still don't know, do you?"
Clara's face tightened. "Owen, leave."
He ignored her.
His eyes settled on the wooden box in my hand.
"Give me the tape."
"No."
He reached inside his coat.
I lunged.
We crashed into the kitchen table. Eva screamed as Clara pulled her behind the island.
Owen drew a folding knife.
"I don't want to hurt you," he said.
"I remember hearing that before."
The words left my mouth before I knew why.
Something flashed in my head.
Rain.
Lily screaming.
Owen's face above me.
A burst of pain behind my left ear.
I froze.
Owen saw it.
"There it is," he murmured. "A little memory coming back?"
Clara grabbed a cast-iron skillet and swung it into his forearm.
The knife clattered across the tile.
I drove Owen into the wall, but he twisted free, smashed his elbow into my ribs, and bolted through the back door.
By the time I reached the porch, he was already running across the dark yard toward a black SUV.
I caught the license plate with my phone camera.
Then the vehicle disappeared down the road.
I turned back inside.
Lily was staring at me.
"He hit you that night too," she said.
Clara lowered the skillet.
I looked at my wife.
"Play the tape."
She shook her head.
"William, if you hear what's on that, your whole life changes."
May you like
I put the cassette on the counter.
"It already has."
