Chapter 9 - The Voice on the Recording
Julian stopped the audio.
Nobody breathed.
Then Leo said, “Play it again.”
Julian could not.
Maya reached across the table and pressed the space bar.
Eleanor’s voice filled the library.
“If the brakes fail on the hill, nobody will question it.”
A man answered.
“You are talking about murder.”
“I’m talking about timing. Anna is changing the trust. If she lives long enough to move those shares, Julian will never control them again.”
“And if she dies?”
“The old structure stays in place. Julian gets custody. I get close to Julian. We wait.”
Miles Grant.
There was no doubt.
Leo stood so suddenly the chair scraped backward.
“My mother knew they were going to kill her.”
Julian’s face had gone gray.
“She knew enough to be afraid.”
“And you married Eleanor.”
The accusation was quiet.
That made it worse.
Julian looked at his son. “I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t want to know anything. That was always easier.”
Leo walked out.
Julian started after him.
Maya blocked the doorway.
“Give him a minute.”
“I’m his father.”
“Then act like one and let him be angry.”
Julian stared at her, then sat down.
Marcus forwarded the file to detectives and the district attorney.
Samuel listened to the last thirty seconds with tears in his eyes.
The recording continued.
Miles said, “And the maid?”
Eleanor answered, “Rosa saw too much. Scare her. Don’t touch the children unless she makes us.”
Maya’s stomach turned.
Then came a sound nobody expected.
A third voice.
Male. Older.
“Enough. If we do this, we do it clean.”
Julian looked at Samuel.
Samuel looked back.
Maya knew that voice.
She had heard it at Mercer holiday dinners, charity galas, and board meetings.
It belonged to someone Julian trusted more than almost anyone alive.
May you like
Charles Mercer.
Julian’s older brother.
