Chapter 3 - A Voice That Wasn't Mine
The audio crackled with static before a cold, calculated voice echoed directly into Adrian’s eardrum. It wasn't his voice, and it certainly didn't belong to Clara.
"Step away from the house, Adrian, or the next mistake won't be an accident," the metallic voice whispered.
Adrian’s breath hitched in his throat. He looked over at Clara, whose knuckles were white as she gripped the steering wheel, her eyes locked on the red taillights of the ambulance ahead. She had no idea he was listening to the device.
"Did you hear anything on the news about that break-in downtown?" Clara asked suddenly, her voice trembling as she glanced sideways at him.
"No," Adrian lied smoothly, quickly slipping the recorder back into his pocket. "Why are you asking about that now?"
"Because the detective who called you this morning... the one about the foreclosure... he mentioned something weird," Clara said, taking a sharp turn toward the county hospital. "He said our mortgage wasn't just in default. He said someone paid it off in full yesterday using a shell corporation."
"That doesn't make any sense," Adrian replied, his mind racing back to the hidden device. "We've been struggling for months. Who would pay off our debt?"
"That's what worries me," Clara said, pulling into the emergency bay and parking crookedly across two stalls. "Nobody gives away three hundred thousand dollars for free."
They leaped out of the car and rushed through automatic sliding doors into the chaotic emergency room, where nurses were wheeling Lily toward trauma room four. Adrian tried to follow, but a security guard stepped directly into his path, blocking the doorway with a stony expression.
"Family only beyond this point," the guard said, extending a heavy hand.
"I am her father!" Adrian roared, stepping forward with his chest puffed out, ready to fight his way through.
Before the situation could escalate, a tall man in a crisp charcoal suit stepped out of the trauma bay, holding an open file folder. He looked directly at Adrian, his eyes cold and knowing.
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"Mr. Miller," the man said smoothly, flashing a silver badge. "Detective Vance, local precinct. I think we need to talk about what happened in that SUV."
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