Chapter 9 - The Voice On Speaker
Dad let the phone ring until it stopped.
A moment later, a text appeared.
YOU SIGN ONE THING AND I GIVE THEM THE RECORDING.
He went pale.
"What recording?" I asked.
He refused to answer.
Daniel advised him to consult his own attorney before making further statements.
Dad left without signing.
I wanted to chase him into the parking lot, but June stopped me.
"He has to choose what kind of man he's going to be," she said.
I drove back to Dallas furious that the truth still depended on his courage.
Two days later I learned what Maria was threatening.
Dad called late at night and admitted he'd once recorded a conversation with Mom during her illness.
In the clip, Mom sounded confused and angry about their business accounts.
Maria had edited a short portion that made Mom appear to say she had moved the missing money.
"Did she?" I asked.
"No," Dad whispered.
He told me the complete recording included Mom accusing Maria of hiding transfers and Dad urging her to drop the matter.
He'd kept it on an old computer.
Maria now possessed a copy.
I asked him to preserve the original and bring it to Daniel.
For the first time, Dad didn't argue.
The next day he arrived carrying a dusty laptop.
A computer specialist made a forensic copy of the drive before anyone opened the audio files.
The full conversation lasted twenty-seven minutes.
Mom sounded exhausted but unmistakably lucid.
I sat beside June as her voice filled the room.
"Carter, there is money leaving the account that doesn't belong to that vendor."
Dad's younger voice answered.
"Not now, Elise."
"If you won't protect Zoe, I will."
I pressed my hands to my mouth.
Mom went on to describe the trust and the need to keep its records separate from the company books.
Then came the line Maria had removed from the edited clip.
"I didn't take the money, Carter. And you know it."
Dad began crying.
I kept listening.
Near the end, Mom said something I hadn't expected.
"I have already given June a second copy."
June turned toward me, startled.
May you like
"She never told me there were two," she whispered.
