Chapter 8 - The Last Conversation
The second recording had been made inside Ethan’s car.
Sarah sat in the station conference room with headphones over her ears.
Julian sat across from her.
Detective Reyes stood near the wall.
Ethan’s voice came first.
“If you’re listening to this, Sarah, I’m sorry.”
Sarah stopped the recording.
She couldn’t breathe.
Julian said nothing.
After a moment, she pressed play again.
“I should have told you sooner. Mom knows about the trust. Julian knows part of it. Mercer knows too much.”
Ethan exhaled.
“I don’t know who I can trust anymore.”
Sarah’s eyes moved toward Julian.
He didn’t look away.
Then Victoria’s voice filled the recording.
She was inside the car with Ethan.
“You are coming home.”
“No.”
“You’re exhausted.”
“Get out of my car.”
“Not until you listen.”
“I listened my whole life.”
“You think Sarah loves you?”
“Yes.”
“She loves what you can give her.”
“You don’t know her.”
“I know people.”
“No. You know leverage.”
Victoria’s voice sharpened.
“If you leave tonight, don’t come crawling back.”
“I’m not coming back.”
“You walk away from this family and I will make sure Sarah never sees a dollar.”
Ethan laughed.
“You still don’t understand.”
A pause.
“She already owns enough voting shares to remove you.”
Victoria stopped speaking.
Sarah looked at Julian.
“What shares?”
He answered quietly.
“Twenty-eight percent of Sterling Holdings.”
“I own twenty-eight percent?”
“Through a trust Ethan created.”
“I was cleaning bathrooms yesterday.”
“I know.”
She stared at him.
“You knew?”
“I learned two days ago.”
Sarah ripped off the headphones.
“Is there anything in my life everyone knows except me?”
Julian had no answer.
Reyes pointed toward the recorder.
“Finish.”
Sarah pressed play.
Victoria’s voice returned.
“You would give her my company?”
“It isn’t your company.”
“It belongs to this family.”
“Sarah is my family.”
Then Ethan said something quieter.
“And if you ever touch Leo, I’ll burn every secret Dad left behind.”
Silence.
Victoria finally whispered,
“You don’t know what you’re doing.”
Ethan replied,
“I know exactly what I’m doing.”
The car door slammed.
The recording continued for two more minutes.
Ethan drove.
He called Sarah.
She remembered that call.
He had told her he would be home in twenty minutes.
She had asked him to bring milk.
Such a stupid little detail.
Milk.
Then Ethan muttered,
“What the hell?”
A warning chime sounded.
He pumped the brake pedal.
“Come on.”
The engine revved.
His breathing changed.
Then the recording cut out.
Sarah removed the headphones slowly.
Reyes spoke first.
“Victoria was the last confirmed person with him.”
Julian leaned forward.
“But the recording doesn’t prove she cut the line.”
“No.”
Reyes looked at the ledger.
“But this might prove motive.”
Sarah opened it.
Page after page listed payments.
Mercer Consulting.
Sterling Foundation.
Private transfers.
Fake charities.
Then Sarah found a familiar name.
Mitchell, Sarah.
$275,000.
She stared.
“I never received this.”
Julian examined it.
“That’s the money they accused you of stealing.”
Another entry appeared beneath it.
C. Mercer – document preparation.
Sarah looked at Reyes.
“He created the evidence.”
“Looks that way.”
Sarah’s phone vibrated.
A message from Victoria.
No hidden number this time.
VICTORIA STERLING.
A photograph was attached.
Leo’s empty bedroom.
Sarah stood instantly.
“What happened?”
She called Elena.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Julian grabbed his phone.
Then another message appeared.
COME ALONE.
BRING THE LEDGER.
OR LEO FINALLY LEARNS WHAT HIS FATHER DID TO YOU.
Sarah looked at Julian.
Her face changed.
Not fear.
Something colder.
May you like
“Victoria has my son.”
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