Chapter 12
It was the sort my mother had used when she practiced English years ago.
A strip of masking tape had been placed across the top.
On it was written one word.
HANNAH.
I stopped breathing.
Victor searched the room before touching the recorder.
Then he pressed play.
For several seconds, there was only static.
A woman inhaled shakily.
When she spoke, my knees nearly gave way.
“Hannah, my love…”
My mother’s voice.
Older than in my memories, weaker, but unmistakable.
I reached for the desk.
Victor pulled out a chair, but I could not sit.
The recording continued.
“If you are hearing this, then the locket has been recognized. I prayed this day would never come.”
Tears blurred the recorder.
“I wanted to tell you the truth many times. Each time, I looked at you and saw the life we had built. A small life, perhaps, but ours. I could not risk losing it.”
A faint cough interrupted her words.
“You will be told that Daniel Vale was your father. He was a good man. He loved you before he saw you. But there are truths more dangerous than lies, and Victor does not know everything.”
Victor went still beside me.
My mother’s voice softened.
“Do not blame him for the choices I made. He was young, and he trusted the wrong person. We all did.”
The tape clicked.
For one awful second, I thought it had ended.
Then she spoke again.
“The locket does not contain money. It does not contain evidence. The story about documents was created so that anyone searching for it would misunderstand its purpose.”
May you like
Victor turned toward me.
My fingers found the pendant at Lily’s neck in my memory.
