Chapter 16: The Voice in the Dark
475 Words
The voice echoed through the charred library.
"Congratulations, Alexander. You've solved more of the puzzle than I expected."
Everyone looked around, searching for the source.
"Show yourself!" Detective Bennett ordered.
Instead of an answer, a low laugh filled the room.
"You've spent years chasing the wrong people."
Alexander stepped toward the hidden speaker.
"Who are you?"
"You'll know soon enough."
The transmission ended with a burst of static.
Jordan immediately searched the room.
"It's coming from a wireless speaker."
He pulled a small black device from behind a bookshelf.
"It was activated remotely."
Detective Bennett frowned.
"They knew we'd be here."
---
Nathan stepped forward.
"You need to listen to me."
Alexander folded his arms.
"After everything that's happened, why should I trust you?"
"Because I'm the reason you're still alive."
The room fell silent.
Nathan took a deep breath.
"Twenty years ago, Dad discovered that someone inside Stone Global was laundering money through fake companies. He planned to expose them."
"So why did you disappear?" Maya asked.
Nathan looked at the floor.
"The night before Dad died, he told me to leave the country. He said if I stayed, I'd be next."
Alexander's anger slowly turned into confusion.
"You never stole the money?"
Nathan shook his head.
"No. Dad transferred it into secret accounts to protect the company. He framed it as theft so the real criminals would stop looking for it."
Jordan stared in disbelief.
"So everyone believed Nathan was the villain..."
"...when he was actually protecting the evidence."
Nathan nodded.
"I've spent twenty years trying to uncover the truth."
---
Detective Bennett's phone buzzed.
She answered quickly.
"What?"
Her expression changed instantly.
She covered the microphone.
"Our forensic team has identified fingerprints on the hidden speaker."
Alexander looked up.
"Whose?"
"They belong to Richard Hale."
Maya smiled.
"So now we know he was here."
Detective Bennett slowly lowered the phone.
"No..."
She looked directly at Alexander.
"They belong to Judge William Hale."
Alexander frowned.
"Who's that?"
"The Chief Justice who handled your father's estate after his death."
Jordan's eyes widened.
"Hale..."
"The same last name."
Detective Bennett nodded.
"Richard Hale didn't disappear."
"He changed his identity... and climbed into one of the most powerful positions in the country."
A heavy silence filled the room.
If the evidence was correct, the conspiracy had reached far beyond Stone Global.
It had infiltrated the legal system itself.
---
Outside the mansion, rain began to fall.
Far away, inside an elegant office overlooking the city, an older man removed a framed photograph from his desk.
It showed him standing beside Alexander's father over twenty years earlier.
He smiled faintly.
"So... they've finally remembered my name."
He opened a safe and removed a thick file labeled:
PROJECT PHOENIX
"Very well, Alexander."
He closed the safe.
"If you want the truth..."
"...come and take it."
To be continued
- Writer
