Chapter 5 - The Voice Through the Wire
Before Marisol or Priya could speak another word, the sharp, sudden ring of Priya’s office landline shattered the dead silence of the room.
RING.
Both women jumped slightly. Priya stared at the glowing line button on her digital desk phone. The caller ID display read: UNKNOWN / ENCRYPTED ROUTE.
RING.
Priya looked at Marisol, her throat dry. "Marisol... don't touch it."
"Answer it," Marisol whispered, her voice shaking with adrenaline. "Put it on speaker."
Priya reached out with a trembling hand and pressed the speakerphone button.
CLICK.
The line opened with a low, static hiss. For two agonizing seconds, there was only the sound of heavy, rhythmic breathing on the other end of the line.
Then, a distorted, metallic male voice—processed through an electronic voice scrambler—spoke from the small desk speaker.
"Don’t tell her who signed it," the distorted male voice growled low and cold.
Marisol whipped her head toward the telephone console, her eyes wide with unadulterated horror.
"Who is this?!" Priya demanded, leaning toward the microphone. "This is a private legal line! We are recording this call!"
"Check the original adoption registry seal, Marisol," the distorted voice continued, ignoring Priya entirely. "Check the witness signature from twenty-eight years ago. You think you left that lakehouse on your own terms? You were pushed. And if you go to the police, the mortgage fraud falls entirely on you."
CLICK.
The line went dead, replaced by the flat, mechanical tone of a disconnected signal.
Marisol stood frozen beside the walnut desk, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. She looked down at the open adoption file still clutched in her hand, her eyes dropping to the bottom of the twenty-eight-year-old document.
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There, written in faded black ink on the line reserved for the official legal witness of her adoption, was a signature she recognized instantly—a signature she had seen on birthday cards, family checks, and business contracts her entire life.
It belonged to her brother, Cole’s, father—her uncle, Marcus Vance.
