Part 6: The Final Witness Appeared
Part 6: The Final Witness Appeared
Richard Harper survived.
Barely.
The doctors called it a massive heart attack brought on by years of untreated stress and advanced heart disease. Emergency surgery saved his life, but when Michael arrived at St. Andrew's Hospital the following morning, the cardiologist met him outside the intensive care unit with a serious expression.
"He's stable."
Michael released the breath he'd been holding.
"But..."
The doctor hesitated.
"He suffered temporary oxygen deprivation."
"What does that mean?"
"It means his memory is inconsistent."
Michael's heart sank.
"He remembers some things clearly."
"And other things?"
"They're gone."
When Michael entered the ICU, Richard looked smaller than he ever remembered.
The machines surrounding him beeped steadily.
For the first time in Michael's life...
his father looked frightened.
Richard slowly opened his eyes.
"Michael..."
"I'm here."
Richard tried to sit up.
"The box..."
"I know."
"You were trying to tell me something."
Richard frowned.
"What was I saying?"
Michael felt his stomach tighten.
"You said someone else was involved."
Richard stared blankly.
Then slowly shook his head.
"I..."
"I can't remember."
Outside the room, Michael leaned against the hallway wall.
Thirty years.
Thirty years of lies.
Now the only man who knew the complete truth couldn't remember it.
Or perhaps...
Didn't want to.
Michael wasn't sure which possibility hurt more.
Later that afternoon, his phone rang.
The number was unfamiliar.
"This is Michael."
A quiet elderly voice answered.
"My name is Eleanor Brooks."
Michael frowned.
"I don't think we know each other."
"We don't."
"But..."
"...I knew your mother."
His entire body froze.
They met two hours later at a small café across town.
Eleanor was nearly eighty.
She walked slowly with a cane.
The moment she saw Michael, tears filled her eyes.
"You have Anna's smile."
Michael sat down.
"You knew my mother?"
"I worked with her."
"At the public library."
Michael nodded slowly.
"My mother mentioned the library once."
Eleanor smiled sadly.
"She loved that place."
"I've been looking for you."
Michael blinked.
"For me?"
Eleanor reached into her purse.
She carefully removed an old cassette tape.
The label had faded with age.
Across the front, handwritten in blue ink, were three words.
For Michael.
Michael stared.
"What is this?"
"Your mother's voice."
Eleanor looked toward the café window before continuing.
"About twenty-eight years ago..."
"...Anna came to see me."
"She looked terrified."
"She told me someone was following her."
Michael leaned forward.
"What happened?"
"She asked me to hide this tape."
"And she made me promise..."
"...that if anything happened to her..."
"...I'd give it to her son."
Michael swallowed hard.
"Why now?"
Eleanor smiled sadly.
"I spent years searching."
"I never knew where Richard moved."
"Yesterday..."
"I saw your picture on the evening news."
"The story about the reunion."
"I knew immediately."
Michael drove home without stopping.
His hands shook as he found an old cassette player in Lily's school music box.
Anna's voice filled the living room.
Soft.
Gentle.
Older than he remembered.
"Hello, my sweet Michael..."
Michael closed his eyes.
Tears rolled silently down his face.
"If you're hearing this..."
"Then something happened to me before I could find you."
"I hope that isn't true..."
"But hope isn't always enough."
She paused.
Michael could hear her taking a shaky breath.
"Your father made terrible mistakes."
"But he isn't the person I'm afraid of anymore."
Michael's eyes snapped open.
Not the person?
"Richard lost control long ago."
"There was another man."
"A man named Victor Kane."
Michael grabbed a notebook.
He quickly wrote down the name.
Victor Kane.
His mother's voice continued.
"Richard borrowed money from him."
"When Richard couldn't repay the debt..."
"Victor Kane decided he wanted something else."
Michael stopped breathing.
"He wanted me."
Anna's voice cracked.
"Richard begged him not to."
"He cried."
"He even offered his own life instead."
"But Victor Kane only laughed."
Michael stared at the speaker.
Everything Richard had confessed suddenly looked different.
He hadn't been protecting himself at the end.
He had been trying...
Too late...
To stop something much worse.
The tape continued.
"If Richard ever tells you he tried to save me..."
"Believe him."
"He failed."
"But he tried."
"I forgave him years ago."
Michael lowered his head into his hands.
For thirty years...
He had hated the wrong version of his father.
Richard had committed an unforgivable crime.
But someone even more powerful had stepped in afterward...
Turning one terrible mistake into a lifetime nightmare.
The recording reached its final minute.
"Michael..."
"If Victor Kane is still alive..."
"Don't look for him."
"Promise me."
"Because men like him never stop hurting families."
The tape clicked.
Silence.
Michael sat motionless.
Then his phone vibrated.
Victor's name flashed across the screen.
When Michael answered, Victor's voice sounded tighter than usual.
"Michael..."
"We have a problem."
"What happened?"
Victor paused.
"I ran Victor Kane's name."
"And?"
"He's not dead."
Michael's grip tightened around the phone.
"Where is he?"
Victor's answer made the room feel suddenly colder.
"Less than fifty miles away."
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"And according to everything I just found..."
"...he's been watching your family again."
