CHAPTER 2 – The Secret Behind the Walls
Margaret hid the phone before anyone entered the attic.
When her son, Michael, climbed the ladder, she forced herself to smile.
"Find anything interesting?"
She shook her head.
"Just old clothes."
He smiled politely.
"We'll have this place cleaned out by tomorrow."
Tomorrow.
The word echoed in her mind.
That night, unable to sleep, Margaret charged the mysterious phone using an old universal charger she found in another box.
To her surprise...
It powered on completely.
No contacts.
No messages.
Only one saved recording.
The date shocked her.
Recorded one day before Daniel supposedly died.
With trembling fingers, she pressed play.
Daniel appeared to be whispering.
"If something happens to me... it wasn't an accident."
Margaret's blood ran cold.
"Someone I trust betrayed me."
Static filled the recording.
Then another sentence emerged.
"The proof is hidden behind the attic wall... under the third beam."
The recording ended.
Margaret grabbed a flashlight and hurried upstairs.
She counted the wooden beams.
One...
Two...
Three...
Behind the old boards, she discovered a loose panel.
Inside was a sealed metal box.
Before she could open it...
She heard footsteps below.
Not Michael.
He had gone home hours earlier.
Someone else was inside the house.
Slow.
Heavy.
Deliberate footsteps.
Then a man's voice echoed from downstairs.
"I know you found the phone."
Margaret's heart nearly stopped.
She recognized the voice immediately.
It belonged to the man who had stood beside her at Daniel's funeral...
The man everyone believed had been Daniel's closest friend.
And if he was here tonight...
May you like
It meant Daniel's death had never been an accident at all.
To Be Continued...
