PART 7
My hands began shaking.
I opened it.
Inside was a letter.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Daniel’s.
I read the first line.
Rebecca, if you’re reading this, then Mia has found the place I prayed she would never find.
I stopped.
Mia stepped closer.
“Is that Dad?”
I nodded.
My eyes blurred with tears.
I continued.
I wanted to tell you everything. More times than I can count. But every time I tried, I remembered the promise I made to Thomas’s father and the threats against our family.
I swallowed.
The next sentence nearly broke me.
I never stopped looking for Thomas.
I looked at the elderly man.
He was crying.
Daniel’s letter continued.
After I left the camp, I kept investigating. I discovered that my memory of that summer wasn’t complete. There was another person involved.
I froze.
Another person.
I continued reading.
Someone helped my father cover the truth.
My eyes moved down the page.
Then I saw the name.
I dropped the letter.
The director bent down and picked it up.
She read it.
Her face turned white.
“What?”
I grabbed the paper from her.
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Who?”
She looked at me.
“It can’t be.”
I pointed to the letter.
“Tell me.”
She whispered:
“My father didn’t act alone.”
I stared at her.
“Who helped him?”
She looked toward the old man.
Then toward me.
“Daniel’s own father.”
I felt the room tilt.
“My father-in-law?”
The director nodded.
“No…”
I stepped backward.
“My father-in-law hated the camp.”
“He had a financial interest in it,” the director said.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It will.”
She pointed to the wooden box.
“Open it.”
I lifted the lid.
Inside were dozens of documents.
Bank statements.
Photographs.
Letters.
Legal papers.
And one small cassette tape.
I stared at it.
“What is this?”
The elderly man stepped closer.
“Your husband recorded something.”
I found an old cassette player beneath the documents.
My hands shook as I inserted the tape.
There was static.
Then Daniel’s voice.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
“If you’re hearing this, then I’m probably gone.”
I closed my eyes.
Mia began crying.
Daniel continued.
“Rebecca, I’m sorry.”
The recording paused.
Then he said something that made my heart stop.
“The story about my death isn’t true.”
I opened my eyes.
The director stared at the tape player.
Daniel continued.
“I wasn’t killed because of the camp.”
A long silence.
“I was killed because I was about to expose who really owned the money.”
I looked at the documents.
“Who?”
Daniel’s voice answered the question.
“My father.”
I couldn’t move.
The man I had known as my kind, quiet father-in-law had been involved.
But Daniel wasn’t finished.
“He wasn’t the only one.”
The tape crackled.
“There’s someone else.”
The recording suddenly became distorted.
Then Daniel whispered:
“She is still alive.”
I looked at the director.
“Who is she?”
The tape continued.
“Her name is…”
Static swallowed the next words.
I hit the player.
Nothing.
The tape had stopped.
“No!”
I pressed the button repeatedly.
Nothing.
“Play!”
The elderly man picked up the cassette.
“It may have been damaged.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
I grabbed the tape.
“He was about to tell me.”
Mia suddenly pointed toward the wooden box.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“There’s another tape.”
I looked down.
She was right.
Under the first cassette was a second one.
I picked it up.
A handwritten note was attached.
If the first recording fails, listen to this one.
My heart pounded.
I inserted it.
Static.
Then Daniel’s voice.
But this time, he sounded frightened.
“Rebecca, if you are hearing this, someone has already found the first recording.”
I looked at the door.
Nobody had moved.
Daniel continued.
“There’s something you need to know about Mia.”
My blood ran cold.
“Mia?”
The recording continued.
“Before she was born, I discovered something about her.”
I looked at my daughter.
She stared at me.
“What about me?” she whispered.
Daniel’s voice came through the speaker.
“Your daughter was the reason they were watching us.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“Why?”
The recording continued.
“Because Mia’s birth mother…”
I froze.
Mia was my daughter.
I had given birth to her.
Daniel knew that.
So why had he said birth mother?
The tape crackled.
Then Daniel spoke the words that shattered everything I believed about my own family.
“Rebecca, I’m sorry, but there is something about Mia’s birth that I never told you.”
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