Chapter 7 - THE HIDDEN RECORDING
I picked up the watch.
The silver was cold against my palm.
Harper thought he had won because he took the paper folder.
He thought he took the only evidence.
But he didn't know my father.
My dad was an inventor. A man who built complex medical machines from scratch. He didn't just rely on a piece of paper.
I pressed the small latch on the side of the watch.
The glass face popped open.
The hands were frozen at 10:14 PM.
The exact time of his accident.
I pressed my thumbnail against the center dial and twisted it sharply to the left.
With a tiny click, the entire clock face detached.
Underneath the gears was a hollow compartment.
And tucked neatly inside was a small, black USB drive.
My heart hammered in my chest.
I didn't go home. I couldn't risk Harper having someone watching the house.
I ran to the public library, logged onto a computer, and plugged the drive in.
There was only one file.
An audio recording.
I put on the headphones and pressed play.
There was static, then the sound of a car engine running.
"Marcus, you need to listen to me," my father's voice pleaded.
I gasped, covering my mouth. It had been ten years since I heard his voice.
"I won't sign it," my dad continued. "The medical device is dangerous. The clinical trials failed. You can't put this to market, people will die."
"The investors don't care about the trials, Arthur," Harper's voice replied, cold and sharp. "They care about the launch date. Sign the transfer."
"No! I'm going to the board tomorrow. I'm shutting it down."
There was the sound of a scuffle. A sudden, violent swerve of tires.
"What are you doing? Marcus, grab the wheel!" my dad yelled.
A deafening crash. Shattering glass.
Then, silence.
Finally, the sound of a car door opening.
"He's dead, Mr. Harper," a new voice said.
A voice I recognized perfectly.
Vice Principal Davis.
"Good," Harper replied. "Take his keys. Find the patent. I'll forge his signature tonight. You witness it, Thomas, and I'll make sure you're taken care of."
The recording clicked off.
I sat in the library chair, trembling violently.
It wasn't just theft.
It was murder.
Davis was in the car with Harper. They ran my father off the road.
I pulled the USB drive out and shoved it into my pocket.
I couldn't just give this to the local police. Harper owned half the town. He probably owned the police chief, too.
I needed an audience. An audience so large Harper couldn't buy his way out of it.
I looked at the clock on the library wall.
It was 6:00 PM.
Tonight was the annual Town Hall & School Board Assembly in the school gymnasium.
Harper would be there. He always gave the keynote speech about his charitable donations to the school.
I pulled my phone out and texted Olivia.
I have proof. They killed him. Meet me behind the gym at 7:00.
Ten minutes later, my phone buzzed.
It wasn't a text from Olivia.
It was a picture.
A picture of my mother, sitting in her own living room, looking terrified.
And standing behind her, holding her phone, was Marcus Harper.
May you like
The text beneath the picture read:
Bring whatever you found to the school assembly. Give it to me, or your mother takes the fall for embezzling from the clinic.
