Chapter 2 - The Voice on the Recorder
Leo ran.
He vaulted over the broken frame, slid across the polished floor, and squeezed between two chairs before Richard could grab his shirt.
“Leo, stop!” Claire shouted behind him.
“Get the recorder!” Richard barked.
That was all Leo needed to hear.
He sprinted down the hallway toward the servants’ stairs. He knew Mercer House better than anyone except Grandpa. The mansion had been built in pieces over a hundred years, which meant it was full of narrow passages, odd doors, and stairs that seemed to lead nowhere.
Grandpa used to call it a house designed by people who did not trust each other.
Now Leo understood why that joke had always made him smile without laughing.
He ducked into the laundry room and shoved a chair under the knob.
His hands shook as he pressed PLAY.
Static hissed.
Then Henry Mercer’s voice filled the tiny room.
“Leo, if you found this, then I was right about you.”
Leo covered his mouth.
Grandpa.
Alive when he recorded it.
“You notice what adults miss. That is a gift, but right now it may also put you in danger.”
Footsteps thundered in the hallway.
Leo turned down the volume.
“My son Richard has been stealing from Mercer Industries for more than two years. Martin Pike helped him hide it. When I confronted them, they tried to convince the board I was mentally unfit. When that failed, they changed my medication.”
Leo’s stomach twisted.
Grandpa had been tired. Forgetful. Angry at strange times.
Everyone had called it age.
Henry continued.
“I discovered the truth too late. If I disappear, the evidence is in the blue room. The brass key gets you inside, but only if you remember what I taught you about clocks.”
Someone slammed into the laundry-room door.
“Leo!” Richard shouted. “Open this door right now!”
The chair jumped.
Leo listened harder.
“One more thing. Your mother can be trusted. Mrs. Alvarez can be trusted. No one else. Not until you know why the clock stopped at 4:17.”
The recording clicked off.
The door shook again.
“Leo!” Claire cried. “Please open up!”
He wanted to.
Then he heard Martin Pike speaking softly on the other side.
“We need to keep this contained before the boy hears too much.”
Leo stared at the small vent near the floor.
Grandpa had once shown him where it led.
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Thirty seconds later, Leo was crawling through darkness while Uncle Richard broke down the door behind him.
And somewhere deep inside the wall, a telephone began to ring.
