{"id":8879,"date":"2026-09-26T19:53:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T19:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=8879"},"modified":"2026-09-26T19:53:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T19:53:53","slug":"part-5-the-third-voice-on-my-fathers-recording-belonged-to-someone-who-had-been-sitting-beside-me-at-every-funeral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=8879","title":{"rendered":"PART 5 \u2013 The Third Voice on My Father\u2019s Recording Belonged to Someone Who Had Been Sitting Beside Me at Every Funeral"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Elaine did not say the name immediately.<\/p>\n<p>For several seconds, all I could hear through the merged call was the faint hiss of Detective Bell\u2019s line and my own breathing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElaine,\u201d I said. \u201cWho signed the authorization?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She answered quietly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRaymond Hayes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My uncle.<\/p>\n<p>My father\u2019s younger brother.<\/p>\n<p>The man whose guest cottage I had slept in the previous night because Elaine said I shouldn\u2019t stay at my house.<\/p>\n<p>The man who had brought coffee to Dad\u2019s funeral.<\/p>\n<p>The man who stood beside me at the cemetery while Nolan held my hand.<\/p>\n<p>The man who, after I learned my husband might have murdered my father, had opened his property to me without hesitation.<\/p>\n<p>I sat down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elaine didn\u2019t argue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m looking at the filing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean he stole anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said someone had authority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDad trusted Raymond.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor many years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen there\u2019s an explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Detective Bell cut in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire, where are you right now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked through the window.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the little kitchen, morning mist still hung above Raymond\u2019s pond. His main house sat across the lawn, maybe eighty yards away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt Raymond\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bell\u2019s voice changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeave.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you think he knows?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know anything yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know whether Raymond is involved in what happened to Arthur.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I walked toward the bedroom.<\/p>\n<p>My bag lay open on the bed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why do I need to leave?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause until we identify that third voice, you should not remain alone on his property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I shoved clothes into the bag.<\/p>\n<p>Elaine asked whether Raymond knew I had spoken to Martin Delgado.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t tell him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you tell him about Arthur\u2019s recording?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout the ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A knock sounded at the cottage door.<\/p>\n<p>Every muscle in my body froze.<\/p>\n<p>Three soft taps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raymond.<\/p>\n<p>Bell heard him through the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not tell him who you\u2019re speaking to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I lowered my voice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKeep the line open. Tell him you\u2019re getting dressed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another knock.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire? You awake?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m changing,\u201d I called.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond laughed softly through the door.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSorry. Made coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGive me five minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His footsteps retreated.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the door.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond had always walked with a slight drag in his right leg after a construction accident twenty years earlier. I could hear that uneven rhythm moving back toward the path.<\/p>\n<p>Bell said officers were coming.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo sirens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re sending police?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo escort you somewhere secure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf he\u2019s innocent, that\u2019s going to look insane.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf he\u2019s innocent, he\u2019ll survive being offended.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I packed faster.<\/p>\n<p>There was no time to make the bed or collect everything neatly.<\/p>\n<p>Then I saw my old phone charger plugged beside the nightstand.<\/p>\n<p>I reached for it and stopped.<\/p>\n<p>The outlet plate had been loosened.<\/p>\n<p>One screw sat slightly crooked.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know why I noticed.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe because Dad taught me to notice things that had been moved.<\/p>\n<p>I crouched.<\/p>\n<p>Behind the outlet was a small black device.<\/p>\n<p>Not a charger.<\/p>\n<p>Not part of the wiring.<\/p>\n<p>I photographed it without touching it.<\/p>\n<p>Bell swore under his breath when the image reached him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPotentially an audio transmitter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My skin prickled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRaymond bugged the cottage?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know who placed it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There was another possibility.<\/p>\n<p>Nolan.<\/p>\n<p>He had known where I was once.<\/p>\n<p>But only Elaine knew I had stayed there overnight.<\/p>\n<p>Unless Raymond had told someone.<\/p>\n<p>Or someone had been watching.<\/p>\n<p>Bell told me to leave everything as it was.<\/p>\n<p>I put on my shoes, lifted my bag and opened the door.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond stood halfway across the lawn holding two mugs.<\/p>\n<p>He smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThought you might need something stronger than cottage coffee, but this is what I\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For one horrible second, he looked exactly as he always had.<\/p>\n<p>Gray hair.<\/p>\n<p>Plaid shirt.<\/p>\n<p>Old jeans.<\/p>\n<p>The same face that appeared in childhood photographs beside Dad.<\/p>\n<p>I had climbed onto his shoulders at county fairs.<\/p>\n<p>He had taught me how to cast a fishing line.<\/p>\n<p>After Dad died, Raymond mailed me a birthday card every year.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing in his expression said thief.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing said conspirator.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing said murderer.<\/p>\n<p>I crossed the grass.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMorning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou look terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He handed me coffee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI meant tired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His gaze moved to my bag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou leaving?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElaine wants me closer to town.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes paused on mine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow close?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can stay here as long as you need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sincerity almost made me angry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRaymond.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Dad ever talk to you about Nolan?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His shoulders became still.<\/p>\n<p>That was the first sign.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe didn\u2019t like him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe thought Nolan was too interested in money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Dad ever tell you Nolan was stealing from him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raymond looked toward the pond.<\/p>\n<p>Then back at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere did you hear that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t an answer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe suspected things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My pulse accelerated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCouple months before he died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you never told me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were in love with Nolan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not an answer either.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His jaw tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur asked me not to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought of Dad\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n<p>Trusting someone isn\u2019t foolish.<\/p>\n<p>Refusing to face the truth afterward is.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he ask you to do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raymond took a drink of coffee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire, you\u2019ve been through enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The phrase sounded gentle.<\/p>\n<p>But it ended the conversation without my consent.<\/p>\n<p>Dad used to do that too, though less often.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe that was why I recognized it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou signed authorization over the warehouse companies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raymond\u2019s cup stopped halfway to his mouth.<\/p>\n<p>There.<\/p>\n<p>Something had landed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho told you that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you did?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was legitimate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur had surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDad never had surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raymond frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMinor procedure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat procedure?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>I stepped closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich hospital?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re lying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His expression hardened.<\/p>\n<p>Not dramatically.<\/p>\n<p>Just enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m trying to protect you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before he answered, a dark SUV turned onto the long drive.<\/p>\n<p>Bell had kept his word.<\/p>\n<p>No lights.<\/p>\n<p>No sirens.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond saw it.<\/p>\n<p>His face changed completely.<\/p>\n<p>He put his mug down on the porch railing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho did you call?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy does that matter?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho did you call?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The softness was gone.<\/p>\n<p>The SUV accelerated.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond looked toward the barn.<\/p>\n<p>Then toward the tree line.<\/p>\n<p>It happened so fast that my brain barely caught up.<\/p>\n<p>He stepped backward.<\/p>\n<p>I moved away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRaymond.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGo with them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes were on the approaching vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGet in the car and go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re innocent, stay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Two unmarked police vehicles appeared behind the first.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond cursed.<\/p>\n<p>Then he turned and walked quickly toward the barn.<\/p>\n<p>Not running.<\/p>\n<p>But fast.<\/p>\n<p>Bell shouted through my phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire, get away from him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Officers exited before the vehicles fully stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRaymond Hayes!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He ignored them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStop!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He reached the barn door.<\/p>\n<p>One officer drew his weapon.<\/p>\n<p>I screamed Raymond\u2019s name.<\/p>\n<p>He stopped.<\/p>\n<p>For one second, his shoulders rose and fell.<\/p>\n<p>Then he lifted both hands.<\/p>\n<p>They searched him.<\/p>\n<p>No weapon.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing except his wallet and keys.<\/p>\n<p>Bell arrived minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>He examined the device behind the cottage outlet and ordered the property secured.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond sat on a wooden bench near the barn while an officer remained beside him.<\/p>\n<p>He looked older than he had ten minutes earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Bell approached him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need you to answer some questions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raymond stared at me instead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou brought them here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked you the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t understand what you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The words sounded so much like Nolan that anger replaced fear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat seems to be what every man in my life says when I start asking where my money went.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His mouth tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis isn\u2019t about money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what is it about?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked toward Bell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bell took him downtown voluntarily.<\/p>\n<p>Not under arrest.<\/p>\n<p>Yet.<\/p>\n<p>I rode with Elaine.<\/p>\n<p>Halfway there, Detective Bell called.<\/p>\n<p>The forensic technician had confirmed the device from the cottage was a transmitter.<\/p>\n<p>It had been active.<\/p>\n<p>Worse, the receiver was found inside Raymond\u2019s main house.<\/p>\n<p>My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was listening to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re determining that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDetermining?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe receiver was there. We still need to establish who used it and when.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the station, Raymond requested an attorney.<\/p>\n<p>That told me enough.<\/p>\n<p>But then something unexpected happened.<\/p>\n<p>His lawyer arrived carrying a sealed envelope.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond had apparently left instructions years earlier that if police ever questioned him about Arthur Hayes, his attorney should deliver it.<\/p>\n<p>Bell opened it with witnesses.<\/p>\n<p>Inside was a flash drive.<\/p>\n<p>A handwritten note from Raymond lay on top.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not innocent.<\/p>\n<p>But I didn\u2019t kill my brother.<\/p>\n<p>The flash drive contained accounting files.<\/p>\n<p>Old emails.<\/p>\n<p>Photographs.<\/p>\n<p>And an audio recording dated three weeks before Dad died.<\/p>\n<p>The same meeting police had recovered partially from Dad\u2019s phone.<\/p>\n<p>Except Raymond\u2019s copy was complete.<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s voice came first.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou both knew exactly what was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then Nolan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur, calm down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then the third voice.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond.<\/p>\n<p>I shut my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Hearing it was different from seeing his signature.<\/p>\n<p>Dad accused Raymond of authorizing payments to fake vendors.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond admitted he had.<\/p>\n<p>But then he said something that changed the shape of everything again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNolan told me if I didn\u2019t sign, he\u2019d tell Claire what happened in 1998.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad answered immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou should have told her yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I opened my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>1998.<\/p>\n<p>I had been nine years old.<\/p>\n<p>On the recording, Raymond sounded frightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know what that would do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad replied, \u201cYou\u2019ve had twenty years to make it right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nolan interrupted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t care about family history. I care about the accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The meeting escalated.<\/p>\n<p>Dad threatened to call police.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond begged him to wait.<\/p>\n<p>Nolan told them both they were forgetting who held the evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Then Dad said one sentence that made everyone in the interview room go still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re blackmailing my brother over something my wife did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My mother.<\/p>\n<p>I had been told she died in a car accident when I was ten.<\/p>\n<p>I barely remembered the year before that.<\/p>\n<p>After the recording ended, Elaine turned toward me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did my mother do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody knew.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond refused to answer without his lawyer present.<\/p>\n<p>But Martin Delgado did.<\/p>\n<p>Bell called him.<\/p>\n<p>Martin went silent when asked about 1998.<\/p>\n<p>Then he said, \u201cArthur never wanted Claire to know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKnow what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin exhaled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe night your mother died, Raymond was in the car.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stood so quickly my chair tipped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe survived.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat doesn\u2019t make sense. Dad told me she was alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would Dad lie?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin\u2019s voice softened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Raymond wasn\u2019t the one driving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I gripped the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen who was?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There was a long pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour mother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what I was told.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire, your mother was intoxicated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room seemed to tilt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe crossed the center line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she hit someone?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin said the accident killed another driver.<\/p>\n<p>A twenty-six-year-old woman.<\/p>\n<p>Her husband survived.<\/p>\n<p>They had a child.<\/p>\n<p>The police report had been altered after the crash.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond took responsibility for the drinking.<\/p>\n<p>Dad used business connections to keep details sealed.<\/p>\n<p>Years later, Nolan discovered the original file.<\/p>\n<p>And he used it.<\/p>\n<p>Against Raymond.<\/p>\n<p>Against Dad.<\/p>\n<p>Against both of them.<\/p>\n<p>I sat down again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Raymond helped Nolan steal because Nolan blackmailed him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what the evidence suggests,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why bug me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bell looked toward the interview-room window.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what we still need answered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raymond\u2019s attorney emerged.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019ll talk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We entered together.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond\u2019s face had gone pale.<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me once, then down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you bug the cottage?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo protect you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverybody keeps saying that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI needed to hear whether Nolan contacted you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou could have told me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI couldn\u2019t trust anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou listened to me sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know Nolan killed Dad?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you suspect it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raymond hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That hurt worse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou suspected he killed your brother, and you still stayed quiet?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf Nolan?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf everything coming out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy whole life was built on the lie Arthur helped create after that crash.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou chose your reputation over Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes filled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI chose cowardice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At least that answer contained no excuse.<\/p>\n<p>Bell asked him who else knew about 1998.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond said only four people had known the truth originally.<\/p>\n<p>Dad.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond.<\/p>\n<p>Martin.<\/p>\n<p>And the surviving husband of the woman my mother killed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was his name?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas Vance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s accountant.<\/p>\n<p>The same man who later helped Nolan steal.<\/p>\n<p>The same man who died in a supposed single-car accident eleven months earlier.<\/p>\n<p>The same man whose wife had died because of my mother in 1998.<\/p>\n<p>Suddenly Thomas\u2019s involvement no longer looked like greed.<\/p>\n<p>It looked like revenge.<\/p>\n<p>And if Nolan had discovered the accident through Thomas, then the fraud might have begun with something far older than my marriage.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=8880\">Click here to continue reading: PART 6: Thomas Vance Had Waited Twenty Years for Revenge, but His Private Ledger Showed Nolan Had Eventually Turned on Him Too<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elaine did not say the name immediately. For several seconds, all I could hear through the merged call was the faint hiss of Detective Bell\u2019s line and my own breathing. &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feel-one-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8923,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8879\/revisions\/8923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}