Chapter 6: The Voice Hidden in the Game
Mara arranged the meeting at the county child advocacy center.
Max sat between his mother, Camille, and an appointed child counselor while I remained across the room.
Camille held his gaming device in both hands.
“Richard told me Max was suspended for talking back.”
“He p*shed my daughter down the stairs,” I said.
Camille’s face tightened.
“Max?”
He stared at his shoes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Dad said Sophie needed to learn that her mother couldn’t protect everyone.”
Camille covered her mouth.
I kept my voice steady.
“Did Richard tell you to p*sh her?”
“He told me to scare her.
I was angry, and she tried to stop me from taking a younger boy’s lunch money.”
Max looked at me for the first time.
“After she fell, I called the nurse from the hallway phone.
I didn’t tell anyone it was me.”
“You admitted hurting her proudly.”
“Dad was watching.”
His shoulders folded inward.
“When I act sorry, he calls me weak.
When I act like him, he buys me things.”
Camille moved closer, but Max placed the gaming device on Mara’s desk.
“It records my voice while I play.
I forgot to turn it off in Dad’s car.”
Mara connected it to an isolated computer.
Richard’s voice filled the room.
“Ward will erase the recording.
If anyone asks, Sophie slipped.”
Max’s recorded voice sounded smaller.
“She knows I p*shed her.”
“Then make sure she becomes too frightened to talk.”
Camille stood so suddenly that her chair tipped backward.
“He made our son do this?”
Max flinched.
She immediately knelt beside him.
“No, sweetheart.
Look at me.
What you did was wrong, but you are telling the truth now.
I will not let him teach you that cruelty is strength.”
Max’s eyes filled.
“Will Sophie hate me?”
“That will be Sophie’s choice,” I said.
“Telling the truth does not erase what you did.
It is only the first honest step.”
Mara advanced the recording.
Another voice entered Richard’s car.
Principal Ward.
“The secretary kept copies,” she said.
“Superintendent Blake wants her gone before the audit.”
Richard answered, “Blake received his share.
He will keep the board quiet.”
Mara stopped the file.
“We have bribery, evidence destruction, intimidation, and a second official.”
The center’s receptionist knocked and handed her an envelope.
“An emergency injunction was just delivered.”
Paul Voss appeared through the glass door.
“That device is stolen property belonging to Richard Sterling,” he announced.
“No one may copy or play its contents.”
Mara unplugged the cable.
“The copy completed three minutes ago.”
Voss’s expression did not change.
“The file will be challenged.
The child was pressured by a judge with a personal grievance.”
Camille stepped in front of her son.
“I brought Max here.”
“Richard will seek full custody tonight.”
“He can try.”
Voss looked at Max.
“Your father asked me to remind you what happens to boys who betray their families.”
Max’s hands shook, but he pushed the device toward Mara.
“Tell him I learned betrayal from him.”
Voss left without another word.
Mara reopened the audio map and pointed to a second file created the night Sophie fell.
“This was recorded at Richard’s house,” she said.
“Listen to the last voice.”
May you like
The speaker crackled.
Superintendent Blake said, “If Elena will not resign, we use her daughter until she does.”
