Chapter 8 - The Voice Inside the Device
Travis placed the clear device inside a plastic evidence bag.
Lorraine laughed nervously.
“You watch too many crime shows.”
“I’m preserving evidence.”
“Evidence of what? A family argument?”
Brooke looked at the recorder.
“Play it.”
Lorraine’s head snapped toward her.
“No.”
That single word exposed more than any confession.
Travis connected the device to a reader.
At first, there was only static.
Fabric shifting.
Jonah crying.
Then Lorraine’s voice.
“Again.”
A man answered.
“You said today.”
Travis froze.
The voice came through faintly, likely from Lorraine’s phone on speaker.
Lorraine looked toward the door.
Travis increased the volume.
The man continued.
“If the sample is in the crib, it will be enough.”
Brooke’s face tightened.
“What sample?”
Lorraine moved forward.
Travis blocked her again.
The recording continued.
“You only need the lab to believe the blanket came directly from the baby.”
Brooke’s hand flew to her mouth.
Travis stared at his mother.
“A lab?”
Lorraine said nothing.
The male voice said, “Once the report is issued, your son will do the rest.”
The call ended.
Silence filled the office.
Travis looked down at Jonah.
Then at Brooke.
A paternity test.
The object was not merely a recorder.
It held a sealed swab.
Lorraine intended to plant someone else’s DNA on the crib blanket and have it tested as Jonah’s.
She wanted Travis to believe Jonah was not his son.
Brooke’s voice shook.
“You wanted to destroy our marriage.”
Lorraine’s expression changed.
The panic disappeared.
In its place came bitterness.
“You destroyed this family when you entered it.”
Travis looked almost physically struck.
“Why?”
“She trapped you.”
“I married her.”
“She became pregnant the moment you threatened to change your trust.”
Brooke stared at Lorraine.
“What trust?”
Lorraine went still.
Travis turned slowly.
“What is she talking about?”
Lorraine’s lips parted.
Then closed.
Brooke realized the paternity test was only one layer.
There was something about money.
May you like
Something Travis had never been told.
👉 The planted DNA was designed to break the marriage, but Lorraine’s real motive was hidden inside a trust document Travis had never been allowed to see.
