Chapter 3 - The Safe Aaron Left Behind
I found my brother's old safe behind a false panel in his study: "Don't tell Reena." Those were the words Aaron had written on the back of a photograph. I calmly turned the photograph over again. Then I saw the date written underneath his handwriting.
Three days before he died.
I stared at the photograph for nearly a minute.
Aaron stood beside me in the picture.
We were twenty-something.
Carefree.
Stupid.
Alive.
He had written the note years later.
DON'T TELL REENA.
I had no idea what he meant.
I returned to the house I had shared with Aaron before he married Reena. After his death, Reena had taken possession of most of his belongings.
But there was one room she had never asked about.
His old study.
I searched through the drawers.
Nothing.
Then I remembered something.
Aaron had always hated loose floorboards.
There was one beneath his desk he used to complain about.
I moved the desk.
The board lifted easily.
Underneath was a metal panel.
I removed it.
A small safe was hidden inside.
My hands shook.
I entered the only combination I could think of.
Aaron's birthday.
The lock clicked.
Inside were documents.
A flash drive.
Three envelopes.
And a small notebook.
I opened the first envelope.
Medical records.
Not mine.
Drew's.
I read the dates.
One injury.
Then another.
Then another.
All listed as accidents.
Falling from a chair.
Falling from stairs.
Falling while playing.
But the dates didn't make sense.
On one report, Drew was three.
On another, he was four.
The descriptions were nearly identical.
I opened the notebook.
Aaron's handwriting filled the first page.
I need to remember what I saw.
My breathing stopped.
The next page said:
Reena has a room.
I turned the page.
She calls it discipline.
I call it something else.
I sat down.
Aaron had known.
He had suspected something.
But why hadn't he told anyone?
I continued reading.
He wrote about hearing children crying.
About finding locks on an interior door.
About asking Reena what was inside.
She told him it was storage.
Then he wrote one sentence that made my hands go numb.
Drew told me she locks them inside when she's angry.
I closed my eyes.
Three years.
Three years I had believed I had abandoned Aaron's children because Reena needed space.
I had been wrong.
The phone rang.
It was the hospital.
"Drew is awake," the nurse said.
I drove back immediately.
When I entered his room, Drew was sitting up.
Lily was asleep beside him.
I pulled a chair close.
"Buddy."
He looked at me.
"Did you find Dad's safe?"
I froze.
"How did you know about it?"
"Dad showed me."
My heart pounded.
"When?"
"Before he died."
"What did he show you?"
Drew looked toward Lily.
"He told me to remember the blue door."
I leaned forward.
"What blue door?"
He lowered his voice.
"The one behind the closet."
I looked at him.
"Where?"
Drew swallowed.
"In our house."
The door.
The room.
The closet.
Everything connected.
I reached for his hand.
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
He stared at the floor.
"Mom said if we told, something bad would happen to you."
I couldn't breathe.
"Drew."
He looked up.
"Uncle?"
"Your dad loved you."
"I know."
"He tried to protect you."
Drew nodded.
Then he whispered:
"He left something else."
"What?"
Drew pointed toward my jacket.
"The picture."
I pulled out the photograph.
He nodded.
"Turn it over."
I did.
Nothing.
Drew frowned.
"No."
He reached for it.
"That's not the one."
I looked at him.
"What picture?"
"The picture Dad hid under the blue door."
The nurse suddenly entered.
"Mr. Calder?"
I turned.
She looked nervous.
"There's someone downstairs asking to speak with you."
"Who?"
She hesitated.
Then she said:
"Detective Harper."
I stood.
"Why?"
The nurse looked at Drew.
"Because they found something at Reena's house."
May you like
She lowered her voice.
"They found the blue door..."
