Chapter 6 - The Man Aaron Trusted
The hospital door opened one inch: "Uncle?" Drew's voice shook. I grabbed Lily and pulled her behind me. Then I heard the voice of the man who had carried Aaron's coffin. "Mr. Calder, we need to talk."
Detective Harper rushed back into the room.
The door opened wider.
The man standing outside was Nathan Cole.
Aaron's closest business partner.
The man who had spoken at his funeral.
The man who had promised me that he would always protect Aaron's children.
Now he stood in the hospital hallway looking at Drew.
Harper stepped between them.
"You need to leave."
Nathan raised his hands.
"I only came to speak."
"Then speak from there."
Nathan looked at me.
"You don't understand what you're getting into."
I laughed bitterly.
"My nephew is six years old."
"I know."
"He's terrified of you."
Nathan's face tightened.
"That's not my fault."
Drew whispered:
"Dad didn't trust him."
Nathan heard.
His expression changed.
"What did you say?"
Drew grabbed my jacket.
"Dad said never let you take us."
Nathan went pale.
Harper turned toward him.
"What exactly did Aaron tell the children?"
Nathan shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Then why are you here?"
"I came because someone told me the safe had been found."
Silence.
I stared at him.
"Who told you?"
Nathan didn't answer.
Harper stepped closer.
"Who?"
Nathan finally said:
"Gordon."
That was enough.
Harper called another officer.
Nathan was escorted away for questioning.
But before he left, he looked at me.
"Your brother was trying to expose something much bigger than Reena."
"What?"
Nathan stared at me.
"Ask what Aaron was investigating before he died."
Then he was gone.
I returned to Drew.
He was shaking.
I sat beside him.
"What was your dad investigating?"
Drew looked toward Lily.
"He said someone was taking money."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"What else?"
"He had papers."
"What papers?"
Drew frowned.
"Numbers."
That matched the documents in the safe.
I returned to my brother's old study.
The notebook was still open.
I searched every page.
Then I found a reference to something called Project Willow.
I searched the flash drive.
There were dozens of files.
Contracts.
Bank statements.
Property records.
One folder was locked.
I tried Aaron's birthday.
Nothing.
I tried mine.
Nothing.
Then I remembered Drew's words.
The blue door.
I typed BLUE DOOR.
The folder opened.
Inside was one video.
Recorded two days before Aaron died.
I clicked it.
Aaron appeared on screen.
He looked exhausted.
He stared directly into the camera.
"If something happens to me, don't trust the person who tells you it was an accident."
I stopped breathing.
Aaron continued.
"Someone has been moving money through accounts connected to the children's trust."
My hands shook.
"The trust was created for Drew and Lily."
He leaned closer.
"The money isn't gone."
A pause.
"It's being redirected."
Then Aaron said something that changed everything.
"I know who is doing it."
He reached toward the camera.
Before he could say the name, the video cut to black.
I stared at the screen.
Someone had edited it.
Someone had removed the most important part.
I checked the file properties.
The video had been accessed recently.
Today.
My blood ran cold.
Someone else had opened the file.
Someone knew I had found it.
Then my computer displayed a new notification.
FILE DELETED.
I checked the folder.
The video was gone.
Every copy.
Except one.
The original had been uploaded somewhere else.
I clicked the location.
A map appeared.
A storage facility.
The address was only five miles from Reena's house.
Then my phone vibrated.
One message.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE PAST BURIED.
May you like
A second message arrived immediately.
WE KNOW WHERE THE CHILDREN ARE...
