Chapter 8 - What Aaron Saw That Night
The storage door slammed shut behind us: "Nobody move." Detective Harper raised his flashlight. I heard a man's voice whisper, "You should have listened to Aaron." Then the lights came back on. But the man was gone.
Harper forced the door open.
The hallway outside was empty.
We searched every corner.
Nothing.
No footprints.
No person.
But the recording device was gone.
Someone had entered the storage unit while we were inside.
Someone had taken the only recording.
I looked at Reena.
She was shaking.
"I know who it is."
Harper turned.
"Who?"
She swallowed.
"Someone Aaron met the night before he died."
"Name."
She looked at me.
"Calvin Ross."
I didn't know the name.
But Harper did.
His face changed.
"Calvin Ross?"
Reena nodded.
"Who is he?" I asked.
Harper answered.
"A former investigator."
I stared at him.
"Why would Aaron meet him?"
"Because Calvin was investigating financial fraud connected to the trust."
Everything clicked.
Aaron hadn't been alone.
He had hired someone to help him.
Calvin had found the money trail.
Gordon and Nathan had discovered it.
And Aaron had become a problem.
But there was still one question.
Why had Reena participated?
She looked at me.
"I was scared."
I said nothing.
"They told me they would make the children disappear."
My chest tightened.
"Who?"
"Gordon."
She cried.
"But Gordon wasn't the one making the threats."
"Who was?"
Reena whispered:
"Nathan."
Harper immediately made a call.
I looked at Drew.
He was staring at the boxes.
Then he pointed.
"That one."
A small box sat beneath a shelf.
I opened it.
Inside was a cassette recorder.
And a letter.
Aaron had written:
For Drew, when he's old enough.
I couldn't open it.
Not yet.
The cassette recorder contained one file.
We played it.
Aaron's voice filled the storage unit.
"I found the person behind the money transfers."
A pause.
"They're using the children's trust to finance something else."
Another pause.
"I don't know what."
Then Aaron said:
"If they discover this recording, they'll come after my family."
The tape continued.
"The person signing the transfers isn't Gordon."
I looked at Reena.
"It's Nathan."
Harper nodded.
But then Aaron added:
"Nathan is only following orders."
The room went silent.
"Whose orders?"
Aaron answered his own question.
"Someone inside the family."
Reena covered her mouth.
I stared at her.
"Who?"
The tape clicked.
Aaron whispered one final sentence.
"The person you trust most."
Then silence.
Harper turned off the recorder.
"No."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"There's another recording."
He found a second tape.
This one was labeled with a date.
The night Aaron died.
We played it.
At first there was only road noise.
Then Aaron's voice.
"Why are you here?"
A second voice answered.
A voice I knew.
My own voice.
I staggered backward.
Impossible.
I hadn't been there.
I hadn't spoken to Aaron that night.
The recording continued.
My voice said:
"You can't tell them."
I looked at Reena.
She looked horrified.
Harper stared at me.
I couldn't breathe.
Then the recording revealed the truth.
The voice wasn't mine.
It was someone imitating me.
Someone had used my identity to lure Aaron out.
Someone who knew me well enough to copy my voice.
And Aaron had recognized the deception.
His final words were:
"Tell my brother I never blamed him."
The recording ended.
I sat down.
My brother had known he might die.
And he had still protected me.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Nobody spoke.
Then a child's voice whispered:
"Uncle?"
I looked at Drew.
He wasn't holding a phone.
The voice continued.
"Lily isn't safe."
I turned toward Lily.
She was gone.
May you like
The chair beside me was empty.
Then I heard the storage unit door close again...
