Chapter 7 - Aaron’s Last Night
Agent Hale arrived at Peter’s house with a forensic technician shortly after ten.
The memory card contained one encrypted video file. It took forty minutes to unlock.
Peter sat at the kitchen table while Drew and Lily slept upstairs under the supervision of a child-welfare worker. Mara stood near the back door, checking messages from the officers positioning themselves around the abandoned motel.
When the file opened, the image shook violently.
The camera appeared to be hidden inside a bookshelf.
Aaron and Reena stood in the living room.
The date stamp showed the night before Aaron died.
“I know about North Vale,” Aaron said.
Reena folded her arms.
“You know enough to make yourself dangerous.”
“You used my credentials.”
“You gave me your passwords.”
“Because you said you were paying bills.”
“I was.”
“With money stolen from dead families?”
Aaron stepped closer.
“Who is Claudia Price?”
Reena’s face tightened.
“Our attorney.”
“She incorporated every shell company.”
“You should stop digging.”
“And Simon?”
“He helps.”
“He falsified medical records.”
“He corrects inconvenient problems.”
Aaron stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Reena crossed the room and poured coffee into two cups.
“It means people die every day, Aaron. Heart attacks. Strokes. Overdoses. Sometimes paperwork is simply… clarified.”
“You’ve killed people.”
“We protected a business.”
Aaron reached into his pocket.
Reena noticed.
“Are you recording me?”
The picture jerked as if someone had bumped the shelf.
Reena threw the coffee.
Aaron gasped.
A crash followed.
The camera view became partially blocked, but the audio continued.
Reena shouted, “Simon!”
Keller entered.
Aaron struggled to breathe.
“What was in that?”
Keller said, “Hold him still.”
Furniture scraped.
Aaron cried out.
Reena’s voice came close to the hidden camera.
“Where is the evidence?”
“You’ll never find all of it.”
“Where?”
Aaron began laughing weakly.
“My brother will.”
Reena struck him.
“Peter hates you.”
“No,” Aaron whispered. “He loves my children.”
The video cut to black.
Peter stared at the screen.
Aaron’s final clear belief had not been that Peter betrayed him.
It had been that Peter would protect Drew and Lily.
Hale exhaled slowly.
“This establishes conspiracy, assault, and intent. Combined with the audio from the locker, we can reopen the death investigation.”
“What about Claudia?” Peter asked.
“She is discussed but does not appear.”
“She owns North Vale.”
“Ownership can be disguised as legal representation. We need direct evidence that she knew about the murders.”
Mara checked the time.
Eleven twenty-two.
“The motel operation begins in thirty-eight minutes.”
Peter stood.
Hale blocked him.
“You are not law enforcement.”
“She asked for me.”
“You have custody of two traumatized children.”
“And Aaron’s phone may contain the evidence that protects them forever.”
Mara stepped between them.
“We have a plan. Peter will enter wearing a wire. Officers will be positioned in the adjoining rooms and behind the property.”
Hale looked unconvinced.
“If Claudia is running this, she may anticipate surveillance.”
“That is why we have multiple teams.”
Peter looked upstairs.
He hated leaving the children.
But he hated the possibility of Reena disappearing with the final evidence more.
At eleven fifty-eight, Peter parked outside the abandoned Riverside Motor Lodge.
Half the neon sign had burned out, leaving only RIVER MOT.
Room eighteen stood at the end of the second-floor walkway.
Peter carried a black duffel bag filled with bundled paper cut to resemble cash.
A tiny transmitter rested beneath his shirt.
Mara’s voice sounded in his earpiece.
“We see you.”
Peter knocked.
The door opened.
Reena stood inside wearing a dark wig and oversized sunglasses. A bruise covered one side of her face.
“You came.”
“Where’s the phone?”
“Where are the passports?”
“In the bag.”
She searched him quickly but missed the transmitter sewn into his belt.
The room smelled of cigarette smoke and damp carpet.
“You broke Drew’s leg,” Peter said.
“I told you, he fell.”
“From what?”
“The basement stairs.”
“Why didn’t you take him to a doctor?”
“Because doctors ask questions.”
“You were planning to collect the insurance.”
Reena looked away.
“Claudia was.”
“You signed the policy.”
“Claudia said the children were already a risk.”
“A risk to what?”
“The accounts.”
Peter set the bag on the bed.
“Give me Aaron’s phone.”
Reena opened a drawer and removed a red phone sealed inside plastic.
Peter recognized the cracked corner.
“Password?”
“Drew’s birthday.”
“Why didn’t you destroy it?”
“Because it contains insurance.”
“Against Claudia?”
“Against everyone.”
Peter picked it up.
Reena lunged for the duffel bag.
Peter caught her wrist.
“You’re coming with me.”
Her fear turned to fury.
“You think I’m the monster?”
“You locked children in a dark room.”
“Claudia told me they would expose everything!”
“They’re children.”
“They were always watching. Drew remembered things Aaron said. Lily found the recorder. I had to scare them.”
“You starved them.”
“They needed discipline.”
Peter heard movement outside.
Too early.
Reena heard it too.
“You brought police.”
She pulled a pistol from beneath the mattress.
Peter raised his hands.
Mara’s voice sounded faintly in his ear.
“Gun. Hold position.”
Reena aimed at Peter’s chest.
“You destroyed my life.”
“You destroyed your own life when you hurt them.”
The motel-room lights suddenly went out.
A gunshot exploded.
Peter dropped behind the bed.
Glass shattered.
Reena screamed.
Emergency lights flickered on in the hallway.
Peter saw Reena on the floor. Blood spread across her shoulder.
He had not fired.
A second bullet tore through the wall.
“Sniper!” Mara shouted through the earpiece. “Everyone down!”
Peter crawled toward Reena.
“Who’s shooting?”
She grabbed his shirt.
“Claudia.”
Another shot struck the lamp.
Reena shoved the red phone into Peter’s hand.
“She knows about the children.”
“What does she know?”
May you like
Reena’s face twisted with terror.
“They saw her kill Aaron.”
