“Lucy? What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I found something inside Mr. Buttons,” she said softly. “Dad hid this.”
She handed me a folded piece of paper.
At first, I thought she might be imagining things—she had been asking more questions about her father and brothers lately, and it was hard for me to talk about it.
But she insisted. “Read it. I know what really happened.”
When I unfolded the note and saw Ben’s handwriting, my hands started shaking.
If anything happens to me, don’t believe what you’re told. I made a mistake. Go to the cabin. Look under the rug.
I read it again and again, my heart racing.
Lucy began to cry. “The police lied. It wasn’t what Aaron said.”
She glanced behind me, and I followed her gaze.
Aaron was asleep in my bed.
The same man who had told me it was just an accident.
That night, I didn’t sleep at all.
By morning, I knew what I had to do.
I told my oldest daughter I had to step out and asked her to watch her sisters. I didn’t mention the note—or where I was going. I didn’t tell Aaron either.
The drive to the cabin felt longer than ever. When I passed the memorial cross, my chest tightened painfully.
When I arrived, I hesitated at the door before forcing myself inside.
The air was stale, the furniture untouched—but something felt off.
There wasn’t enough dust.
Someone had been there.
My stomach dropped.
I pulled back the rug and noticed a loose floorboard. When I lifted it, I found a hidden compartment containing a recording device sealed in a plastic bag.
My hands shook as I turned it on.
Then Ben’s voice filled the room.
“If you’re hearing this, something went wrong. I didn’t want to bring this up at home, not around the kids. Aaron is in serious trouble… worse than he admits. I discovered he altered a case report last year. If it comes out, his career is finished… maybe more.”
At first, I didn’t understand what this had to do with Ben’s death.
Then his voice continued, strained with fear:
“I told him if he didn’t come clean, I would report it. I think… that was a mistake.”
The recording ended.
I sat there in shock, the truth slowly coming together.
Had Aaron been involved?
He had always insisted it was just the storm.
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