Chương 10
“I represented your husband concerning a matter related to his employer.”
Mara stared at the brass key beside her hand.
“Did Daniel tell you to contact me if he missed a Friday check-in?”
“Yes.”
“Did he miss it?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you contact me?”
The room went still.
Aaron did not answer immediately.
When he did, his voice had changed.
“Because Daniel changed the instruction the night before he died.”
Mara looked at Karen.
Karen looked genuinely shocked.
“What did he change?”
“He told me not to contact you directly.”
“Why?”
“He believed someone had accessed his email.”
Mara felt cold move through her arms.
“What was I supposed to do instead?”
“Wait for a secondary verification.”
“What verification?”
Aaron inhaled.
“A physical key assigned to your daughter.”
Mara closed her eyes.
Louise reached for her hand.
Mara let her.
“So the key is real.”
“Yes.”
“What does it open?”
Aaron did not answer.
Karen leaned toward the phone.
“Aaron.”
He ignored her.
“Mara, do you currently have possession of the key?”
“Yes.”
“Has anyone else handled it?”
“My daughter.”
“Anyone outside your family?”
“No.”
“Do not give it to anyone.”
Officer Benton said, “Mr. Price, this is Officer Benton with airport police.”
Aaron’s voice hardened.
“Officer, I’m not suggesting noncooperation.”
“I understand.”
“I am suggesting that the object may relate to privileged or protected material.”
“Understood.”
Mara was done with careful words.
“What does the key open?”
Aaron exhaled.
“A private document locker in St. Paul.”
Mara looked at Karen.
Karen’s face drained.
“You knew,” Mara said.
Karen shook her head.
“I knew the facility, not the box.”
Aaron continued.
“Daniel placed physical copies there because he believed the digital records could be altered.”
“Copies of what?”
“Billing files.”
“Emails.”
“Internal review notes.”
“And one other item.”
Mara gripped Louise’s hand.
“What item?”
“A dash camera memory card.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Karen stepped closer to the table.
“From Daniel’s car?”
“Yes.”
Mara could hear her own pulse.
“The police report said there was no dash cam.”
“There wasn’t one installed when police examined the vehicle.”
Nobody spoke.
Aaron’s next sentence came slowly.
“Daniel removed the memory card the afternoon before he died.”
Mara stared at the phone.
“Why?”
“He told me the camera had captured the gray SUV.”
Karen sat down.
Mara barely noticed.
“Did he see the plate?”
“He said the video did.”
Mara’s mouth went dry.
“Then why didn’t he give it to police?”
“He intended to.”
“When?”
“Friday.”
Mara looked down at the key.
Friday again.
Everything waited for Friday.
Daniel had not reached Friday.
“Where is the locker?”
Aaron gave an address.
Karen swore under her breath.
Mara recognized the neighborhood.
It was less than fifteen minutes from their house.
She had driven past it dozens of times.
“What happens now?” she asked.
Aaron’s voice softened.
“That depends on you.”
Mara hated the answer.
“No.”
“What?”
“My husband has been making decisions for me from the grave all day.”
Louise looked up.
Mara tightened her grip on the key.
“I’m done with that.”
Aaron was silent.
Mara continued.
“I want to know exactly what’s in that locker before anyone moves anything.”
“That may be possible.”
“Not may.”
“Mara, there are legal issues.”
“There are always legal issues.”
Her voice rose.
Noah startled.
Mara stopped immediately.
She rubbed his back.
“Sorry.”
Aaron waited.
Mara lowered her voice.
“I have two children.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She looked at Louise.
“You know facts about two children.”
“You don’t know what this has done to them.”
Aaron said nothing.
“So here is what happens.”
Mara surprised herself with how calm she sounded.
“I go home.”
“I take Louise and Noah somewhere safe.”
“You tell me who legally controls that locker.”
“You tell me whether opening it creates any risk to my family.”
“And then I decide what to do.”
Karen stared at her.
Aaron finally said, “Daniel made you the successor custodian.”
Mara’s fingers tightened.
“So it’s mine to open.”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s what I’ll decide.”
Her phone vibrated on the table.
She looked down.
Her mother’s name appeared first.
Then a message beneath it.
I’m outside arrivals.
A second message arrived before Mara could respond.
There’s a gray SUV parked two cars behind me.
Mara handed the phone to Officer Benton without speaking.
He read the message and looked at Ruiz.
“Call patrol at arrivals.”
Ruiz was already moving toward the door.
Karen stood so fast her chair scraped backward.
“Tell them not to approach the vehicle alone.”
Benton raised a hand.
“Sit down.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
Mara pulled Louise closer.
Her daughter had read the message over her shoulder.
“Is Grandma in danger?”
“I don’t know.”
Mara hated the words as soon as she said them.
Louise looked frightened.
Mara crouched beside her.
“Listen to me.”
“Grandma is with a lot of people outside.”
“The police are going to her right now.”
“We are not going outside until we know what’s happening.”
Louise nodded.
Mara took her phone back.
She called Evelyn.
Her mother answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“In the car.”
“Do not drive.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Lock the doors.”
“They’re locked.”
“Keep them locked.”
“Mara, what is going on?”
Her mother’s voice was irritated more than frightened.
That was Evelyn’s default response to danger.
Mara had seen her argue with a tow-truck driver during a hailstorm.
“There may be police coming to you.”
“That sentence is not making me feel better.”
“Mom.”
“All right.”
A car horn sounded through the phone.
Evelyn muttered something about airport pickup lanes.
“Can you see the SUV?”
“In the mirror.”
“What does it look like?”
“Gray.”
Mara closed her eyes.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“That isn’t helpful.”
“It’s an SUV.”
“What kind?”
“I don’t know.”
“A Nissan?”
“A Ford?”
“One of those tall ugly ones everyone buys now.”
Karen stepped closer.
“Ask if it has a dent on the rear passenger door.”
Mara covered the phone.
“Why?”
“Daniel described one.”
May you like
Mara uncovered it.
“Mom, can you see the passenger side?”
