Then Ben’s voice filled the room: “If you’re listening to this, something went wrong. I didn’t want to bring this up at home. Not around the kids. Not if it was going to burden you with this secret, Carly.”
Inside it lay a recording device in a Ziplock bag.
My heart skipped a beat.
“Aaron’s in trouble,” Ben said. “Bigger trouble than he’s admitting. I found out about a case from last year. He changed the report. Things were left out. He says it isn’t what it looks like. Says he had reasons. But if it comes out, his career is over. Maybe more than that.”
For a moment, I was confused. I didn’t understand what Aaron’s secret had to do with Ben’s death.
But what Ben said next made everything shockingly clear.
I didn’t understand what Aaron’s secret had to do with Ben’s death.
“I told Aaron that if he doesn’t come clean, I’ll have to report it. I think…” He exhaled hard, then continued in a fearful voice, “I think that was a mistake.”
The recording ended.
I sat there on the floor so long that my legs went numb.
Was Aaron responsible for Ben’s accident?
I thought of all the times he had looked me in the eye and said it was the storm. Just the storm. Instant.
