PART 5 — THE LAST FILE
For a moment, the sirens were the only sound on the street.
I stared at my father.
“You were blackmailing Victor?”
He looked toward the approaching police cars.
“Aaron, keep your voice down.”
“No.”
I held the flash drive tighter.
“You told me he was threatening you.”
“He was.”
“You just said you were blackmailing him.”
“Both things can be true.”
My mother looked like she had stopped breathing.
“Richard, what did you do?”
Dad closed his eyes.
The first cruiser stopped at the curb.
Then a second.
Detective Owens got out of the passenger side before the vehicle had completely settled.
Two uniformed officers followed him.
Owens looked from me to Dad, then to Madison, then to the flash drive in my hand.
“What happened?”
Dad immediately said, “Nothing.”
I answered at the same time.
“My father just told me he was blackmailing Victor Kane.”
Owens stopped.
Dad turned toward me.
“Aaron.”
“No more.”
Owens’s expression changed.
“What exactly did he say?”
Dad stepped forward.
“This is being taken out of context.”
Owens raised one hand.
“Sir, stay where you are.”
Dad froze.
I said, “He told me the last file on this drive proves Victor wasn’t just blackmailing him. He said he was blackmailing Victor.”
Owens looked at the drive.
“Where did you get that?”
“My mother.”
Owens looked at Mom.
She nodded.
“I kept it.”
“Why?”
She swallowed.
“Because I stopped trusting my husband.”
Dad’s face twisted.
“Donna.”
“Don’t.”
She backed away from him.
“You lied to me for six months.”
Dad looked toward Madison.
Then Lily.
Then me.
“You all think this is simple.”
I said, “It became simple when you tried to frame my daughter.”
He flinched.
Detective Owens said, “Ms. Collins, I’m going to need the drive.”
Dad immediately interrupted.
“No.”
Owens looked at him.
“No?”
“That drive contains private financial records.”
“If it contains evidence connected to Victor Kane, it may be relevant to a homicide investigation.”
Dad’s face went pale.
“Homicide?”
Owens didn’t answer him directly.
Instead he looked at me.
“Ms. Collins?”
I looked down at the flash drive.
Dad whispered, “Aaron, don’t.”
I handed it to Owens.
Dad shut his eyes.
It looked almost like surrender.
Owens placed the drive in an evidence bag.
Then he turned toward Madison.
“I need to ask you a few questions.”
My attorney’s warning immediately came back to me.
“Her parents should be contacted.”
Madison looked at me.
“They’re in Chicago.”
Owens nodded.
“We already reached her mother. She’s on her way back. Until then, we’ll handle this carefully.”
Madison hugged herself tighter.
“Am I under arrest?”
“No.”
“Is Evan?”
“We’re trying to locate him.”
Madison started crying again.
“He didn’t kill Victor.”
Owens’s expression remained neutral.
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“How?”
“Because he was with me.”
Owens looked at her.
“After the crash?”
Madison hesitated.
That hesitation changed everything.
Owens noticed it too.
“Madison.”
She looked toward Dad.
He shook his head.
She saw it.
So did Owens.
“Sir,” Owens said, “do not communicate with her.”
Dad snapped, “She’s my granddaughter.”
“And right now she is a witness.”
Madison suddenly said, “Evan came back.”
Owens’s eyes sharpened.
“When?”
“After Grandpa brought me inside.”
Dad stared at her.
“What?”
Madison kept going.
“He came to the back door.”
My stomach dropped.
“You never told anyone?”
She shook her head.
“What time?”
“I don’t know. Maybe one thirty.”
Owens asked, “What did he want?”
“The phone.”
“The burner phone?”
“Yes.”
“Did you have it?”
“No. He did.”
Owens frowned.
“Then why did he come back?”
Madison looked confused.
“He said he had lost it.”
Dad stepped forward.
“You never told me this.”
Owens glared at him.
“I said do not interrupt.”
Dad stopped.
Madison continued.
“Evan said somebody had taken it.”
“Who?”
“He wouldn’t say.”
“Did you see blood on him?”
“No.”
“Was he injured?”
“A little.”
“Where?”
“His cheek.”
Owens exchanged a look with one of the officers.
“Describe it.”
“It was red. Like someone punched him.”
“Anything else?”
Madison thought for a moment.
“His shirt was ripped near the collar.”
Lily whispered beside me, “Mom.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She leaned closer.
“When Grandpa came here this morning, his hand was hurt.”
I looked at Dad.
His right hand was shoved deep inside his jacket pocket.
“Dad.”
He didn’t move.
“Show me your hand.”
His eyes met mine.
“Aaron.”
“Show me.”
Owens turned toward him.
“Sir, remove your right hand from your pocket. Slowly.”
Dad’s face hardened.
For a second, I thought he might refuse.
Then he pulled his hand free.
His knuckles were swollen.
One was split.
Mom covered her mouth.
Madison whispered, “Grandpa…”
Dad said quickly, “I hit the garage door.”
Owens asked, “When?”
“This morning.”
“What time?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know what time you injured your hand?”
“I wasn’t looking at a clock.”
Owens’s stare stayed on him.
Then one of the officers approached and whispered something.
Owens nodded.
He looked back at Dad.
“Richard Collins, I need you to come with us.”
Dad stiffened.
“Am I under arrest?”
“Not at this time.”
“Then I’m not going.”
Owens didn’t raise his voice.
“You can come voluntarily, or I can detain you while we determine whether there is probable cause. Your choice.”
Dad looked at all of us.
Nobody defended him.
Not even Mom.
His shoulders dropped.
“Fine.”
As an officer walked him toward the cruiser, Lily suddenly spoke.
“Grandpa.”
He stopped.
Turned.
Lily stood beside me.
She looked small.
Fifteen.
Still in the sweatshirt she had slept in.
Dad’s face softened.
“Sweetheart—”
She cut him off.
“I want you to know something.”
He waited.
“I believed you my whole life.”
His eyes filled.
“I know.”
“And last night, when the police came to my house, I thought somebody had made a mistake.”
She swallowed.
“I never imagined my own grandparents had done it on purpose.”
Dad lowered his head.
Lily continued.
“You said I had time to recover.”
His face tightened.
“I didn’t mean—”
“You did.”
Her voice broke.
“But I hope someday you understand something.”
Dad looked at her.
“You don’t get to decide which child is safe to sacrifice.”
Nobody said anything.
Dad got into the police car.
The door shut.
And for the first time since midnight, I felt like the truth might actually have a chance.
I was wrong.
Because ten minutes later, Detective Owens received a call that changed everything again.
He stepped away from us.
Listened.
Then looked directly at Madison.
“When did you last speak to Evan?”
She wiped her face.
“Last night.”
“You haven’t texted him today?”
“No.”
“Called?”
“No.”
Owens walked closer.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He stared at her for a long moment.
Then he said, “We found his phone.”
Madison looked relieved.
“Where?”
“Near the Miller property.”
Her relief disappeared.
“Why was it there?”
“We don’t know.”
“Was Evan there?”
Owens didn’t answer immediately.
My stomach tightened.
“Detective?”
He looked at me.
“No.”
Madison whispered, “Then where is he?”
“We’re still searching.”
Owens paused.
“But there was something on the phone.”
“What?”
“A video.”
Madison went pale.
“What video?”
“Recorded at 12:42 A.M.”
“That’s when we were at the Miller property.”
Owens nodded.
“Exactly.”
“What does it show?”
He looked toward my mother.
Then toward the police cruiser where Dad sat.
“Victor Kane.”
Mom whispered, “Doing what?”
Owens’s expression became grim.
“Arguing with Richard Collins.”
Everything inside me went cold.
“That’s impossible.”
Mom shook her head violently.
“Richard was home.”
Madison stared at her.
“No.”
Mom looked at her.
“What?”
Madison’s voice became barely audible.
“Grandpa left before we did.”
Mom went white.
“When?”
“About eleven.”
“That’s not possible.”
“It is.”
Madison’s hands started shaking.
“He told me not to tell you.”
Mom staggered backward.
I caught her arm.
She stared at Madison.
“Why would he go to the Miller property?”
Madison looked toward the cruiser.
“Because he was supposed to meet Victor before Evan did.”
Owens said, “The video appears to confirm that.”
I could barely speak.
“What happens in the video?”
“Richard is angry.”
“About what?”
“We’re still processing the audio.”
“But?”
Owens hesitated.
Then he said, “Victor tells him the arrangement is over.”
My stomach twisted.
“What arrangement?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“And Dad?”
“He tells Victor he doesn’t get to walk away.”
Mom started crying again.
Owens continued.
“Then Richard notices someone recording.”
“Evan?”
“Probably.”
“What happens?”
“The video cuts off.”
Madison pressed both hands over her mouth.
I looked toward the police cruiser.
My father sat in the back seat.
His face was turned toward the window.
Watching us.
Watching me.
And suddenly his earlier words came back.
Whatever happens next, do not give that to the police.
Not because the flash drive would destroy Victor.
Because it might destroy him.
Detective Owens’s phone buzzed again.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
“What?”
I asked.
He didn’t answer immediately.
Then he turned toward one of the officers.
“Get Collins out of the cruiser.”
The officer frowned.
“Why?”
Owens looked at me.
“The lab just opened the last file on the flash drive.”
My heart began pounding.
“What is it?”
“A video.”
Mom whispered, “Another one?”
Owens nodded.
“Recorded three weeks ago.”
“Who’s in it?”
He looked directly at me.
“Your father.”
“And Victor?”
“No.”
I swallowed.
“Then who?”
Owens paused.
“A man we have not identified yet.”
“What are they doing?”
“Talking about you.”
My stomach dropped.
“Me?”
Owens nodded.
“The unidentified man asks whether you’ve noticed the accounts.”
I stared at him.
“What does Dad say?”
Owens’s voice became quiet.
“He says no.”
“What else?”
“He says if you ever find out, they’ll make sure you take the blame.”
Lily grabbed my hand.
I felt like the ground had disappeared beneath me.
Owens continued.
“Then the other man asks about Lily.”
Every part of me went still.
“My daughter?”
“Yes.”
“What about her?”
Owens looked at Lily.
Then back at me.
“He asks whether she can be used as leverage.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“What did my father say?”
Owens hesitated.
That was enough to terrify me.
“What did he say?”
Owens finally answered.
“He said, ‘If it comes to that, she already has the perfect car.’”
Lily’s fingers tightened around mine.
I looked toward the cruiser.
Dad was no longer watching us.
His head was bowed.
And in that moment, I finally understood.
The crash had not created the plan to blame Lily.
The plan existed before Madison ever took the keys.
Before the tree.
Before the police knocked on my door.
My daughter had been chosen in advance.
And the crash had simply given them the opportunity.
But as the officer opened the cruiser door, Dad suddenly shouted toward me.
“AARON!”
Everyone turned.
He pushed halfway out of the car before the officer stopped him.
“You need to listen to me!”
I stared at him.
He pointed toward the flash drive.
“The man in that video is the one who killed Victor!”
Owens stepped closer.
“How do you know?”
Dad’s face crumpled.
“Because I saw him do it.”
Silence.
Owens said, “You witnessed Victor Kane’s murder?”
Dad nodded.
“When?”
“Last night.”
“Where?”
“The Miller property.”
“And you didn’t report it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Dad looked directly at me.
Then he said the one thing none of us were prepared to hear.
“Because the man who killed Victor is Aaron’s biological father.”
CONTINUE READ NEXT PART… 👇
