Chapter 6 - My Sister’s ConfessionClaire wanted to see Celina.
Most were encrypted.
Some were photographs.
Others were spreadsheets, bank records, shipment logs, audio recordings, and scanned documents.
Aaron Cole had apparently been building evidence.
Against Gideon.
Against the entire network.
And then he vanished.
For the next forty-eight hours, federal analysts worked around the clock.
Claire was not allowed to see everything, but Agent Lee returned Sunday evening with enough information to change the case.
“Aaron was cooperating with us unofficially.”
Claire looked surprised.
“You already knew him?”
“He contacted another field office eight weeks ago.”
“Why unofficially?”
“He wanted protection for his daughter before committing fully.”
“Did he get it?”
“He disappeared before arrangements were finalized.”
Claire looked down.
“You think Gideon found out.”
“Yes.”
“How does Noah’s elephant fit into this?”
Lee folded his hands.
“Our theory is Aaron came to your house during one of their meetings. He realized he was in danger and hid a backup copy of his files somewhere Gideon wouldn’t search.”
“A child’s toy.”
“Exactly.”
“And Noah brought it downstairs.”
Lee nodded.
“Your son may have unknowingly preserved the only complete evidence Aaron collected.”
Claire hugged her arms.
“What’s on it?”
“Enough to identify major players.”
“Gideon?”
“Yes.”
“Celina?”
Lee paused.
“She appears in financial transactions.”
Claire looked away.
“And the life insurance?”
“That’s separate.”
“Separate?”
Lee glanced at Price.
Detective Price took over.
“We found an application associated with the policy.”
Claire already hated whatever came next.
“It includes a digital signature.”
“Forged?”
“We believe so.”
“What else?”
“Your medical information.”
Claire frowned.
“What medical information?”
“Private health records.”
“How did Gideon get those?”
“That is under investigation.”
Claire realized suddenly why Gideon had asked so many questions about hospital databases.
He had not just been stealing from the hospital.
He had been stealing from her.
Price continued.
“The application suggests you had a higher occupational risk than you actually do.”
Claire stared.
“You mean someone made me look more likely to die.”
“Yes.”
The words sat between them.
“What exactly are you saying?”
“We found searches on Gideon’s second phone.”
“What searches?”
Price did not look away.
“How accidental deaths are investigated. Carbon monoxide exposure. Fatal medication interactions. Life-insurance contestability periods.”
Claire’s skin prickled.
She remembered something.
Three weeks earlier, Gideon had insisted on servicing the furnace himself.
He had never serviced anything himself.
Not once.
Claire told Price.
Technicians were sent to the house.
Two hours later Price called.
“The carbon monoxide detector near your bedroom was disabled.”
Claire sat on the edge of the bed.
“Disabled how?”
“Battery removed. Backup wire disconnected.”
“And the furnace?”
“Someone tampered with the vent.”
Claire stopped hearing for a moment.
Noah was on the floor drawing a picture.
Mommy.
Noah.
A blue house.
No Gideon.
Claire looked at the picture while Price spoke.
“If the furnace had been running continuously overnight, carbon monoxide could have accumulated upstairs.”
Claire whispered, “I work nights.”
“Yes.”
“Noah sleeps upstairs.”
“Yes.”
Her voice broke.
“He could’ve killed Noah.”
“We don’t know what was intended.”
Claire did.
Or at least she knew Gideon had been willing to risk it.
That was enough.
The next morning, Claire met with a family-law attorney recommended by the department.
She filed for emergency custody.
A protection order.
Divorce.
Each signature felt like reclaiming territory.
Gideon requested a meeting through his criminal attorney.
Claire refused.
Then he sent a letter.
She almost threw it away.
Instead she gave it to Detective Price.
After investigators reviewed it, Claire was allowed to read it.
Claire,
Everything looks worse than it is.
I know you hate me right now, and I understand why.
Celina was a mistake.
What happened with Noah was a mistake.
The basement was never supposed to involve you.
I did bad things because I was trapped with dangerous people.
I can fix this.
But you need to find the drive before the wrong people do.
If you give it to law enforcement, they will come after you and Noah.
I am still your husband.
Let me protect you.
G.
Claire read the final line twice.
Protect you.
She began laughing.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was obscene.
He had endangered their child, imprisoned a woman under their home, cheated with Claire’s sister, forged an insurance policy, and apparently sabotaged their furnace.
Yet Gideon still imagined himself as protector.
Claire tore the letter in half.
Detective Price watched.
“Feel better?”
“A little.”
Then Price’s phone rang.
Her expression changed almost immediately.
“What?”
She listened.
“When?”
Another pause.
“Send me the location.”
She hung up.
Claire stood.
“What happened?”
“They found Aaron Cole.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“Alive?”
Price nodded.
“Barely.”
Aaron had been discovered inside an abandoned rental property thirty miles outside the city.
Dehydrated.
Injured.
Locked inside a utility room.
He had apparently escaped restraints during the night and smashed a basement window until a neighbor heard him.
He was taken under federal guard to a hospital.
The following evening, Claire was permitted to speak with him.
Aaron looked ten years older than the photograph.
His face was gaunt.
One eye swollen.
His wrists bandaged.
When Claire entered, his eyes filled.
“Noah?”
“He’s okay.”
Aaron exhaled.
“Thank God.”
“You put the drive in his toy.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You saved evidence.”
“I put your son in danger.”
Claire sat beside the bed.
“Gideon did that.”
Aaron looked at her carefully.
“You know about him and your sister?”
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t why Celina was there.”
Claire frowned.
“What?”
Aaron swallowed.
“Not originally.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Gideon recruited her.”
“For the drugs?”
“For you.”
Claire went cold.
Aaron continued.
“He needed someone close to you. Someone who knew your schedule, your habits, your passwords, when you worked, when Noah stayed with grandparents.”
Claire stared.
“Celina helped him spy on me?”
Aaron nodded.
“At first.”
“And later?”
“They started sleeping together.”
Claire stood so fast the chair scraped backward.
“What was Gideon planning?”
Aaron looked toward the federal agent near the door.
Then back at Claire.
“He wasn’t planning an accident.”
Claire’s chest tightened.
“What was he planning?”
May you like
Aaron’s voice dropped.
“He was planning to make you disappear.”
