Chapter 6 - THE MAN BEHIND THE CRASHThe drunk driver who killed Claire was named Brandon Ellis.
A patrol car took us to an undisclosed hotel while Dad remained under medical observation.
For the first time, I understood that I might not simply be investigating what happened to my father.
Someone might still be planning something for me.
Ethan thought we were having an adventure.
He jumped across the hotel bed wearing superhero pajamas while I locked the door twice and checked the window.
“Are bad guys coming?”
“No.”
It was a lie.
“Then why is Officer Lena outside?”
“She’s helping us.”
He thought about that.
“Because of Aunt Rachel?”
I sat beside him.
I hated how quickly his childhood had filled with adult darkness.
“Rachel might have gotten mixed up in something dangerous.”
“Is she bad?”
Five-year-olds believe adults know how to categorize the world.
Good.
Bad.
Hero.
Villain.
But Rachel had carried me home after I broke my ankle at twelve.
She taught me to drive.
She held Ethan before almost anyone else.
Could all of that coexist with attempted murder?
Apparently it could.
“I think she made some very bad choices.”
Ethan frowned.
“Like when I colored the couch?”
Despite everything, I laughed.
“A lot worse than the couch.”
At midnight Ortiz knocked.
“We found Rachel.”
I stood immediately.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
The relief shocked me.
“Where?”
“A rest stop north of Dayton.”
Rachel had walked into a gas station barefoot.
Disoriented.
Bruised.
Terrified.
She claimed Samuel Merrick had attacked her.
She also claimed she had never intended to kill Dad.
Ortiz warned me not to contact her.
I didn’t listen.
I begged.
Argued.
Eventually, under controlled conditions, I was allowed to see Rachel through a video call while detectives observed.
Her face looked awful.
Purple bruise beneath one eye.
Split lip.
Hair tangled.
She stared at me for several seconds.
“Michael.”
I didn’t answer.
“I’m sorry.”
“Did you poison Dad?”
She closed her eyes.
“I put things in his drinks.”
My stomach twisted.
“Arsenic?”
“I didn’t know at first.”
“At first?”
“Merrick told me they were supplements.”
“Don’t insult me.”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“You shushed Ethan.”
Tears appeared in her eyes.
“Because I knew you’d ask questions.”
“So you knew.”
“Eventually.”
“Did you know before Claire died?”
Rachel began crying.
I felt nothing.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
The room went cold.
“Did Claire know?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to my wife?”
Rachel shook her head frantically.
“I did not kill Claire.”
“Did Merrick?”
“I don’t know.”
“Rachel.”
“I swear to God.”
“You don’t get to swear anything to me.”
She pressed both hands over her face.
Then the story came out.
Rachel had lost enormous amounts of money in an investment scam.
Rather than admit it, she borrowed.
Then borrowed again.
Merrick approached her through a private lending network.
He knew Dad had assets.
He offered Rachel a solution.
Get financial power of attorney.
Move Dad’s property.
Use loans against the estate.
Repay everything quietly.
“At first it was fraud,” Rachel whispered.
I stared at her.
As though that somehow made things better.
“Merrick said Dad needed to appear medically incompetent so the power-of-attorney process would be easier.”
“So you drugged him.”
“He gave me drops.”
“You never asked what they were?”
“I didn’t want to know.”
That sentence told me everything.
Eventually Dad became much sicker than Merrick predicted.
Rachel panicked.
She confronted him.
He told her to continue.
“He said stopping suddenly would make doctors look harder.”
“And the life insurance?”
Rachel looked down.
“He arranged that.”
“You signed Dad’s name?”
“No. Dad signed.”
“Because you lied to him.”
“Yes.”
“What about Claire?”
Rachel’s breathing changed.
“Claire found my banking records.”
“She confronted you.”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her to stay out of it.”
“Then she died.”
“I know.”
“Merrick caused the crash?”
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I don’t!”
Rachel suddenly slammed her hand against the table.
The officer beside her moved forward.
She lowered her voice.
“Claire called me the afternoon she died.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“She said she had proof against Merrick.”
“What proof?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where?”
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
“Did Merrick know?”
Rachel stared at me.
“I told him.”
Rage flashed through me.
“You told him?”
“I was scared!”
“And hours later Claire was dead.”
Rachel sobbed.
“I know.”
I wanted to hate her completely.
It would have been easier.
Then she said something strange.
“Michael, Claire’s crash wasn’t supposed to happen there.”
I froze.
“What does that mean?”
“Merrick knew her route.”
“How?”
“He had access to location data.”
“From what?”
“Your family phone account.”
Rachel wiped blood from her lip.
“He made me give him the password.”
My skin went cold.
“He tracked Claire?”
“I think so.”
Before I could speak, a detective entered Rachel’s room.
Ortiz turned to me.
“We need to end this.”
“No.”
“Michael.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Ortiz muted the video.
“Officers searched Merrick’s storage unit.”
“And?”
“They found files on several elderly people.”
Dad wasn’t the only one.
“There’s more,” Ortiz said.
Inside the unit police had found chemicals.
Financial documents.
Forged signatures.
Photographs.
Surveillance equipment.
And a box labeled BENNETT.
Inside it were pictures of Dad.
Rachel.
My house.
Ethan’s preschool.
Claire.
One photograph showed Claire standing outside a coffee shop.
A handwritten date in the corner.
The day she died.
May you like
On the back were three words.
SHE KNOWS EVERYTHING.
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