Chapter 9 - the house florence bought with stolen money)
Rebecca Reed's hidden house sat three hours north near a forgotten mill town.
Police surrounded it before sunset.
Florence was there.
So was Rebecca.
For the first time since the nightmare began, Aaron felt something close to relief.
Then Ortiz received a radio call.
Her expression changed.
"What?"
She turned to Aaron.
"They don't have her."
"Who?"
"Florence."
Rebecca had been found alone.
She surrendered immediately.
Florence had used her car and left that morning.
Rebecca agreed to speak.
She was fifty seven.
She looked nothing like Aaron expected.
She was soft spoken.
Tired.
Ashamed.
She cried when Ortiz told her Thomas's death was being investigated.
"I told her to stop taking his money," Rebecca said.
Aaron sat across from her.
"You knew?"
"I knew she was sending money that wasn't hers. I didn't know how much."
"Calvin did."
Rebecca's face tightened.
"My brother always wanted more."
"He helped her steal."
"Yes."
"He threatened my wife."
Rebecca looked horrified.
"I didn't know."
Aaron did not know whether to believe her.
Ortiz asked about Florence.
Rebecca stared through the window.
"She came yesterday."
"What did she want?"
"Money."
"For what?"
"To leave the country."
"Did you give it to her?"
"No."
Aaron was surprised.
Rebecca looked at him.
"She kept saying she had done everything for me."
"Hadn't she?"
Rebecca laughed bitterly.
"That's what she wanted me to believe."
She wiped her eyes.
"When I met Florence, I was twenty six. I had a husband. A job. A life. She arrived with gifts and money and guilt. She told me she'd thought about me every day."
Rebecca looked at her hands.
"At first I believed it was love."
"And later?"
"I realized she needed me to need her."
Aaron felt a chill.
That was Florence.
Rebecca continued.
"When I refused money, she'd cry. When I accepted it, she'd tell me what sacrifices she'd made. She wanted gratitude that could never be repaid."
"Where would she go?"
Rebecca hesitated.
Then looked at Aaron.
"Your house."
Aaron stared.
"My house is a crime scene."
"Not the suburban one."
Rebecca shook her head.
"The house where Thomas grew up."
Aaron knew immediately.
The Mercer farmhouse.
It had been empty for years.
Thomas inherited it from his parents.
Florence hated it.
Or claimed to.
"Why there?"
Rebecca's answer was simple.
"Because that's where she met Thomas."
Police moved quickly.
The farmhouse was ninety minutes away.
Aaron stayed in Ortiz's vehicle.
He was not supposed to enter.
He had learned enough to follow instructions.
At 10:12 p.m., officers entered the property.
No gunfire.
No shouting.
Ten minutes passed.
Then twenty.
Ortiz received a message.
"She's inside."
Aaron exhaled.
"Arrested?"
"Not yet."
"Why?"
Ortiz looked toward the dark farmhouse.
"She says she'll only speak to you."
Aaron laughed without humor.
"Of course she does."
"No."
"She doesn't get to set rules anymore."
Ortiz agreed.
Police negotiators took over.
Florence refused to come out.
Then she sent a photograph to Aaron's phone.
He opened it.
His heart stopped.
It showed a folder of original trust documents beside a burning fireplace.
A message followed.
Come inside or your father disappears forever.
Aaron showed Ortiz.
"Copies exist," she said.
"I know."
"Then don't let her manipulate you."
Aaron stared at the farmhouse.
That was exactly what Florence wanted.
One last conversation.
One last chance to control the meaning of everything.
He almost refused.
Then another message arrived.
Ask Maya what she never told you about Denver.
Aaron froze.
Ortiz noticed.
"What is it?"
Aaron read the sentence again.
Maya.
Denver.
His trip.
Florence could be lying.
She probably was.
But the precision of the message bothered him.
He called Maya.
She answered immediately.
"Are you safe?"
"Yes."
Aaron hesitated.
"Maya, did you know anything about my Denver trip before I left?"
Silence.
His chest tightened.
"Maya?"
"I knew Lucas wanted you out of town."
Aaron closed his eyes.
"How?"
"I overheard him talking to Florence."
"When?"
"The day before."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I tried."
Aaron remembered Florence's fake medical emergency.
Maya continued.
"After you left, I realized it was connected to the documents."
Aaron felt anger rise.
"You knew the trip was a setup."
"I suspected."
"That matters."
"I know."
"Why didn't you tell me this at the hospital?"
"Because you were already blaming yourself for leaving."
Aaron looked toward the farmhouse.
"So my mother knows you overheard them."
"Yes."
"How?"
"Because she caught me listening."
Aaron suddenly understood why Florence had targeted Maya so quickly.
Maya was not merely a convenient witness.
She was a threat before Aaron even left.
Florence had known it.
Aaron ended the call and told Ortiz.
Ortiz nodded.
"That explains motive."
Aaron stared at the farmhouse.
"No."
"What?"
"It explains why she thought she had to control Maya."
He looked at the dark windows.
"But it doesn't explain why she wants me inside now."
As if Florence had heard him, another message appeared.
Because there is one truth Thomas never knew.
Aaron's heartbeat changed.
Ortiz read the screen.
"She's baiting you."
"I know."
"Then don't bite."
Aaron stared at the house where his parents had first met more than forty years earlier.
He finally understood something.
Florence's power had always depended on being the person who knew more than everyone else.
Secrets were her currency.
Fear was interest.
Aaron handed the phone to Ortiz.
"Tell her I don't care."
Ortiz looked surprised.
Aaron continued.
"Tell her anything she knows can come out in court."
A minute later the message was sent.
Florence replied almost immediately.
May you like
You always were your father's son.
Then the farmhouse door opened.
