ollowed out.
He stepped inside, holding coffee from my favorite place. He took one look at me and set it down.
“Hey,” he said softly. “You look awful.”
“Sit down.” I took the recorder from my pocket and placed it on the table between us.
He frowned at it as he took a seat.
I pressed play.
I took the recorder from my pocket.
When Ben’s voice filled the kitchen, all the blood drained from Aaron’s face.
By the end of the recording, he looked like he might be sick.
“It’s not what it sounds like,” Aaron said. “I didn’t hurt him. I just wanted to talk… he must’ve seen me following him because he started driving faster…”
“You… you were there when it happened? You chased my husband in a storm because you were afraid he’d expose you?”
“It’s not what it sounds like.”
“No!” Aaron shook his head. “He was ahead of me. Way ahead. I drove to the cabin, but he wasn’t there. I waited a while, then I left. I didn’t know about the accident until I got the call. I didn’t mean for this to happen—”
“But it did,” I cut in. “And then you stood in my house, looked at my daughters and me, and lied. Ben is dead because of your secret, this case you lied about—”
“It wasn’t even a big deal! A domestic case, a kid got hurt by accident. I omitted one small detail, that’s all. I was protecting the family.”
“And Ben found out.”
“Ben is dead because of your secret.”
He nodded. “He said he couldn’t ignore it.”
“Neither can I.” I stood. “I gave the recording to your chief this morning. Internal Affairs is already involved. They’ll be here soon.”
Aaron buried his head in his hands.
There was a knock at the door a few minutes later.
Two officers stood outside, faces grave. Aaron rose before they could say much.
“They’ll be here soon
