Chapter 6 - The Storage Locker
Chapter 6 - The Storage Locker
Nobody went to Ray's house.
Not Daniel.
Not Evan.
Not alone.
Daniel told Detective Ortiz about the USB.
Ortiz obtained the information needed to retrieve it properly.
The science fair volcano turned out to be exactly where Evan said it would be: in a cardboard box containing old school projects that had been moved to Ray's apartment after Laura's crash.
Inside the hollow papier-mâché mountain was a black flash drive wrapped in plastic.
Two days later, Ortiz called.
"This one matters."
Daniel met him with Helen.
"What did she put on it?"
"Copies of financial records. Emails. Photos of documents. Scanned letters."
"The same as the storage unit?"
"Some overlap."
"And the rest?"
Ortiz hesitated.
"Audio."
Daniel felt his stomach tighten.
"Laura?"
"Laura and Ray."
The recording had been made three weeks before the crash.
Daniel was not allowed to take a copy, but Ortiz played part of it in the interview room.
Laura's voice came first.
"You used Evan's Social Security number."
Ray answered.
"Keep your voice down."
"You opened accounts in his name."
"I fixed it."
"You didn't fix anything."
"It's temporary."
"He's eleven."
Then a long silence.
Ray spoke again.
"You owe me after everything I did for you."
Laura laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
"You mean after you made sure Daniel never saw my letters?"
Daniel stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
"That was twelve years ago."
"You told me he didn't want his own child."
"You were better off."
"You had no right."
"You would've dragged him into everything."
"Everything you were doing."
Another silence.
Then Ray's voice became quieter.
"You need to think very carefully before you start digging into old things."
Laura answered.
"I already did."
The recording ended.
Daniel stared at the table.
No one spoke.
Finally he said, "Play it again."
Ortiz shook his head.
"Not right now."
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
His own child.
The phrase from the recording repeated inside his head.
His own child.
Helen touched his arm.
"Daniel."
He looked at Ortiz.
"Did Laura tell Ray Evan was mine?"
"It appears he knew."
"She knew."
"That seems likely."
"Then why didn't she tell me another way?"
Ortiz did not answer.
Helen did.
"Maybe she thought she had."
Daniel stood and walked to the far wall.
He looked through the small window into the hallway.
For eleven years, somewhere in the same city, there had been a boy.
A boy who liked puzzle books.
A boy who built an ugly science fair volcano.
A boy who remembered license plate numbers because his mother told him to.
Daniel had spent those years working.
Traveling.
Dating occasionally.
Complaining about taxes and back pain and Cleveland winters.
Living an ordinary life.
While his son grew up without him.
He turned back.
"I want a DNA test."
Helen nodded.
"That can be arranged properly."
"I don't want Laura waking up to me acting like I've decided everything already."
"Good."
"But I need to know."
"Then we'll do it the right way."
Ortiz gathered the papers.
"There's another audio file."
Daniel looked at him.
Ortiz did not play it immediately.
"This one was recorded two days before the crash."
He pressed the button.
Only Laura's voice.
"If you're hearing this, I may not have gotten the chance to explain."
A pause.
"I found the accounts in Evan's name. I found old company records too. Enough to prove Ray lied about more than the letters."
Her breath sounded unsteady.
"I've told an attorney. I've copied everything."
Another pause.
"If something happens to me, don't assume it was an accident."
Daniel looked at Ortiz.
"Is that enough?"
"For what?"
"To arrest him."
"No."
Daniel slammed a palm against the table.
"He threatened her. He stole her son's identity. She warned someone she might be hurt."
"That is enough to investigate aggressively," Ortiz said. "It is not enough for me to skip evidence."
Daniel looked away.
Ortiz continued.
"The brake damage is being examined. We also pulled nearby camera footage."
"And?"
"We're working on it."
Daniel hated those words.
But this time he stayed quiet.
That afternoon, he visited Evan.
He did not mention the recording.
Not yet.
Instead, he brought two milkshakes from a place near the hospital.
Evan took one.
"Chocolate?"
"You said chocolate."
"I said chocolate's okay."
"That's what I bought."
"Strawberry's better."
Daniel stared at him.
"Then why didn't you say strawberry?"
Evan shrugged.
Daniel shook his head.
"You're going to be expensive."
Evan smiled.
The words came out before Daniel could stop them.
Then both of them went quiet.
Evan looked at him.
"Mom told you?"
Daniel felt his throat tighten.
"Told me what?"
"About me."
Daniel leaned forward.
"What did she tell you?"
Evan looked down at the milkshake.
"She said you might be my father."
Daniel closed his eyes for one second.
"When?"
"Last month."
"And how did that make you feel?"
"Weird."
"That's fair."
"Are you?"
"I don't know for sure."
"But you think you are."
"Yes."
Evan looked at him carefully.
"If you are, are you going to leave?"
Daniel had no prepared answer.
Every answer he thought of sounded too large.
Too easy.
So he told the truth.
"I already missed eleven years I didn't know I was missing."
Evan said nothing.
Daniel continued.
"If you're my son, I can't fix those years."
"No."
"But I can decide what I do with the next one."
"And?"
Daniel looked him in the eyes.
"I'm here."
That evening, Detective Ortiz received the final brake report.
The line had been cut.
Not torn.
Not damaged by impact.
Cut.
And traffic camera footage showed Ray's truck entering the parking lot behind Laura's apartment building two nights before the crash.
He stayed twenty-three minutes.
May you like
Ray had told police he had not seen Laura for more than a week.
For the first time, the investigation into her crash was no longer being treated as an accident.
