Chapter 13 - No Redemption for Ronald
Mitchell drove before police reached the house.
He took county roads.
No highway.
No toll cameras.
Aubrey sat in the back beside Dylan.
Mitchell had taken their bags.
Their phones had been gone for weeks.
No obvious way to contact anyone.
But Aubrey still had the memory card in her shoe.
Evidence mattered only if somebody received it.
Dylan whispered:
“Where are we going?”
Mitchell looked in the mirror.
“To somewhere quieter.”
Aubrey asked:
“Are you running away?”
“No.”
“You are.”
Mitchell’s jaw tightened.
“You don’t understand.”
“Everybody keeps saying that.”
He looked at her.
“Because you’re eleven.”
“And you still want things Mom hid from you.”
Mitchell slammed one hand against the steering wheel.
Dylan flinched.
Aubrey immediately wrapped an arm around him.
Mitchell saw the movement.
Something almost like shame crossed his face.
Then disappeared.
An hour away, Ronald was being questioned again.
This time by Detective Marcus Hale from the financial crimes unit.
Hale placed copies of Claire’s notebook entries on the table.
Ronald read his own name.
His face collapsed.
“She wrote that?”
“Yes.”
Ronald stared at the sentence.
Ronald knows enough about Mitchell to scare him. That may protect the children temporarily, but I am beginning to worry Ronald likes leverage too much.
Hale sat.
“You blackmailed Mitchell.”
Ronald nodded.
“How often?”
“For about two years.”
“You knew he took money from Claire.”
“Yes.”
“You could have reported him.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t.”
“No.”
“Instead you took his money.”
Ronald looked sick.
“Yes.”
Hale leaned forward.
“And when those payments stopped, you forced the children to earn cash.”
Ronald’s eyes filled with anger.
“At myself,” he said before Hale could interpret it.
“I’m not asking for sympathy.”
“Good.”
“I know what I did.”
Hale slid another document forward.
Mitchell’s vehicle had been seen leaving his house.
The children were believed to be with him.
Ronald’s face changed.
“He left?”
“Yes.”
“He has a cabin.”
Hale stopped.
“Where?”
Ronald looked at him.
“Claire didn’t know.”
“Address.”
“Not an address. Old hunting place near Fox Creek Reservoir.”
“Who owns it?”
“Daniel’s brother used to.”
“How do you know?”
“Mitchell took me there once.”
Hale stood.
“Why?”
Ronald looked ashamed.
“To pay me.”
Within minutes, law enforcement had the location.
Ronald called after Hale.
“Detective.”
Hale turned.
Ronald swallowed.
“If you find Aubrey…”
He stopped.
Hale waited.
Ronald looked down.
“Tell her I know helping now doesn’t change what I did.”
Hale’s expression did not soften.
“I won’t ask a child to make you feel better.”
Ronald nodded.
“That’s fair.”
There would be no redemption scene.
No heroic transformation.
Ronald’s information mattered.
His abuse still mattered too.
Both could be true.
On the road to Fox Creek, Mitchell’s SUV passed a gas station.
Aubrey saw a security camera above the pumps.
She made a decision.
“I’m going to throw up.”
Mitchell looked in the mirror.
“What?”
“My stomach.”
“Aubrey—”
She gagged deliberately.
Dylan stared.
Then understood.
“She’s sick!”
Mitchell cursed and pulled into the gas station.
“Two minutes.”
Aubrey ran inside.
Mitchell followed halfway, then stopped because Dylan remained in the car.
Aubrey entered the restroom.
Locked the door.
She removed her shoe.
Memory card.
Now what?
No phone.
No computer.
She looked around.
Then noticed a small lost-and-found phone charger station beside the vending machines.
The cashier.
An older woman.
Aubrey exited the restroom.
Mitchell stood outside.
“You done?”
Aubrey nodded.
Then stumbled near the counter.
She dropped the memory card beside a display of gum.
The cashier looked down.
Aubrey met her eyes.
“Please keep that.”
The woman frowned.
“What?”
Mitchell approached.
Aubrey smiled too brightly.
“It’s nothing.”
Mitchell grabbed her shoulder.
“We’re leaving.”
The cashier watched.
Something about the girl’s face bothered her.
Ten minutes later, after the SUV left, she picked up the memory card.
There was a folded receipt wrapped around it.
Aubrey had scribbled three words with a bathroom pencil.
CALL POLICE. MITCHELL.
The cashier immediately dialed 911.
The memory card was given to deputies.
A technician opened it.
Photographs of financial documents.
Claire’s transfers.
Northline accounts.
Mitchell’s hidden files.
And one blurry image Aubrey had taken accidentally.
Dylan’s locked room.
The case changed again.
They now had evidence from inside Mitchell’s house.
And a gas-station camera showing Mitchell physically steering Aubrey away while she appeared distressed.
At Fox Creek Cabin, Mitchell pulled into the trees.
No other cars.
He opened the back door.
“Out.”
Aubrey looked at the dark woods.
Dylan took her hand.
Inside the cabin was one table.
Two bedrooms.
No neighbors visible.
Mitchell locked the door.
Then he placed his phone on the table.
A new message appeared.
Daniel: Police know about Fox Creek.
Mitchell stared.
Aubrey saw the screen.
So did Dylan.
Mitchell slowly looked at them.
May you like
And for the first time since he gained custody, Aubrey saw something stronger than control on his face.
Panic.
