Chapter 13 - The Box in Storage
Sarah refused to let Dean control the story with fragments. She called Officer Patel, then searched the boxes she'd moved from the burned garage into a storage unit after Daniel died.
Ethan helped carry old tools into the light. At the bottom of Daniel's wooden chest, beneath a folded flag and receipts, Sarah found an envelope in her husband's handwriting, dated two days before the fire.
Sarah, I found the boys trying to build something dangerous in the garage. I told them to stop. Ethan looked scared, and I told him I'd rather hear the truth from him than discover a disaster later. Tomorrow, I'll speak to both boys again. I don't want Ethan growing up believing fear is a reason to lie.
Sarah sat on the concrete floor. Daniel had known they were experimenting. He had not known what was coming, but he had seen the danger and planned to deal with it.
Ethan read the note over her shoulder. "He was going to tell Dean."
"He was going to help you take responsibility."
"And then he died before he could."
Inside the chest, beneath the letter, lay a memory card in a plastic case. Daniel had labeled it GARAGE CAMERA — BACKUP. Sarah had forgotten the cheap security camera pointed toward the driveway.
They found a reader in Daniel's old computer bag and opened the file. The image was dark, but it captured the boys more clearly than the neighbor's footage. Ethan held the tube. Mason tried to take it away. The spark flared. Ethan's face changed from pride to panic in an instant.
Daniel entered the frame and pushed both boys toward the exit. The final minutes dissolved into smoke and static.
Ethan leaned back, trembling. "This proves it."
Sarah looked at the frozen image of her husband disappearing into the garage. "It proves what happened. It doesn't tell us what happens next."
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Her phone rang. Dean's name appeared.
"I know you found Daniel's camera," he said. "Bring that file Friday—or I'll release mine first."
