Page 49 of Her Final Hours (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #3)

“On the surface, it did look like Lena had taken her own life or fallen victim to that dog-stealing group,” Noah began, his tone measured yet charged with conviction.

“But I’ve met many a liar, and when Teresa said she let her go, I believed her.

She never changed her story. So… we assumed Lena drowned, you know, took a wrong turn, and it was just an accident.

Until the me dical examiner found fentanyl in her system and told me she was dead before hitting the water. ”

Aiden’s eyes glazed over. Distant memories flashed as Noah unraveled the truth. “Then I got thinking to myself. As a pastor, you operated a drop-in center for the homeless and drug users. Fentanyl users,” Noah stated, his voice cutting through the tension in the garage.

Aiden’s gaze remained fixed on Noah. Noah continued, unwavering.

“I also remember my kids saying that Lena was hesitant to move in with you, that you were pressuring her. I think that day, after Teresa let her go, she came here, and something transpired. You exposed her to fentanyl and then disposed of her in the Mazda at the gorge.”

Aiden’s demeanor shifted, his confidence crumbling under Noah’s relentless pursuit of truth.

“Of course, that won’t hold up in court, will it?

” Noah acknowledged, his voice dripping with irony.

“But you made one mistake. You had to get back here so you used your father’s truck.

It was a different color at the time. You did a nice job covering up the blue with that white.

But now it’s black. How do I know? Because while you didn’t leave prints, you used the truck to force the Mazda into the gorge.

You see, white paint was transferred. Not a lot, but enough. ”

Noah walked around to the front of the truck, his eyes scanning its surface with a practiced eye.

“Passenger side, right?” Noah stated matter-of-factly.

“I’m spitting theories, but here’s what I think happened.

Pushing Lena’s vehicle in as planned didn’t work, so you had to use the truck.

The Mazda got caught on tree roots, so you needed something more substantial. ”

Aiden’s head dropped, his shoulder slumping in defeat. “I expect if we were to take a closer look, we would see this corner has had a recent repair,” Noah continued, his words delivering the final blow. Aiden’s expression shifted to one of shock .

“How did you connect the two?” he whispered, unable to comprehend how Noah had pieced it together.

Noah cracked a wry smile, sadness and triumph in his eyes.

“Oh, that was all Lena. After her death, the kids were going through some of her photos from her old phone. The one that stopped working and she replaced. And just like you said, she was an investigator. She grew up around these parts, just like me. She knew of Payton’s case, like most people.

Even more so because she was married to the person it haunted.

That’s why she took this photo,” Noah said, retrieving his phone and showing Aiden a picture of the same truck, once white.

The snapshot had been taken inside the garage.

Aiden’s breath caught in his throat as the weight of his actions bore down upon him.

“Lena knew about your father before any of us, didn’t she?

But she never said anything because she thought you would come clean.

She gave you time to do it, right?” Noah concluded now that the truth had finally come to light.

Aiden’s shoulders slumped despondently as his gaze filled with remorse. “Yeah. She wanted me to come clean and tell you I had the truck, but I couldn’t. I just…” His voice trailed off as Noah swiftly interrupted him.

“Tried to protect him,” he said, his tone full of understanding.

Aiden nodded. “I wish it was that easy. I was trying to protect myself,” he admitted, guilt washing over him.

“If it got out that a pastor was the son of a man who had solicited minors, I wouldn’t be able to continue here.

I didn’t want to believe that he was that kind of man.

That the truck was used for those kinds of purposes. ”

He let out a heavy sigh, revealing the internal struggle.

“My father wouldn’t admit to it. He said it was all lies, a conspiracy started by my mother to get back at him, to tarnish his name.

He wanted me to have the truck. Gave me this spiel that it had been in the family for years, that it meant a lot, and that I meant a lot. ”

Noah studied Aiden as he responded. “And yet the cops had enough on him to put him away.”

Aiden nodded in acknowledgment. “I didn’t want to harm Lena.

I really didn’t. I loved her. I still do,” he confessed, tearing up.

“But she never really got over you. I wasn’t lying about that.

Having you return to High Peaks changed her.

I guess she wasn’t willing to settle for second best, especially a man who hadn’t been forthright.

You might have messed up your marriage, Noah, but you always were honest with her.

That’s what she said.” His voice grew somber, revealing a darker truth.

“I couldn’t let her leave. I would have been ruined.

I didn’t want this to happen; you have to believe me,” he pleaded, his voice trembling.

“I had fentanyl on hand given to me from users, those trying to get off it. I slipped some into her drink. She felt nothing.”

Noah shook his head in apparent disbelief. “Otis was transferred to a psych hospital, which he escaped a few years later. They never found him. He would have reached out. Where is your father now?”

Aiden’s gaze dropped, and he sank onto a nearby step, exhausted from sharing his secret with someone else. “High Peaks Cemetery. He died of pneumonia two months after he was out. I had his ashes buried there. Plot number sixty-four.”

A heavy silence settled between them as Noah absorbed the gravity of the situation.

“Is this where you arrest me?”

After a moment, Noah shook his head, his voice firm. “No, you’re not getting arrested here. You’ll turn yourself in and do what Lena wanted you to do. Tell the truth.”

Aiden let out a deep, guttural sigh. Tears rolled down his cheeks. Perhaps somewhere, there was a sense of relief that he would no longer have to bear the secret, even though he would always carry the guilt. “Will you take me?”

Noah nodded in agreement. “Yes,” he affirmed, a sense of duty and resolution emanating from him. Together, they would face the consequences and bring closure to the haunting chapter that had consumed both of their lives.