Chapter Sixty Nine - Under Pressure

The walls were off-white, but under the buzzing fluorescent lights, they looked sterile—like something scraped clean too many times. Aura sat in the cold metal chair, legs crossed tightly beneath her, hands shoved deep into the kangaroo pocket of her hoodie. Her foot tapped against the linoleum floor, a quiet, fast rhythm that matched her racing heart.

She didn't belong here. She wasn't a criminal.

But the detectives were looking at her like she could be.

Detective Hall sat across from her with a small notebook, pen poised, her smile too gentle to be comforting. Detective Lanes leaned against the table with a stillness that made Aura feel exposed. They weren't speaking just to chat. Every question was a stone turned over, looking for something rotten underneath.

"Thanks for coming in, Aura." Hall said smoothly. "We just want to get a sense of where everyone was the night your grandmother passed. You understand that, right?"

Aura nodded, her throat too tight to speak right away.

"We've been talking to each member of your family.." Hall went on. "Getting timelines. Filling in the gaps."

"Okay." Aura said finally, voice small.

"Why don't you walk us through that night? Where were you?"

Aura forced her shoulders to lift in a shrug, pretending this was easy. "I was at home. With my siblings."

"All of them?"

"Yeah. Jackson, Harriet, Cody... Harper."

There was a beat of silence. A pause that tasted like warning.

"Harper was home?" Hall asked.

Aura blinked, confused by the tone. "Yes?"

"Are you asking us or telling us?"

Aura's palms began to sweat. "I'm telling you. I think—I mean, the bedroomdoor was closed. I didn't see her, but... yeah, she was there."

Lanes leaned in. "Except she wasn't. We've already spoken to Harper and Harper told us she wasn't home that night. Said she was out."

Aura's mouth opened slightly, then closed. "Out?"

"Yeah." Hall replied gently. "She said she left around eight. She walked across town. Said she was trying to... end things."

Aura's blood ran cold.

No. Harper had to have been home. She couldn't have left. Not then.

"I didn't know that.." Aura murmured. "I guess I just assumed..."

"But you said she was home," Lanes cut in, firmer now. "And now you're saying you assumed. Which is it?"

Aura's voice faltered. "I—I just thought she was in our bedroom."

"Why would you think that?" Hall asked, flipping a page in her notebook. "Did you see her go in?"

"No."

"Hear her voice?"

"No."

"Did she say she'd be staying in that night?"

"No."

"Did you speak to her that night?"

"No."

"Then how do you know she was home?"

Aura swallowed hard. "Because... it was quiet. Like always. She just stays in our bedroom.. reading books or watching movies. She doesn't like to be bothered. We tend to just stay out of her way."

Lanes raised a brow. Both detectives looked at each other.

Aura looked down at the table. "I don't know, okay? I just didn't see her leave. I just thought she was there. Maybe I was wrong."

Hall nodded slowly. "Maybe. But here's the thing—Harper told us she was out. That no one knew. That she didn't want anyone to stop her."

Aura's heart twisted. Her chest felt like it was caving in. If Harper had said that, it meant...

Her lie was already unraveling.

"Look.." Aura said, a note of desperation creeping in. "We were all home. I didn't see Harper leave, okay? That's the truth. I didn't know she was gone."

Lanes exchanged a glance with Hall, then said, "You said 'we were all home.' Are you sure about that? Or are you saying it because it's what you want to be true?"

"I'm not covering for anyone!" Aura snapped, more sharply than she intended.

There was another beat of silence.

Then Hall's voice softened. "Aura, can we talk about your grandmother?"

The sudden shift made her stomach drop. "Why?"

"Just want to understand the full picture. What was your relationship was like with her?"

Aura's jaw tightened. "She was my grandma."

Hall gave her a small, sympathetic nod. "Sure, but not an easy one, I hear."

Aura didn't respond.

"We've heard from your siblings that there were... tensions. That she could be cruel, especially to the younger ones. She seemed to have a soft spot for Cody and Harriet, don't you agree?"

Aura closed her eyes for a moment. "She was old-fashioned. Controlling. That's all."

"Controlling how?"

Aura didn't answer.

Hall waited, then leaned in slightly. "We also know you struggled with an eating disorder. That you were in outpatient treatment a few months back. You were in hospital for a little while, wasn't you?"

Aura blinked. Her hands curled tighter in her sleeves.

Hall kept her tone gentle. "Did she ever comment on that? Your weight? What you ate?"

Aura gave a short, bitter laugh. "All the time."

Lanes straightened. "Can you give us an example?"

Aura hesitated. "She... she used to say things. Little jabs. Like, 'You're filling out in the wrong places,' or, 'Don't go reaching for seconds, you'll ruin your face.' Stuff like that. At dinner, if I left food on my plate, she'd mutter something about 'wasting money on girls who don't appreciate it.' And when I was at my worst—like, actually sick—she caught me in the bathroom one night and said, 'You're pathetic. You want to disappear so badly? Then go.'"

Hall's expression didn't change. "That must've hurt."

Aura's voice cracked. "She never saw me as a person. Just... a flaw. Something to fix."

"And did that make you angry?"

Aura looked up sharply. "What are you trying to say?"

"We're not accusing you of anything." Lanes said calmly. "But when people are pushed, when they're hurt for a long time, it's not uncommon to feel... resentful. When people are backed into a corner.."

"I didn't kill her." Aura whispered.

"No one's saying you did."

"She was horrible to all of us, but we didn't kill her. Do you actually think I'm capable of doing something like that? Of killing a person? A human being?"

The room went still again.

Hall closed her notebook softly. "Then help us understand. Help us rule you out. Because right now, things don't line up. You say Harper was home. She says she wasn't. You say you don't know anything, but you're withholding something—we can see that."

Aura bit the inside of her cheek, hard. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. Her vision blurred for a moment as another memory flickered through her mind like a sharp cut.

It was two weeks ago. Harper wasn't home. Aura had gone into her bedroom, looking for her sketchbook—the one she'd accidentally left under Harper's bed during a late-night drawing session. She had crouched down, sweeping her arm beneath the mattress.

Her fingers brushed against something hard.

She pulled it out slowly.

A gun.

Black. Small. Wrapped in a pair of Harper's old camp hoodies socks.

Aura had gasped and nearly dropped it. Her stomach had plummeted through the floor. Her first thought wasn't why does Harper have a gun?

Did she use this on their grandmother?

She hadn't told anyone. Not Harriet. Not Cody. Not even Jackson. Because if she said it out loud, it would become real. If she told someone, she'd have to admit she wasn't sure what her sister was capable of anymore. Even murder.

And now the detectives were staring at her like they knew. Like she was hiding something.

Because she was.

"I was home, okay?" she said finally, voice shaking. "I really don't know anything else."

Hall studied her a long moment before sliding the notebook shut. "That'll be all for now."

Aura stood slowly, feeling her knees wobble beneath her. Her head was pounding.

As she reached the door, Hall's voice stopped her one last time.

"If you remember something—anything—you need to come to us. Secrets don't stay buried for long, Aura. Not in a family like yours."

Aura didn't look back.

She stepped into the hall, the door shutting behind her with a soft but final click.

And for the first time since Cece's death, she wasn't sure who she was more afraid of.

The police...

Or Harper.