Chapter 14 - Caleb’s Confession
I finally sat down because my legs would not hold me.
Caleb looked worse than I had ever seen him.
Not physically.
Morally.
Like every lie he had told was now sitting in the room with us.
“Explain.”
“Martin wanted access to the trust. He told me to get close to you. He said it would be easy.”
My hands went cold.
“So our whole marriage was a job?”
“At the beginning.”
“How romantic.”
“I deserve that.”
“You deserve worse.”
He nodded.
No argument.
That somehow made me angrier.
He told me he had helped Martin move paperwork years ago. Nothing violent, he claimed. He believed Martin was committing tax fraud and hiding money.
Then he met me.
Then he learned who Andre had been.
Then he realized Martin’s interest in me was not random.
“I tried to back out.”
“You could have told me.”
“I was afraid you’d leave.”
“I would have.”
“I know.”
He looked down.
“Martin started using my old signatures and accounts. He made it look like I was stealing from Nia’s trust. Some of the beneficiary forms—I did sign blank pages. I thought they were business documents.”
“That is not an excuse.”
“No.”
“What about the vitamins?”
His face twisted.
“I gave her the bottle Martin supplied twice.”
My body went rigid.
“You told Marissa you didn’t.”
“I lied.”
I stood.
He pressed his palms to the table.
“I thought they were supplements.”
“You stood over her and watched her swallow them.”
His eyes filled.
“I know.”
“Did you know she was getting sick?”
“I thought it was anemia.”
“You took her to urgent care.”
“I did.”
“They found abnormal labs.”
“I never saw the final results.”
“Because you left before discharge.”
He looked up sharply.
I knew I had hit something.
“Why?”
“My phone rang.”
“Martin?”
He nodded.
“What did he say?”
“That the trust auditor had scheduled a review when Nia turned seventeen. He said if I didn’t fix the paperwork, we’d all go to prison.”
I laughed.
“We.”
Caleb’s voice broke.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. Sorry is for forgetting an anniversary.”
I turned toward the door.
“Denise.”
I stopped.
He said, “Martin called me after I ran from the hospital.”
“What did he want?”
“The card.”
“He didn’t know we found it yet.”
“He does now.”
I looked back.
“How?”
Caleb swallowed.
“Because somebody inside the hospital has been feeding him updates all night.”
My blood went cold.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Then the interview-room door opened.
May you like
Detective Ortiz stood there, pale.
“Denise, Nia’s guard just stopped answering his radio.”
