Chapter 4
Dad moved in front of me so quickly I barely saw him do it.
“Caleb.”
My uncle closed the office door.
“Don't make this harder.”
Dad's voice was low.
“Sophie is here.”
“I can see that.”
“Put the gun down.”
Caleb laughed.
“You always talk like you're in charge.”
“You pointed a gun at my daughter.”
“I'm not pointing it at her.”
“You brought it into the room.”
Dad's whole body had changed.
I had never seen him afraid like that.
Not panicked.
Focused.
He shifted slowly until I was completely behind him.
Caleb held up Grandpa's file.
“Dad always trusted you more.”
Dad stared.
“What is in that?”
“You really don't know?”
“No.”
Caleb looked almost insulted.
“All of this because you were too lazy to open a folder.”
Dad swallowed.
“What did Dad find?”
Caleb smiled bitterly.
“Me.”
Silence.
Dad whispered:
“What did you do?”
“What I had to.”
“You kidnapped Natalie?”
“That was Vanessa.”
“Don't.”
Dad's voice sharpened.
“You were in my house.”
Caleb didn't deny it.
I started shaking.
He noticed.
For one second, something almost human crossed his face.
“Sophie.”
Dad snapped:
“Don't talk to her.”
Caleb sighed.
“She wasn't supposed to be there.”
“It was my custody day.”
“Vanessa said Natalie would pick her up before anything happened.”
My heart stopped.
Vanessa knew exactly when Mom was coming.
Dad said:
“You planned around my daughter.”
“I planned around everyone.”
“What was supposed to happen?”
Caleb looked toward the file.
“Natalie would come.”
“Then?”
“Vanessa would show her the insurance papers.”
Dad's face darkened.
“You forged my signature.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because we needed Natalie frightened enough to cooperate.”
“With what?”
“Finding this.”
He shook the folder.
Dad stared.
“How would she know where it was?”
“She knows you.”
Caleb smiled.
“Better than Vanessa does.”
That hurt Vanessa, apparently.
Even now, Caleb knew that.
Dad whispered:
“You used my ex-wife to get to me.”
“We needed someone you'd believe if things went wrong.”
“Things went wrong?”
Caleb's jaw tightened.
“Natalie recognized the signature was fake.”
“So you drugged her.”
“That wasn't the plan.”
“What was the plan?”
“To scare her.”
Dad laughed bitterly.
“Into what?”
“Convincing you to sign over your shares.”
Hale Development.
Dad and Caleb each owned forty-five percent.
Grandpa's trust held the remaining ten until certain conditions were satisfied.
Dad said:
“Why would I sign my company to you?”
“Because your daughter would be financially protected.”
I felt Dad go still.
The insurance policy.
My name.
My life.
He understood something.
“You were going to make it look like I had used Sophie as collateral.”
Caleb said nothing.
Dad's voice cracked.
“You were setting me up.”
“I needed leverage.”
“For what?”
Caleb looked at him.
“The company is dying.”
Dad stared.
“No, it isn't.”
“My side is.”
“What did you do?”
Caleb's silence answered.
Dad whispered:
“How much?”
“Four million.”
Dad actually stepped backward.
“You lost four million dollars?”
“I borrowed.”
“From who?”
Caleb laughed without humor.
“People who don't accept payment plans.”
Dad's face drained.
“And Dad found out.”
“Yes.”
The brown folder suddenly made sense.
Grandpa had discovered Caleb's debt.
“What was he going to do?”
“Remove me.”
“From the company?”
“From the trust.”
Dad looked sick.
“Dad died before he could.”
Caleb's eyes changed.
That sentence hung there.
Dad heard it too.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Caleb.”
“Dad was sick.”
“He had heart failure.”
“Yes.”
“Did you do something?”
Caleb looked away.
My stomach hurt.
Dad moved one step forward.
“What did you do to our father?”
“Nothing.”
“Look at me.”
“I said nothing.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
Caleb raised the gun.
“Stop.”
Dad stopped.
I grabbed the back of his jacket.
He reached behind and squeezed my hand.
Caleb breathed hard.
“Dad had medication.”
Dad's face changed.
“What about it?”
“He was confused sometimes.”
“He was never confused.”
“Toward the end he was.”
“You changed his medication.”
Caleb shouted:
“No!”
I jumped.
Dad didn't.
“What did you do?”
“I switched one bottle.”
My uncle's voice broke.
“That's all.”
Dad looked horrified.
“With what?”
“A lower dose.”
“Why?”
“I needed him weak.”
“You could have killed him.”
“I didn't.”
“How do you know?”
Caleb shouted:
“Because his death certificate says heart failure!”
Dad went silent.
Then quietly:
“You're right.”
Caleb blinked.
Dad continued.
“Because nobody knew to look.”
The office felt colder.
Caleb's eyes filled with tears.
“He was going to destroy me.”
“No.”
“He loved you more.”
“No.”
“He trusted you.”
“Because you kept lying to him!”
Caleb flinched.
Dad's voice broke.
“He would've helped you.”
“You don't know that.”
“You never gave him the chance.”
Neither man spoke.
Then Dad asked:
“What does Vanessa get?”
Caleb looked away.
“Money.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“And me?”
“You sign the shares.”
“What if I don't?”
Caleb looked toward me.
Dad moved so quickly that his desk chair flew backward.
“Don't look at her.”
Caleb's face tightened.
“I wouldn't hurt Sophie.”
“You locked her mother in a basement.”
“I told Vanessa to release Natalie before you came home.”
“Why didn't she?”
“Because she panicked.”
“Why?”
Caleb laughed bitterly.
“Because Natalie heard us arguing.”
“What argument?”
“Vanessa wanted more money.”
Of course.
Caleb continued.
“She said if she was risking prison, half wasn't enough.”
“Half of what?”
“The policy.”
Dad's face turned white.
“The policy on Sophie?”
Caleb said nothing.
I understood only part of it.
Dad understood all.
“You planned to collect money if my daughter died.”
“No.”
“Then why does Vanessa own a life insurance policy?”
“It's not active.”
“Why create it?”
“Leverage.”
Dad whispered:
“You're lying.”
Caleb raised the gun again.
“Enough.”
Then something vibrated in his pocket.
His phone.
He glanced down.
That tiny distraction was enough.
Dad shoved me behind the desk and lunged.
The gun fired.
I screamed.
The bullet hit the wall.
Dad and Caleb crashed into a bookshelf.
I crawled beneath the desk.
They fought.
The gun slid across the floor.
I saw it.
So did Caleb.
He moved toward it.
I kicked it under a cabinet.
Caleb stared at me.
Then police stormed the office.
“Hands!”
Caleb froze.
Dad dropped to his knees.
I crawled out and ran to him.
Detective Ruiz entered behind the officers.
Dad looked at her.
“How did you know?”
She lifted her phone.
“Sophie.”
I stared.
She smiled slightly.
“Your tablet recording app was still linked to your cloud account.”
I had accidentally started recording when Caleb entered.
Everything had uploaded.
Everything.
Caleb was handcuffed.
The brown folder was taken as evidence.
Inside were copies of financial records.
Grandpa's handwritten notes.
Proof Caleb had borrowed millions against company assets.
And one sealed envelope addressed to Dad.
Police allowed him to read it later.
Owen,
If you are seeing this, then I wasn't able to fix what Caleb has done.
Do not protect him because he is your brother.
Love does not require you to join someone in destroying himself.
Dad cried when he read that.
Then Detective Ruiz turned another page.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
Dad asked.
“There is a second note.”
It wasn't addressed to Dad.
It was addressed to Natalie.
Mom.
Dad frowned.
“Why would my father write to Natalie?”
Ruiz handed it over.
Dad read.
Then looked at me.
His face went white.
“What?”
I asked.
May you like
He swallowed.
“Dad knew Vanessa before I did.”
