Chapter 10 - Eli Came Back With a Story Nobody Wanted to BelieveEli surrendered at a police station outside Omaha.
Thin.
Bearded.
Tired.
Alive.
Delia was not allowed to run into the interview room.
She saw him later through glass.
For several seconds, she only stared.
Then she turned away and cried.
When they were finally permitted a supervised meeting with attorneys present, Eli said:
"Hey."
Delia slapped the table with both hands.
"Don't 'hey' me."
He flinched.
Good.
"You let Mom think you were dead."
"I know."
"You let me work for Royce."
"I didn't know."
"I robbed people."
"I know."
"You could've called."
"I tried."
"Once?"
"Delia—"
"Five months."
Eli looked down.
"I was scared."
"So was I."
Same words Delia had used with Ava.
Eli nodded.
"I know."
She wanted to hug him.
She wanted to hit him.
Instead, she sat.
"Tell me."
Eli did.
After discovering Caleb's role, Eli stole the locker key.
Caleb contacted him secretly.
Claimed he wanted to expose Harlan.
He showed Eli records proving Easton used stolen identities.
Eli believed him.
Partly.
Caleb asked Eli to help remove a second phone from the locker before Royce found it.
Eli did.
Then he read the messages.
Caleb had selected victims.
Caleb knew Delia was being targeted before her robbery.
Caleb had not saved Eli.
He had recruited him as a disposable courier.
"I confronted him at the motel."
"What did he say?"
Eli laughed bitterly.
"That everybody was using everybody."
Delia stared.
"He offered me money."
"To do what?"
"Give him the phone and disappear."
"You refused."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I was angry."
Honest.
Not noble.
Angry.
"He tried to take it."
They struggled.
Eli was injured.
He escaped with the phone.
Then heard Royce arrive.
From outside, he heard Caleb tell Royce:
"Eli took everything."
Royce believed it.
"What happened to Caleb?"
"I don't know."
"You said he staged his disappearance."
"Before the motel."
Eli explained.
Caleb abandoned his truck weeks earlier and let everyone think something had happened.
Meanwhile, he stayed in short-term rentals using other names.
He still met Royce privately.
He still communicated with Harlan.
"Why?"
"He was planning to leave."
"With money?"
"Yes."
"Evidence?"
"Yes."
"Family?"
Eli hesitated.
"I don't know."
Marissa Rowe later heard that and almost collapsed.
Her husband may have planned to leave without her.
Or perhaps planned to return.
Nobody knew.
"Where did you hide?"
Eli named no specific tactics.
He moved between acquaintances and informal jobs outside the city.
He avoided family.
Avoided accounts linked to him.
Stayed scared.
"Why keep Caleb's phone?"
"Insurance."
Everyone used that word.
Evidence as insurance.
Truth only valuable because it could hurt someone else.
"Where is it?"
Eli looked at Ava.
"I can take you."
Police recovered it through proper procedure.
The device contained more complete conversations than the memory card.
Enough to establish Caleb's partnership with Harlan.
Enough to implicate Royce in selected robberies.
Enough to show Caleb planning his disappearance.
But then one thread surprised everyone.
Caleb to Harlan:
Royce is getting unstable. Delia's brother knows too much. No more roadside work.
Harlan:
Solve it.
Caleb:
Not that way.
Harlan:
Then what way?
Caleb:
Pay them out and shut it down.
Ava stared.
Caleb had tried to stop the operation.
Late.
After profiting.
After people were harmed.
But he had tried.
Then another message from the day Eli vanished.
Caleb:
Eli has phone. Royce knows. If kid gets hurt, it's on you.
Harlan:
You created Royce.
Caleb:
And I'm ending him.
Marcus whispered:
"Well."
Caleb planned to turn on Royce.
Royce believed Caleb betrayed him.
Harlan viewed both as liabilities.
Eli sat in the middle holding proof.
"Where is Caleb now?" Ava asked.
Eli shook his head.
"I don't know."
"When did you last see him?"
"Motel."
"Last hear from him?"
"Three weeks later."
Ava froze.
"What?"
"He emailed me."
"You never said that."
"I didn't trust you yet."
"You're sitting in a police interview after hiding five months. Stop deciding which facts we deserve."
Eli looked ashamed.
"What did he write?"
You ruined my exit. Harlan thinks I have the phone. Royce thinks you do. Keep it that way.
"Anything else?"
"One more email."
"What?"
Eli swallowed.
If your sister joins Royce, get her out.
Delia went still.
"Caleb knew?"
"Apparently."
"When?"
"Before you did your first robbery."
Delia stared at him.
"Why didn't you contact me?"
Eli couldn't answer.
She stood.
"Why?"
"I thought you'd lead Royce to me."
The sentence hit harder than she expected.
Eli had chosen his own safety over trusting her.
Maybe reasonably.
Still painful.
Delia left the room.
Nash heard about the interview later.
He asked Ava:
"So Caleb tried to stop Delia joining."
"Looks that way."
"Doesn't make him good."
"No."
"Doesn't make him the mastermind either."
"Partly mastermind."
"Fair."
"Victor Harlan is looking more central."
"Where's Harlan?"
"Home. Lawyers. No arrest yet."
"And Royce?"
"Still missing."
"What do you think happens next?"
Ava looked at Nash.
"Royce needs money."
"Caleb has evidence."
"Harlan needs both quiet."
"And Delia is in custody."
"Eli is in custody."
Nash understood.
The people Royce could punish were disappearing behind lawyers and locked doors.
That made him more dangerous.
Then Nash's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
His motorcycle.
Parked outside his apartment.
Taken minutes earlier.
Below it:
YOU SHOULD HAVE KEPT RIDING.
May you like
Nash stared.
The case had just returned to the man who stopped on the road.
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