Chapter 11 - Royce Made the Mistake of Threatening the Wrong Person TwiceNash did not answer the message.
He called it in.
His apartment building was checked.
The motorcycle photographed and processed.
No dramatic trap.
No secret solo hunt.
Nash understood something the average thriller hero often ignored:
Once a threat became personal, he was less useful as an investigator.
Emotion distorted judgment.
Ava told him exactly that.
"You are not looking for Royce."
"I wasn't planning to."
"Good."
"I'm offended you think I would."
"I've met cops."
"Fair."
The photograph still affected him.
Not fear exactly.
Awareness.
Royce had found his home.
That meant someone watched Nash after the roadside arrest.
Could be Royce.
Could be one of Harlan's people.
Could be a bluff using publicly available information.
Investigators didn't assume.
Nash temporarily stayed elsewhere.
He hated it.
Then Royce called.
Not Nash.
A local television station.
He claimed police were framing him for Easton's crimes.
He said Delia had invented the coercion story to reduce charges.
He said Caleb Rowe was alive and responsible for everything.
One statement was probably true.
Caleb likely was alive.
Royce offered no proof.
Then he made another mistake.
He mentioned Eli's stolen phone.
The public didn't know about that phone.
Only investigators, defendants, attorneys, and involved conspirators did.
Royce had just confirmed inside knowledge on record.
Ava almost smiled.
"Thank you, Royce."
Nash watched the news clip.
"He always talk this much?"
"Apparently."
"Why now?"
"Pressure."
"Or trying to draw Caleb out."
"Also possible."
Then Harlan's attorneys contacted investigators.
Victor Harlan wanted immunity discussions.
Not immunity granted.
Discussions.
Marcus Bell laughed when he heard.
"Everyone wants to be the second-most guilty person."
Harlan claimed Caleb created the roadside scheme without Easton's authorization.
Evidence contradicted portions.
He admitted approving aggressive identity verification work.
Denied knowledge of robbery.
Then investigators presented the message:
Need original identity package. R can arrange.
Harlan's explanation weakened.
He said R meant "recovery."
Caleb's messages used R for Royce elsewhere.
Harlan's face changed.
Negotiations continued.
Meanwhile, Eli identified one place Royce might use when scared.
A rural property belonging to Wade's cousin.
Police checked.
Empty.
But they found evidence Royce had been there recently.
Also a note.
Not handwritten.
Printed.
ROW E 8 / 17
Ava frowned.
Eli recognized it.
"Caleb."
"What?"
"He did that."
"Why?"
"Caleb wrote locations like spreadsheet cells."
Not operational instructions.
Just a habit.
Row E, column? 8/17 could be date.
August 17.
But they were in winter.
Maybe address fragment.
Then Marcus looked at Caleb's target spreadsheet.
Row E.
Entry eight.
Victim seventeen?
No.
Row E contained properties connected to Easton.
Entry dated 8/17:
An old records facility near Fremont.
Ava stared.
"Caleb is leaving clues?"
Eli shook his head.
"No."
"Then why would Royce have it?"
"Caleb gave him meeting instructions."
"When?"
"No idea."
Police watched the facility through lawful means.
No immediate activity.
Then Marissa Rowe called.
She had received a letter.
Physical.
No return address.
Caleb's handwriting.
I am alive. Do not believe anything they say about why I left. Keep the kids away from Omaha until I contact you again.
Marissa cried.
Then became furious.
"Six months."
She stared at Ava.
"He was alive."
"Looks like it."
"He let us think he was dead."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"We're still determining."
"Don't give me detective language."
Ava softened.
"He was involved in serious crimes and trying to disappear from people involved with him."
Marissa looked away.
"Did he love us?"
Ava hated that question.
Evidence couldn't answer.
"I don't know."
Marissa folded the letter.
"I do."
Ava waited.
"He loved us."
She started crying.
"And he still left."
Both.
Again.
Caleb was not a monster simple enough to stop loving.
That may have been worse.
The letter contained one important clue.
A faint watermark from a small print shop in Fremont.
The shop remembered a customer matching Caleb's description using cash.
Two days earlier.
Security video confirmed.
Caleb Rowe was alive.
Now officially.
An alert went out.
Nash heard during roll call.
For the first time since the ambush, the room felt different.
They weren't searching for a theory.
They were searching for a man.
Then dispatch received a report.
A person matching Caleb had entered an urgent-care clinic outside Fremont.
He left before police arrived.
But gave one message to a nurse.
"Tell Detective Morales Royce found me first."
Ava's stomach dropped.
"Was he hurt?"
"Minor visible injury."
"Did he say where Royce went?"
"No."
"Anything else?"
The nurse nodded.
"He said, 'The cop on the motorcycle was never the target.'"
Ava frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Then the nurse continued:
"He said, 'The woman was.'"
Delia.
Nash hadn't been selected.
But Delia had.
The night she stood on the road pretending to be pregnant—
Royce had not merely been using her to catch another stranger.
May you like
Someone had expected Delia herself to be caught in something.
And Caleb knew why.
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