Chapter 12 - Delia Was Never Supposed to Walk Away From That RoadAva replayed the nurse's statement three times.
The woman was.
What could Delia have been targeted for?
She already worked for Royce.
She already participated.
If Royce wanted to harm her, why include her in a robbery?
Eli understood first.
"He wanted her arrested."
Ava looked at him.
"What?"
"Royce wanted Delia caught."
"Why?"
"Because he knew she had started asking about me."
Delia stared at her brother.
"How would he know?"
"You ask terrible questions."
She almost laughed despite herself.
Ava leaned forward.
"Explain."
Eli thought.
"Royce could've chosen any bait that night."
"Yes."
"He chose Delia."
"Yes."
"He knew the road was risky."
"Maybe."
"He also knew the shift changes."
Nash had been on his way to work, but no evidence Royce knew Nash specifically.
Eli continued.
"If Delia got arrested during a robbery, she disappears into jail."
Ava frowned.
"That creates risk for Royce too."
"Unless he thinks she won't talk."
Delia whispered:
"He thought I was scared of him."
"You were."
"I still talked."
Eli nodded.
"Because he left you."
That mattered.
If Royce had stayed loyal, Delia might have stayed silent longer.
His self-preservation broke his control.
But why that specific night?
Investigators checked Delia's recent behavior.
Two days before the ambush, she had visited her mother's house.
She found one of Eli's old notebooks.
Inside was a phone number.
She called.
It belonged to Marissa Rowe.
Caleb's wife.
Delia had hung up before speaking.
But the call existed.
Royce had access to Delia's phone records through a shared family account he'd pressured her to join months earlier.
He may have seen the number.
Ava stared.
"You called Caleb's wife."
Delia nodded.
"Why?"
"I wanted to ask if Caleb was alive."
"You didn't."
"I panicked."
"Royce saw."
"Probably."
That could be the trigger.
Royce realized Delia was connecting missing people.
The next robbery placed her on a dark road.
If she was caught, arrested.
If something worse happened, easy to blame on a victim resisting.
Nash's appearance as a police officer ruined the plan.
Royce fled instead of controlling the outcome.
"Caleb knew this?" Ava asked.
"Maybe Royce told him," Eli said.
"Or Harlan."
Marcus entered with phone-analysis results.
"Royce messaged an unidentified number thirty minutes before the ambush."
Content recovered from cloud backup:
D asking about Rowe. Tonight solves it.
Ava stared.
Delia went pale.
"Tonight solves it."
Another response:
No bodies. Too much heat.
Sender unknown.
Marcus continued.
"Then Royce replied: Jail works too."
Silence.
Eli was right.
Royce wanted Delia removed.
Not necessarily killed.
Neutralized.
Discredited.
If she was arrested committing robbery, any later claim about Eli or Caleb would sound like a criminal bargaining for leniency.
Nash's badge accelerated the exact outcome Royce wanted—
until Delia talked.
"Who told Royce no bodies?" Ava asked.
"Tracing."
"Could be Harlan."
"Could be Caleb."
That distinction mattered enormously.
Then Caleb called police himself.
He asked for Ava.
No games.
No coded messages.
"I want to come in."
"Where are you?"
"Safe enough."
"Royce found you."
"Yes."
"How?"
"Because Harlan gave him my location."
Ava's pulse changed.
"Proof?"
"I have some."
"Why surrender now?"
"Because Royce tried to kill me."
No details.
"Are you injured?"
"Not seriously."
"Where is Royce?"
"I don't know."
"Do you know who sent the message telling Royce no bodies?"
Silence.
Caleb breathed out.
"Me."
Ava stared.
"You knew Delia was targeted."
"Yes."
"And you didn't warn her."
"I didn't have a way."
"You had Marissa's address. You had Eli's email."
"I was trying not to expose myself."
There it was.
Self-preservation again.
"You let her walk into it."
"I told Royce not to hurt her."
Ava's voice hardened.
"That is not the same as protecting her."
"I know."
For the first time, Caleb sounded tired rather than clever.
"What do you want?"
"A lawyer."
"Expected."
"And protection for my family."
"You don't get to negotiate safety for children as a reward for surrender. If there's a credible threat, we'll address it."
Caleb almost laughed.
"You're exactly like Eli said."
"Should I be worried?"
"No."
Then he gave a location.
Public.
Controlled.
Police arranged his surrender.
Nash was nowhere near it.
That was intentional.
Caleb arrived wearing jeans and a winter coat.
No dramatic chase.
No last-minute weapon.
He simply raised his hands and followed instructions.
Marissa was not there.
He asked for her.
Request denied initially.
Then Caleb saw Delia through interview-room glass hours later.
His face changed.
She stared back.
The man she had imagined as victim.
Then villain.
Then ghost.
Alive.
Ava sat across from Caleb.
"Start at the beginning."
Caleb shook his head.
"No."
"Then we wait."
"I start where it matters."
Ava folded her arms.
"Fine."
Caleb looked through the glass toward Delia.
"Royce didn't invent the pregnancy scam."
"Who did?"
Caleb answered:
"I did."
Delia's face went white.
The humiliation she had performed on the road—
the fake belly, tears, helplessness—
had been designed by the same man whose disappearance she spent months trying to understand.
But Caleb wasn't finished.
"I built it after Easton asked for one specific target."
Ava stared.
"Who?"
Caleb looked at her.
"Delia Voss."
May you like
The scheme had started with her before she ever joined it.
And suddenly the entire story folded back onto itself.
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