Chapter 14 - Royce Wanted One Last Person to Be Afraid of HimNash learned about the threat increase from his lieutenant.
Not from Ava.
That was correct procedure.
"Royce may focus on you."
Nash nodded.
"He already sent the motorcycle photo."
"Now we know motive better."
"Embarrassment?"
"Control."
Nash almost smiled.
"Same thing to men like him."
"Don't psychoanalyze."
"Yes, sir."
Temporary security measures continued.
Nash's routine changed.
He hated the loss of normal life.
Then something unexpected happened.
His father called.
"Your mother saw the news."
Nash closed his eyes.
"Of course she did."
"She thinks you almost got shot."
"I did not."
"That's not how television works."
Nash drove to his parents' house that evening.
His mother hugged him hard.
Then hit his shoulder.
"You stopped for a stranger?"
"Yes."
"At night?"
"Yes."
"On that road?"
"Yes."
She stared.
"Good."
Nash blinked.
"What?"
"If you drove past a woman who looked like she was in labor because bad people exist, I'd be more disappointed."
His father laughed.
Nash smiled.
That sentence stayed.
Royce's entire method depended on corrupting kindness.
Make people regret stopping.
Make the next driver keep going.
Nash refused to let Royce take that too.
But kindness didn't mean recklessness.
He knew that now more than ever.
Two nights later, Royce contacted him directly again.
A voice message.
"Badge looked good under the streetlight."
Nash forwarded it immediately.
Royce continued:
"You made everybody run."
Then:
"You think that makes you something?"
Nash didn't respond.
Ava listened.
"He wants engagement."
"No kidding."
"Don't give it."
"I won't."
"You're disappointing me by being reasonable."
"Thanks."
Voice analysis and digital traces gradually narrowed Royce's location.
Nothing instant.
No magical triangulation.
Police work was patience.
A gas-station camera spotted him.
A borrowed car surfaced.
A friend admitted Royce had asked for cash.
The circle tightened.
Then Royce made a mistake bigger than calling Nash.
He contacted Delia's mother.
Not to hurt her.
To threaten.
He wanted Delia to stop cooperating.
The call was recorded lawfully after prior threats.
Royce said:
"Tell her family disappears when people talk."
Delia's mother answered:
"My son already disappeared because of you."
Royce laughed.
"Your son disappeared because he was stupid."
Then:
"Caleb should've finished him."
That statement directly contradicted Royce's public claim that Caleb alone ran everything.
He knew Room 214.
He knew Eli survived.
And then he mentioned where Eli had hidden after the motel.
A town investigators had never released.
That narrowed who helped Royce search.
One associate led to another.
Finally, police located a house where Royce had been sleeping.
He wasn't there.
But a notebook was.
Inside were names.
Delia.
Eli.
Caleb.
Harlan.
Nash.
Next to four:
DONE
Not killed.
Investigators initially didn't know what the word meant.
Delia explained.
"Royce says done when someone can't be useful."
Harlan arrested.
Caleb surrendered.
Eli custody.
Delia custody.
Done.
Nash was the only uncrossed name.
Beside his:
OWES ME.
Ava stared.
"What does he think you owe him?"
Nash shrugged.
"An apology?"
"Not funny."
"Little funny."
She didn't smile.
Then another name appeared at the bottom.
MARISSA R.
Caleb's wife.
Nash's expression changed.
"Why her?"
Ava already knew.
"Leverage."
Caleb's surrender protected his family only if police knew threats existed.
Now they did.
Marissa and children were moved under appropriate safety planning.
Caleb was informed.
He broke.
Not loudly.
He simply covered his face.
"This is my fault."
Ava answered:
"Royce's threats are Royce's fault."
Caleb looked at her.
"But I brought him in."
"That part is yours."
Precision.
Always.
Royce was finally spotted near a rail yard.
Units responded.
He fled.
A search followed.
No movie showdown with Nash.
No badge-to-badge confrontation.
Nash stayed on regular assignment.
He listened over radio like everyone else.
Then:
"Suspect contained."
Minutes later:
"Royce Danner in custody."
Nash exhaled.
That was it.
No applause.
No dramatic speech.
A dangerous man was handcuffed by officers Nash barely knew while Nash sat in a patrol car three miles away.
It felt anticlimactic.
It also felt right.
Royce did not deserve a final stage.
Later, Ava told Nash what Royce said after arrest.
"Want to guess?"
"I'd rather not."
"He asked whether you were there."
Nash laughed.
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
"What did you tell him?"
"Nothing."
"Good."
Ava smiled.
"Then he said he wanted to talk to the cop who ruined everything."
Nash shook his head.
"He ruined everything."
"I know."
"Delia helped."
"Yes."
"Eli helped."
"Eventually."
"Caleb."
"Eventually."
Ava folded her arms.
"Everyone eventually."
That was the story.
Not one hero.
Not one confession.
A chain of people finally making better decisions after months or years of worse ones.
Then Ava added:
"Royce says he wants a deal."
"Everyone does."
"He claims Harlan ordered violence."
"Do we believe him?"
Ava gave Nash the look.
He smiled.
"Evidence."
"You're learning."
But when Royce began talking, he revealed one final fact that changed how Delia understood Eli's disappearance.
Royce had not spent five months trying to find Eli to punish him.
For the first month—
Royce had secretly tried to keep Eli away from Caleb.
And the reason had nothing to do with loyalty.
Royce knew Caleb had one more list.
May you like
A list containing Delia's name—
and Nash's badge number had been added to it after the ambush.
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