Chapter 7 - Eli Voss Was Alive, and He Had Been Watching the NewsThree days after Nash stopped for Delia, Eli Voss called his sister's attorney.
The number came from a prepaid public line at a bus terminal in Lincoln.
The call lasted eighty-six seconds.
Eli said:
"Tell Delia I'm alive."
Then:
"Tell the cop not to trust Caleb."
And finally:
"Don't trace me. If Royce knows I'm talking, I'm dead."
He disconnected.
Police did exactly what investigators do when someone says don't trace me.
They used lawful processes.
The call gave them almost nothing.
But it gave Delia something she hadn't had in five months.
Proof.
She cried for ten minutes after hearing the recording.
Then became angry.
"He left me."
Ava sat across from her.
"He may have been afraid."
"So was I."
"Both can be true."
Delia wiped her face.
"I ruined people's lives trying to find him."
Ava didn't disagree.
"Then help fix what you can."
"How?"
"Tell us everything."
Delia gave them names.
Addresses.
Cars Royce had used.
A woman named Kyra who sometimes acted as bait.
A storage garage where wallets were sorted before moving elsewhere.
No instructional detail.
Just evidence.
Wade was arrested the next day.
Micah surrendered after his mother convinced him.
Royce remained missing.
The three men told different stories.
That was expected.
They agreed on one thing.
Caleb Rowe had been more than a victim.
Wade called him "the numbers guy."
Micah called him "Easton's ghost."
Leon claimed he'd never met him.
Then investigators found a photograph of all four men standing beside Caleb at a backyard cookout eighteen months earlier.
Leon stopped claiming that.
Royce had recruited thieves.
Caleb turned theft into selection.
Easton provided access to debt and identity records.
Who at Easton authorized it remained unclear.
Then Eli called again.
This time he asked to speak directly to Detective Morales.
Ava accepted under recorded conditions.
"You want immunity?"
Eli laughed.
"I want to not disappear again."
"Then come in."
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because Caleb still has people."
"Royce?"
"No."
"Who?"
"I don't know their names."
Ava heard movement behind him.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere I'm not staying."
"Did Caleb abduct you?"
Silence.
"Eli."
"He tried."
"That is not an answer."
"I got away."
"From Room 214?"
"Yes."
Ava's pulse changed.
"What happened?"
Eli breathed slowly.
"I met Caleb."
"Why?"
"He said he wanted out."
"Out of Easton?"
"Out of everything."
"Did you believe him?"
"I wanted to."
"Then?"
"He asked for the key."
"The locker key."
"Yes."
"Did you give it?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I already opened the locker."
Ava sat straighter.
Before Delia had the key, Eli had used it.
"What was inside?"
"Records."
"Same things police found?"
"No."
"What was removed?"
"A second phone."
"Whose?"
"Caleb's."
"Where is it?"
"I had it."
"Had?"
"Room 214."
"What happened?"
"Caleb demanded it."
"Did you fight?"
A pause.
"Yes."
No detailed violence.
"Was anyone seriously hurt?"
"No."
"What did Delia see?"
"My blood."
Ava closed her eyes.
So Eli had been injured, but not killed.
"How did you leave?"
"Doesn't matter."
"It matters."
"Not for what you're trying to prove."
Ava let it go for now.
"Did Royce arrive?"
"Later."
"How do you know?"
"I heard him."
"Did Caleb call him?"
"Yes."
There.
"What did Caleb want?"
"The phone and key."
"Why?"
"Because the phone had messages."
"With who?"
"Someone at Easton."
"Name?"
"I don't know."
"Initials?"
"V.H."
Marcus Bell, listening beside Ava, immediately wrote it.
Easton Recovery's chief executive was Victor Harlan.
Ava asked:
"Was Caleb working for Harlan?"
"Yes."
"Doing what?"
"Choosing people."
"The roadside victims."
"Some."
"Why some?"
Eli hesitated.
"Because some robberies were just robberies."
That mattered.
Royce used the scam to make money independently too.
"But others?"
"People Easton wanted clean documents from."
"Meaning?"
"Original IDs. Phones. Sometimes signatures from things in wallets."
Ava stopped him from explaining methods.
"Enough."
Eli continued.
"Caleb built the target lists."
"Then why investigate his own scheme?"
"He got scared."
"Of police?"
"Of Harlan."
"Why?"
"Caleb kept too much."
"Records."
"Yes."
"Blackmail?"
"Insurance."
Exactly what Delia said.
Ava asked:
"What happened after Room 214?"
"I hid."
"For five months?"
"Yes."
"Why not call police?"
Eli laughed bitterly.
"Because I helped Royce rob people."
"So?"
"So prison exists."
"Still does."
"I know."
"Then why call now?"
Silence.
Then Eli said:
"Because I saw Delia arrested."
"The roadside incident?"
"News showed the road blocked."
"How did you know she was involved?"
"I know Royce."
"That doesn't answer."
"Then I saw his picture."
Royce's wanted notice.
Eli continued.
"If Delia is talking, Caleb will think she has the phone."
"Does she?"
"No."
"Who does?"
Eli went silent.
Ava leaned closer.
"You said you had it."
"I did."
"Where is it now?"
"Safe."
"Where?"
"No."
"Eli."
"Not until Delia is protected."
"She's in custody."
"Custody isn't protection."
Ava knew better than to promise absolute safety.
"What do you want?"
"Put my mother somewhere Royce can't find her."
"We can discuss appropriate measures if threat evidence supports it."
Eli laughed.
"Police answer."
"Accurate answer."
Then Eli said:
"Ask Delia about the necklace."
Ava frowned.
"What necklace?"
"She knows."
The call ended.
Delia was brought back.
Ava asked one question.
"What necklace?"
Delia's face changed.
"I don't have it."
"That's not what I asked."
Delia looked toward her attorney.
Then back.
"Eli gave me Mom's necklace with the key."
"Why?"
"He said one was for Royce to find."
Ava stared.
"The key?"
"No."
Delia swallowed.
"The necklace."
"What was inside?"
"A memory card."
The real evidence hadn't been inside Caleb's locker.
It had been hanging around Delia's neck.
And Delia had never told anyone.
"Where is it?"
Ava asked.
Delia looked terrified.
"Royce took it the night Eli disappeared."
Silence.
May you like
Then:
"But I don't think he knew what was inside."
Related Stories
