Chapter 8 - Royce Had Been Carrying Evidence He Didn’t UnderstandThe necklace was cheap.
Silver-colored metal.
Small oval pendant.
Delia's mother had owned it for years.
Eli hollowed the back and placed a tiny memory card inside before giving it to Delia.
He told her:
"If anyone asks, it's Mom's."
Delia wore it for three weeks.
Then Royce noticed.
"He'd seen Mom wear it," Delia explained.
"Why did that matter?"
"Because he knew Eli had visited her before disappearing."
"What did Royce say?"
"That Eli might've left something."
"He took the necklace."
"Yes."
"Did he open it?"
"I don't know."
"Did he return it?"
"No."
That meant Royce might possess Caleb's phone data without knowing it.
Unless someone had already told him.
Police searched properties connected to arrested crew members.
No necklace.
Royce's apartment was empty.
His auto shop closed.
Then Ava received a call from a pawn store employee.
Royce had sold several items there two months earlier.
Among them:
A silver pendant.
Police recovered it.
The memory card remained inside.
Ava almost didn't believe their luck.
Criminal cases were usually defined by what disappeared.
Not what someone overlooked because it looked worthless.
The card contained photographs of messages displayed on Caleb's second phone.
Eli had not copied the entire device.
Just the communications he understood were important.
Victor Harlan appeared repeatedly.
So did Royce.
The messages established a relationship between Easton and Caleb.
Not every detail was criminal on its face.
Consulting.
Data review.
Client recovery.
Then one message:
Need original identity package. Digital alone won't survive review. R can arrange.
Caleb answered:
Risk increasing. Road method too visible.
Harlan:
Then make R smarter.
Ava read it twice.
Royce was R.
Another:
Nurse target failed. Find another route.
The nurse matched one of Delia's targeted victims.
Another message showed Caleb objecting.
This stopped being data work. People are getting hurt.
Harlan replied:
You knew who R was when you brought him.
There.
Caleb had recruited Royce.
Not the other way around.
Marcus leaned back.
"Caleb built his own problem."
Ava nodded.
Then later messages changed tone.
Caleb:
I'm done after this month.
Harlan:
There is no after this month.
Caleb:
I have copies.
Harlan:
That would be unfortunate for your family.
Threat.
Then Caleb began contacting Eli.
Not because Eli was trustworthy.
Because Eli was low-level enough to use and frightened enough to move.
Caleb wanted the locker key smuggled out.
Eli agreed.
Then discovered Caleb had helped design the operation.
The alliance broke.
Room 214 followed.
Nash heard the update from Ava after his next shift.
"So Caleb isn't clean."
"No."
"But he tried to leave."
"Looks that way."
"Victim and perpetrator."
"Those categories can overlap."
"What about Harlan?"
"Lawyers."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning Easton says Caleb acted outside authorized work."
"Do we believe them?"
"We believe evidence."
Nash smiled faintly.
Ava rolled her eyes.
"Don't quote me to me."
"Where's Royce?"
"Still missing."
"And necklace recovered means he may not know the evidence was inside."
"Unless he eventually discovered it."
"If he had, why pawn it?"
"Exactly."
Nash looked toward Caleb's photograph.
"Where's Caleb?"
"No idea."
"Eli says alive?"
"Eli said don't trust him. Didn't explicitly say when he last saw him."
"Can we get Eli in?"
"We're working on it."
Nash paused.
"Why are you telling me all this?"
Ava looked at him.
"Because you keep asking."
"Fair."
"And because you are going to testify about the roadside arrest."
"Also fair."
She gathered the files.
Then stopped.
"Royce called Delia."
Nash frowned.
"From where?"
"Untraceable internet call to her attorney's office."
"What did he say?"
"One sentence."
"What?"
Ava looked at him.
"Tell Delia Caleb wants his phone back."
Nash felt cold.
"If Royce knows about the phone..."
"He knows more than we thought."
"Did he say Caleb is alive?"
"No."
"Could he be bluffing?"
"Absolutely."
"Did Delia react?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"She asked why Royce was taking orders from a dead man."
Nash stared.
"She thinks Caleb is dead?"
"No."
Ava's expression darkened.
"She was testing him."
"And?"
"Royce laughed."
Silence.
"Then he said, 'You still don't understand who disappeared who.'"
Nash frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"We don't know."
But Delia did.
At least partly.
Because after the call, she asked to speak privately to Ava.
And she finally told the story of the one robbery she had never included in her count.
Not nine.
Ten.
The first one.
Months before she joined Royce.
Before Eli disappeared.
Before Caleb vanished.
Delia had been on the other side.
She had been the victim.
May you like
And the man who robbed her that night—
was Eli.
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