Chapter 18 - The Call Came From a Man Everyone Thought Was DeadNolan froze.
Ethan froze.
The phone continued ringing from inside the waterproof case.
Grant stared.
"Who the hell—"
Ethan tore the case open.
Documents.
An old hard drive.
A second flash drive.
And a prepaid cell phone connected to a portable battery.
The screen displayed no name.
Only a number.
California area code.
Ethan answered.
"Hello?"
Silence.
Then breathing.
Nolan raised the gun.
"Put it on speaker."
Ethan ignored him.
The voice on the phone said one word.
"Ethan?"
His knees nearly gave out.
Three years vanished.
Thirty months in prison vanished.
Every funeral dream.
Every night imagining Caleb beneath blue water.
"Caleb?"
Grant covered his mouth.
Nolan went pale.
The voice laughed weakly.
"Man, you sound old."
Ethan couldn't speak.
His eyes filled.
"You son of a bitch."
"Yeah."
"Where are you?"
"Safe."
"Where?"
"Not while Nolan's standing there."
Ethan stared at Nolan.
"How do you know?"
Caleb answered, "Because if that phone turned on, the reservoir opened."
Ethan laughed through tears.
His brother had planned everything.
The phone wasn't meant to ring constantly.
It activated only when the case was exposed.
Caleb had built a trigger into the hiding place.
Nolan whispered, "Give me the phone."
Ethan put it on speaker.
"Caleb."
Silence.
Then Caleb said, "Still alive, Nolan?"
Nolan's face transformed.
Three years of searching.
Failure.
Fear.
"Where are you?"
Caleb laughed.
"You really never learned."
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere you can't touch me."
Nolan lifted the gun toward Ethan.
Caleb heard Grant warn him.
"Ethan?"
"I'm fine."
"If Nolan has a gun, tell Rex 'blue door.'"
Ethan frowned.
Blue door?
Then remembered.
An old training command.
One he'd created for emergency defensive movement during estate drills.
He hadn't used it in years.
Nolan had never learned that one.
Ethan looked at Rex.
"Blue door."
Rex moved instantly.
Not attacking Nolan.
Instead, he slammed his body into Kane.
The second dog stumbled sideways, colliding with Nolan's legs.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Grant tackled Nolan.
Ethan grabbed the weapon.
Kane recovered.
For a terrifying second, both dogs snarled.
Then Ethan shouted, "Down!"
Rex obeyed.
Kane hesitated.
Grant pinned Nolan's arm.
Ethan kicked the gun away.
Footsteps thundered above.
Federal agents.
Police.
Mason.
Within seconds the chamber filled with armed officers.
Nolan was handcuffed.
He didn't resist.
He stared only at the phone.
"Caleb."
Caleb said, "Enjoy prison."
Nolan smiled strangely.
"You think this ends with me?"
Caleb's voice changed.
"No."
Nolan looked satisfied.
Then Caleb added:
"It ends with everyone you kept records on."
The hard drive inside the case suddenly mattered.
Agents bagged it.
Nolan's smile disappeared.
Ethan took the phone off speaker.
"Caleb."
"I'm here."
"Where are you?"
"Give me an hour."
"No."
"Ethan."
"I've waited three years."
Silence.
Then Caleb whispered, "I know."
Ethan closed his eyes.
"I thought you were dead."
"I know."
"I buried an empty coffin."
"I know."
"You let me."
This time, Caleb's voice broke.
"I thought I was protecting you."
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"I was wrong."
Ethan sank onto a concrete step.
Around him, agents photographed evidence.
Nolan was escorted away.
Grant stood silently.
Rex rested his head against Ethan's knee.
"Why didn't you contact me?"
"I tried after you got out."
"The anonymous messages."
"Some."
Ethan looked toward Lauren when she arrived at the bottom of the stairs.
"Lauren sent some."
"I know."
"You sent the others."
"Most."
"Why the games?"
"I needed Nolan to move."
Ethan frowned.
"What?"
"Nolan was watching everyone. If I contacted you directly, he'd disappear."
"So you used me as bait."
Caleb didn't answer.
"Caleb."
"Yes."
Ethan almost laughed.
Of course.
The Cole brothers remained equally infuriating.
"Where are you?"
"I'll send an address."
"When?"
"When Nolan is physically booked and separated."
"You don't trust federal custody?"
"I've been alive this long because I don't trust anything."
Fair.
Ethan looked at the waterproof case.
"What's on the hard drive?"
"Everything."
"The fire?"
"Yes."
"Grant?"
"Yes."
"Nolan?"
"Especially Nolan."
"Other people?"
A pause.
"More than you want to know."
Ethan looked at Grant.
The older man's face went gray.
Then Caleb said:
"Ethan, there's one thing you need to understand before we meet."
"What?"
"I didn't stay gone only because of Nolan."
Ethan's stomach tightened.
"What does that mean?"
Silence.
Then Caleb said:
"Someone else was helping him."
Ethan looked around the chamber.
Grant.
Lauren.
Mason.
Federal agents.
Police.
"Who?"
Caleb answered:
May you like
"Someone you've trusted this entire time."
The call disconnected.
