Seventeen #3
“Caleb would never say that—he’s covering.”
“Covering for who? What are you talking about?”
“He knew. I don’t know when…probably not until just recently, but since he found out, he’s been putting himself between us…protecting me,” I finished quickly.
“You’re not making any sense. He just tried to shoot you.”
“He didn’t do it on purpose; he was probably just surprised.”
“What are you—”
“Caleb doesn’t have it in him to kill, I know he doesn’t, but she does.”
“I’m not following you at all.”
“It’s his mother…it’s Susan Reid. She’s the one he’s protecting. She’s the only one he would go to jail for. I promise you, she’s the guilty one.”
“Do you even know what you’re talk—”
“It makes sense. Susan thinks I’m the thing that keeps her from getting close to Dane, but Caleb knows I’m not the problem. It’s him—it’s Dane. He feels nothing for her.”
“I’m not—”
“Don’t you see? It’s everything. It’s every long-lost-happy-reunion movie ever made, and her idea, her belief about what was gonna happen.
I think she thought that even though she gave him away, later on, down the road, he would forgive and forget.
She could bring him back into the fold and everything would be okay.
Maybe she clung to that delusion her whole life, and then, faced with his coldness and at the same time his warmth with me and Aja…
I dunno. I think somewhere along the way she just snapped. ”
“But that doesn’t explain—”
“It had to be her and Greg. I mean, I heard people struggling that day in the shed. She and Greg must’ve gotten into it, and then she shot him.”
“Why would she kidnap her own son?”
“She didn’t kidnap him. He was there to talk to me, to keep an eye on me. He was in on the kidnapping, but not the murders.”
Agent Calhoun was staring a hole through my head. “I’m not saying I believe you, and you’re definitely going to jail for obstruction, but I will look into—”
“Wasn’t she coming to talk to Caleb, along with the negotiator?”
“Yeah, but—”
“Can we find out where she is? Because I don’t want her anywhere near Dane.”
He gestured for the SWAT guys to follow him, which they did, carrying me, hands under my arms, as my feet left the ground. I was forcibly shoved into the squad car and made to sit. They didn’t cuff me, which was nice, so I could get my phone out and call Dane.
“I’m gonna kill you myself!” he roared at me instead of saying hello.
“Wait, listen. Caleb was only an accomplice, Dane. Susan’s the one who killed all those guys and Greg Fain. She’s the murderer, not Caleb.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ll tell you when I get outta here, but promise me—swear on my life that you won’t go anywhere with her and you won’t be alone with her.”
“Jory, I—”
“Please, please. I know you think I’m crazy, but I’m really not. Please, Dane. Please don’t go anywhere with her.”
“God, you sound frantic.”
And I realized how frenzied I must have sounded. “Please,” I begged him again.
“Fine, whatever you want, just get back here now.”
“I dunno, I think Agent Calhoun wants to put me in jail.”
“What?”
“That’s what he said,” I said. “He’s really mad.”
“We’re all mad, Jory. You’re an idiot!”
Which was probably true. I couldn’t really defend myself.
“Where’s Agent Calhoun?”
“He’s yelling at people.”
“Where are you now?”
“In the back of a police car.”
“Jory, I’m going to—”
Muffled noises, and then came the familiar yelling.
“You are never ever leaving the house again when this is over, do you understand me? You will be a shut-in for the rest of your life! I hope you’re fuckin’ happy!”
I smiled into the phone. In the midst of everything, Sam was livid with me because I had put myself in danger. “Hi, Sam.”
“Jory, goddamnit!” he thundered, his voice firing out of my phone. “I want you back here right. Fucking. Now. Do you hear me?”
“I wish you were better.”
“What?”
“I need…you better.”
There was a long pause. “If you ever stayed here even for a minute, you’d know that I’m being released the day after tomorrow. I’ve spent enough time in the hospital; I get to come home.”
“You do?”
He grunted, but it was his smug, self-satisfied grunt that sent a current of need right through me. “Yes, I do. You sound pleased.”
I couldn’t even speak.
“Good, now maybe you’ll come back here and sit and not move until I tell you to.”
“Yes.”
“Hang up, and I will call Agent Calhoun.”
“Okay, I’ll see you soon. And—”
“I promise I won’t let Dane or Aja leave here until you get back.”
My breath came out in a rush. “Okay.”
“I’m going to strangle you—you get that, right?”
“I get that.”
“You know, I have a theory that because your brain is so small, you can’t hold more than one thought in your head at a time. That’s why you do such stupid shit all the time, ’cause when the new stuff is in there, you forget everything else.”
I had to laugh, because he sounded so serious.
“I’m going to beat you when I get my hands on you.”
“I know.” I sighed. “I can’t wait.”
He growled before he hung up, and I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes.
Everything was going to be all right.