Sixteen #4
“Honey, you don’t know that. You never saw anybody’s face.
If Caleb was working with Greg Fain, that means that he was sitting there watching Greg hit you and hold you down.
Or maybe Greg watched Caleb hurt you. That’s probably more likely.
A number of the injuries you received, you didn’t remember getting, isn’t that right? ”
“Yes, but—”
“Caleb killed Greg Fain when he decided to let you go, and put him in that freezer in the backyard because he probably had no idea what else to do.”
“The car was stolen, that’s how I got away.”
“Or the car, with you in the trunk, was abandoned on purpose. Either way it equates to Caleb letting you go.”
“But he’s my friend.”
“No, he’s not.” He shook his head. “And he finally slipped up.”
“How?” Dane asked, his voice cold.
Sam turned to look at him. “Because the neighbor that saw Jory heaving up a lung on the back porch called the police. She thought Jory and Caleb were breaking in, which they were. I think, if they hadn’t been interrupted, that Caleb would have tried to talk Jory into walking around the house and looking for clues, but he didn’t have enough time. ”
“So Jory’s fingerprints would have been exactly where his already were,” Dane surmised.
“That’s right,” Sam agreed.
“You’re telling me that Caleb killed Ms. Fain earlier in the week, went through her house, and then led Jory back there to cover it up.”
“Yes. My guess is that Greg Fain and Caleb Reid know each other from somewhere, and that there are pictures or something that tie them together that Caleb thought were in that house, but weren’t. He led Jory back there to cover his tracks.”
“But if it is Caleb,” I began, “why wouldn’t he just kill me? He’s had hundreds of opportunities to do so.”
“I dunno,” Sam said, his voice shaky. “But we’ll find out.”
“It’s absurd,” Dane said flatly. “Caleb Reid could no more kill a man than… He’s not strong enough, Sam, and I don’t mean physically. He’s just…weak.”
“I’m gonna hafta disagree,” Sam croaked out, and I realized he was trembling.
“It’s Caleb. It all makes sense. Why were we only able to find evidence that Greg Fain, Jory, and Caleb were ever in the shed?
Why only Caleb’s and Greg’s DNA in the house?
How come the car only had evidence that Jory and Caleb had been in it, besides those punks that stole it?
Why on earth would Caleb have touched that knife?
Everyone knows better’n that. Everyone.”
It sounded flimsy to me. “It’s all just circumstantial evidence.”
“Really?” Sam said indulgently. “Is that what you think?”
I scowled at him. “Sam, there’s no hard evidence that ties Caleb to my kidnapping or any of the other murders.”
“I bet there is. I bet there’s something he missed in that house, and I know that Greg Fain knew me from somewhere or he wouldn’t have been so freaked out when he heard that you were with me.
We need to search Joyce Fain’s house, her car, where she worked, everywhere, and then we need to find out everything about Greg Fain. I—”
“He’s gone,” Neal Moore said as he walked back into the room. “I got the word out that he’s wanted for questioning, so he won’t get out of the city, but God knows where he is right now.”
“Shit.” Sam kicked the chair closest to him. “He must have known that his story and Jory’s didn’t match. This is the one time it didn’t.”
Detective Moore nodded. “Yeah. I mean, now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense. The gunshot wound could easily have been self-inflicted, and he knew every move we made because he was in our inner circle. Amazing that I didn’t—I mean…
all the fingerprints we don’t have, all the DNA evidence that only showed him…
Christ, Sam, I’m sorry. I totally missed it. ”
“No. We all missed it,” he growled. “The point is, now that we know, we gotta keep everybody safe.”
Moore nodded. “We need to get with Dallas PD and check out his parents’ home, and his, and see what we can find out. We’ll pull cell phone records and gas receipts and airline tickets… Just everything. We’ll get what we need.”
Hefron nodded, agreeing with his partner. Both men left then.
“Sam, you’re wrong about Caleb,” I told him.
He sighed deeply before he looked down into my eyes. “No, baby, I’m never wrong.” And then he suddenly squinted like he was confused. “What’s with your hair?”
“It’s not my gel,” I grumbled.
“You’re not helping,” Aja snapped at him.
“Sorry.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
I looked over at Dane and saw that he was a million miles away, thinking, going through what Sam had said and turning it over in his mind.
“Jory, baby, come here.”
I went to Sam’s other side and let him wrap his arm around my neck and pull me back against him. “You don’t leave my sight, you understand? Now that he knows we know, he’s got nothing to lose by going after you. There’s nothing to hide anymore.”
I shivered hard and felt Sam’s chin rest on the top of my head. I felt better for no other reason than because he was there and solid once again. I wondered what would happen next.