Chapter 6: What Four Months Looked Like
I went upstairs before I left.
Caleb's door was still locked.
I knocked twice — our knock, the one we'd had since he was four, two short and one long — and heard him cross the room.
He opened the door.
Emma was asleep on his bed behind him, the stuffed rabbit tucked under her chin.
"I have to go out for a little while," I said quietly.
"Mrs.
Adler from next door is coming to stay."
He nodded.
"Caleb." I crouched down.
"The recording.
The one you gave me.
Are there others?"
"On the recorder in your office," he said.
"And on my tablet.
I backed everything up."
I looked at my son's face.
Eight years old.
He had been carrying this for four months — the fear, the evidence, the careful silence — and he had not broken once.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I said.
He thought about it for a moment.
"She said you'd believe her.
The recorder proved she said it.
So I waited until I had enough that you couldn't not believe me."
I didn't trust myself to speak for a second.
"You did everything right," I said.
"Do you understand me?
Everything."
He nodded once.
His chin was steady.
"Get some sleep.
I'll be back before morning."
The detective's name was Rourke.
We met at the precinct at ten-fifteen.
Patricia sat beside me.
A second detective I hadn't met took notes on a laptop at the end of the table.
I told them everything again.
This time with documentation.
Patricia submitted photographs of both documents.
I played Caleb's recording through a small speaker on the table.
Rourke listened without expression, his pen moving in short strokes.
When the recording ended, he said: "Your son made this?"
"Yes."
"How old?"
"Eight."
Rourke looked at the second detective.
Something passed between them.
"Mr.
Calloway," Rourke said.
"We've been building a case against Douglas Merritt for almost a year.
We have fourteen other families.
In eleven of those cases, the targeted spouse had no idea the money was gone until the divorce was finalized." He paused.
"You are the first person to walk in here with a recording of Merritt giving direct instructions."
I thought about Caleb sitting on his bed with his hands on his knees.
"My son made it," I said again.
"Yes," Rourke said.
"He did."
We were there until nearly one in the morning.
By the time Patricia drove me home, the street was dark and quiet.
Mrs.
Adler's car was in the driveway.
One light was on upstairs — Caleb's room.
Patricia put the car in park but didn't turn it off.
"The divorce filing is void," she said.
"Merritt had no standing to submit it.
I'll have that confirmed in writing by tomorrow afternoon."
"And the trust accounts?"
"The transfers haven't cleared yet.
We can freeze them before Friday." She paused.
"The holding company is registered in Merritt's name with Vanessa listed as a secondary beneficiary.
That's going to be relevant to the fraud charges."
"Will she be charged?"
Patricia was quiet for a moment.
"That depends on what she knew and when she knew it.
The DA will make that determination." She looked at me.
"What do you want to happen to her?"
I thought about Emma asleep with her rabbit.
Caleb's jaw set like a soldier's.
"I want my children safe," I said.
"Everything else is secondary."
Patricia nodded.
"Then let's make sure that happens first."
I got out of the car.
The night air was cool and still.
When I reached the front door, I stopped.
There was a light on in the kitchen that hadn't been on when I left.
And through the window, I could see Vanessa standing at the counter.
May you like
She was on the phone.
And this time, someone had answered.
