Chapter 4 - Blood Is Not an Alibi
Caleb Miller lived forty minutes from Grace in a house Ethan could never have afforded.
Stone driveway.
Three-car garage.
Pool behind cedar fencing.
Grace arrived unannounced.
Caleb opened the door wearing a golf shirt and expensive watch.
His expression changed when he saw her.
“Grace.”
“Can I come in?”
“Is Lucy okay?”
“She’s fine.”
“Then why—”
“Can I come in?”
Caleb moved aside.
His wife, Rebecca, was away with their children.
The house felt too quiet.
Grace remained standing.
“Do you remember February twelfth?”
Caleb’s face did not change.
“No.”
“The night Lucy had a fever.”
Recognition.
“Yes.”
“You called Ethan.”
“I called Ethan often.”
“At 8:18.”
“If your phone records say so.”
“What did you talk about?”
Caleb poured water.
“I don’t remember.”
“You testified under oath that Ethan mentioned money problems that week.”
“Yes.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Caleb put the glass down.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Answer me.”
“He said he was drowning.”
“He was holding his sick daughter in an emergency room.”
“Financial problems don’t disappear in hospitals.”
Grace placed Nora’s ticket on the counter.
Caleb read it.
His face changed.
Tiny.
But enough.
“You know what this is.”
“No.”
“You had administrator authority.”
“So did other people.”
“I didn’t tell you what the ticket was.”
Silence.
Grace felt her heartbeat in her throat.
Caleb looked at her.
“Leave.”
“You knew.”
“I said leave.”
“You knew someone enrolled another device.”
“Grace.”
“You testified against your own brother.”
Caleb’s voice rose.
“Because your husband told me things you weren’t there to hear!”
“Then say them again.”
Caleb stared.
“Right now.”
She placed her phone on the counter.
“Tell me exactly what Ethan confessed.”
Caleb looked at the phone.
“You’re recording me?”
“Yes.”
He laughed coldly.
“Get out.”
Grace did not move.
“Victor paid you?”
Caleb walked toward her.
“That is enough.”
“How much?”
“Get out of my house.”
“Was it money? Your job? What?”
Caleb opened the door.
Grace picked up the document.
As she passed him, he said quietly:
“You think Ethan was some hero?”
Grace stopped.
Caleb’s anger changed.
“He went looking for things he had no business looking into.”
Grace slowly turned.
“What things?”
Caleb realized his mistake.
Too late.
Grace whispered:
“What did he find?”
Caleb’s face closed.
“Leave.”
“What did Ethan find?”
The door slammed.
Grace stood outside shaking.
She had arrived wanting to prove Caleb had framed Ethan.
She left knowing something else.
Ethan had discovered something before the money disappeared.
Something he never told her.
That evening she visited the prison again.
This time the glass remained between them.
Ethan looked healthier than before but tired.
Grace held the phone receiver.
“You lied to me.”
Ethan stared.
“About what?”
“You said you had no idea why Halston targeted you.”
His eyes changed.
Grace knew immediately.
“What did you find?”
Ethan looked toward the officer station.
Mercer stood nearby.
“I can’t talk about this here.”
“You’re already in prison.”
“It isn’t me I’m worried about.”
“Stop protecting me.”
“Grace—”
“Caleb said you went looking for something.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Damn it.”
“What was it?”
He lowered his voice.
“Vendor invoices.”
Grace waited.
“Halston was building subsidized housing with federal tax credits. Some subcontractors weren’t real.”
“Shell companies?”
“I thought so.”
“How much?”
“I found about nine million dollars over three projects.”
Grace stared.
“And you told Caleb?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He was my brother.”
The sentence hurt them both.
“What did he say?”
“That I was misunderstanding internal accounting.”
“And you believed him?”
“No.”
“What did you do?”
“I copied records.”
Grace gripped the receiver.
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“I put them on an encrypted drive.”
“Where?”
“In a storage unit.”
Grace almost stood.
“Where?”
Ethan shook his head.
“It was searched after my arrest.”
“How do you know?”
“My lawyer checked.”
“Was the drive gone?”
“Yes.”
Grace’s hope faded.
Ethan continued.
“But I mailed something first.”
“To who?”
“I can’t tell you here.”
“Ethan.”
His eyes moved past her.
Mercer had turned toward them.
Not obviously listening.
Still, Ethan lowered his voice.
“There was a receipt in my desk at home.”
“The police took your desk files.”
“Not that desk.”
Grace frowned.
Ethan touched his chest.
Then pointed down.
An old habit.
Their private shorthand.
Basement.
Grace understood.
Before the visit ended Ethan said:
“Promise me something.”
“What?”
“If you find it, don’t confront Caleb alone again.”
Grace froze.
“How did you know?”
“I know your face.”
She almost smiled.
Then Ethan said:
“My brother is scared of someone.”
“Victor?”
Ethan looked away.
“I used to think so.”
“You don’t anymore?”
“No.”
Grace waited.
May you like
Ethan returned his eyes to hers.
“Now I think Caleb is scared of what he already did.”
