Chapter 9 - THE DOOR SHE OPENED HERSELF
Police moved Katherine to a secure location before sunset.
Grace wanted her to stay at the family house, but Katherine refused.
“That is the first place Victor will expect me to go.”
Beatrice and Lily were relocated as well.
Roadblocks surrounded Oakhaven Springs.
Victor had no money, no company, and no allies anyone could identify.
That made him more dangerous.
Caleb learned of the escape through the news.
He called Sergeant Ortiz, not Katherine.
“What can I do?”
“Stay where you are.”
“He knows her address.”
“She has been moved.”
“Where?”
“I’m not telling you.”
Caleb accepted the answer.
At midnight, he received a message from an unknown number.
COME TO THE DUNMORE MEMORIAL ALONE OR GRACE DIES.
A photograph followed.
Grace sat inside her kitchen, reading beneath the hanging light.
The photograph had been taken through the window.
Caleb immediately called his mother.
No answer.
He called Robert.
No answer.
He called Ortiz.
While police rushed toward the house, Caleb drove to the Dunmore Memorial.
He knew it could be a trap.
He also knew he could not gamble with his mother’s life.
The memorial stood on a hill overlooking the river. Four stone columns bore the names of those believed to have died in the collapse, including Beatrice’s.
Victor waited beside the empty pedestal where Beatrice’s name had recently been removed.
“You came alone,” Victor said.
“Yes.”
“Still desperate to be the hero?”
“No.”
Caleb stopped several yards away.
“I came because you threatened my mother.”
Victor held a gun at his side.
“Your mother is safe. The photograph was taken weeks ago.”
Caleb’s stomach tightened.
“What do you want?”
“Katherine’s location.”
“I don’t know it.”
Victor raised the gun.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“She wants nothing to do with me.”
A smile crossed Victor’s face.
“Of course she doesn’t. Women like Katherine worship principles until those principles leave them lonely.”
“You never understood her.”
“I understood her well enough to destroy her career.”
“And she still defeated you.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
He stepped closer.
“You destroyed her too.”
Caleb did not look away.
“Yes.”
The simple admission unsettled Victor more than denial would have.
“You were supposed to break her,” Victor said. “Frank told you exactly what to do.”
“You planned the wedding-night confrontation?”
“I gave Frank the reports. I knew once you saw Katherine’s name, grief would do the rest.”
Victor lifted the gun toward Caleb’s chest.
“You should have finished what you started.”
A voice came from behind the memorial wall.
“He did.”
Katherine stepped into view.
Caleb’s heart stopped.
“What are you doing here?”
She held a phone in one hand.
“Finishing the investigation.”
Victor aimed the gun at her.
Caleb moved between them.
“Move,” Victor ordered.
“No.”
Katherine’s voice remained steady.
“The police are listening, Victor.”
He laughed.
“They were listening to your phone. You left it in the car.”
Katherine raised the device.
“This isn’t my phone.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“It belongs to Lily.”
Red and blue lights appeared along the distant road.
Victor grabbed Caleb by the collar and pressed the gun beneath his jaw.
“Tell them to stop.”
Caleb looked at Katherine.
“Go.”
She did not move.
“Katherine, please.”
Victor dragged him backward toward the river railing.
Police vehicles surrounded the memorial.
Ortiz called through a loudspeaker, ordering Victor to release his weapon.
Instead, Victor fired into the air.
Officers took cover.
Caleb seized Victor’s wrist.
The two men struggled beside the railing.
Katherine saw Victor reach for a second weapon hidden beneath his coat.
“Caleb!”
She ran forward and kicked the weapon away.
Victor struck her, knocking her to the ground.
Caleb’s control disappeared.
He drove Victor against the railing and raised his fist.
For a second, Grace’s son stood above the man who had destroyed Beatrice, Katherine, Lily, Frank, and countless families.
One blow could send Victor over the edge.
Victor smiled through bloodied teeth.
“Do it. Show her what you really are.”
Caleb looked at Katherine.
She was watching him with fear.
The same fear from their wedding night.
Caleb slowly lowered his fist.
“No.”
Victor reached for the fallen gun.
Katherine kicked it beyond the railing.
Police rushed forward and forced Victor to the ground.
This time, they placed him in shackles around his wrists and ankles.
Ortiz personally locked him inside the armored transport vehicle.
Caleb turned toward Katherine.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
“I told you to go.”
“And I stopped listening to men who tell me where I’m allowed to stand.”
Despite everything, a small smile touched Caleb’s face.
“You were right to.”
Katherine studied him.
He remained several feet away.
He did not reach for her.
He did not ask why she had come.
He did not ask whether seeing him spare Victor changed anything.
“I read your letter,” she said.
Caleb nodded.
“You don’t have to answer it.”
“I know.”
Police lights reflected across the river.
Katherine took a slow breath.
“I am not ready to forgive you.”
“I understand.”
“I may never want to be your wife again.”
“I understand that too.”
“But I don’t want the last true thing between us to be that locked bedroom.”
Caleb’s eyes filled.
“What do you want?”
“A conversation.”
“When?”
“When I decide.”
He nodded.
“Then I’ll wait without expecting anything.”
Katherine turned toward the police vehicles.
After several steps, she looked back.
“One more thing.”
“Yes?”
“When we talk, the door stays open.”
May you like
Caleb swallowed.
“Always.”
