Chapter 7 - TEN MILLION DOLLARS FOR A LIE
Caleb entered Richard Vale’s ranch wearing a wire.
He didn’t know his supposedly dead sister was listening.
Ortiz had arranged remote access through Caleb’s phone after his first call to Mara.
The audio was terrible.
Wind.
Footsteps.
A door.
Then Richard’s voice.
“You came alone?”
“Yes.”
“Your phone.”
Caleb laughed.
“You think I trust you enough to hand over my phone?”
Evan spoke next.
“Don’t play games.”
Hearing his voice made my skin crawl.
Hours earlier, his hands had been on my back.
His face inches from mine.
Then the push.
Caleb said, “You want me to lie about my sister, I want ten million.”
Richard responded calmly.
“Five.”
“Then find another brother.”
My heart broke and healed at the same time.
Caleb had spent years pretending money didn’t matter.
Now he was weaponizing everyone’s belief that it did.
Evan said, “Seven.”
“Ten.”
“Eight.”
Caleb paused.
“Plus Lauren’s Napa property.”
I almost smiled.
That property had been Caleb’s favorite place since childhood.
Richard said, “Done.”
Mara mouthed, He’s good.
Then papers moved.
Richard spoke.
“You’ll sign that Lauren had become erratic over the last six months.”
“Fine.”
“That she accused Evan of stealing.”
“He did steal.”
Silence.
Caleb laughed.
“Relax. I’m practicing.”
Evan swore.
Richard continued.
“You’ll state she discussed suicide.”
My stomach turned.
There it was.
The second murder.
First they killed my body.
Then they planned to kill my reputation.
Caleb’s voice hardened.
“She was pregnant.”
“Pregnancy can intensify mental illness,” Richard said.
Mara’s jaw tightened.
It was disgustingly calculated.
If my body washed ashore, they could argue suicide.
If it never appeared, they could argue emotional instability.
Either way, Evan became the grieving husband and Richard controlled the process.
Caleb said, “I want half the money before I sign.”
“Impossible.”
“Then no deal.”
A long pause.
Then Evan said something unexpected.
“Show him the video.”
I looked at Mara.
“What video?”
A laptop opened.
We heard audio.
My voice.
Faint.
“You can’t keep doing this, Evan.”
Then another version of my voice:
“Sometimes I think everyone would be better off without me.”
I stared at the speakers.
“I never said that.”
Mara nodded.
“AI manipulation.”
Richard’s voice came through.
“Convincing, isn’t it?”
Caleb said nothing.
Evan added, “Lauren gave us years of recordings.”
My stomach twisted.
Smart speakers.
Security cameras.
Voice messages.
Videos.
They had everything needed to manufacture me.
Richard continued.
“If necessary, we can establish a pattern.”
Caleb asked, “And the helicopter?”
Silence.
“Accident,” Evan said.
“Right.”
“Careful.”
Caleb laughed.
“You’re paying me ten million to lie. We’re past careful.”
Then a sound came through the feed.
A door opening.
A third man entered.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Caleb finally asked, “Who’s that?”
Richard answered:
“Someone who solves problems.”
Ortiz stood.
“We pull Caleb now.”
Before he could make the call, the audio changed.
Caleb shouted.
Something crashed.
Then static.
“Caleb?” Mara yelled even though he couldn’t hear her.
A man said, “He’s wired.”
My heart stopped.
More crashing.
Then the feed went dead.
I was already moving.
Ortiz blocked the hospital door.
“No.”
“That’s my brother.”
“Police are going.”
“He’s there because of me.”
“And you going there gets two witnesses killed instead of one.”
“Move.”
“Lauren.”
I stared at him.
“I spent my whole life letting men tell me they were protecting me while they made decisions I wasn’t allowed to understand.”
His expression changed.
“I’m not doing that anymore.”
Mara stood beside me.
“You can barely walk.”
“Then get me a wheelchair.”
Ten minutes later, we were in an unmarked car.
Not going to Richard’s ranch.
Ortiz refused that.
Instead we drove to a safe staging area five miles away.
Police reached the ranch first.
The front door was open.
No Richard.
No Evan.
No Caleb.
Only Caleb’s phone, smashed on the floor.
And blood.
Again.
Ortiz’s radio crackled.
A deputy had found tire tracks behind the barn.
Three vehicles left.
One headed south.
Two north.
Then my replacement phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph arrived.
Caleb sat in the back seat of a car.
Blood ran from his forehead.
His eyes were open.
Alive.
The text beneath it read:
THE LEDGER FOR YOUR BROTHER.
I stared at the screen.
Another message arrived.
YOU HAVE TWO HOURS.
Then one final instruction:
May you like
COME ALONE, LAUREN.
My husband knew I had survived.
