Chapter 6 - The Trap is Sprung
I didn't go back to the hotel. I drove straight to the police precinct and slammed the black box onto Detective Reynolds' desk.
When Reynolds and the federal agents brought in to assist with the case read the ledger, the entire atmosphere of the precinct shifted. This wasn't just child abuse anymore; it was domestic terrorism, unregulated human trafficking, and a massive illegal pharmaceutical ring.
"He’s running," Reynolds said, looking up from the burner phone. "He knows you have the ledger. He’ll try to contact his handlers to secure an extraction."
"Then we catch them all," I said, my voice steady and cold. "How do we draw him out?"
Reynolds looked at me, assessing my nerve. "We use his paranoia against him. We leak through his attorney that you haven't turned the ledger in yet. That you're willing to trade it for sole custody and his complete disappearance."
"He won't believe that," I said.
"He will if you meet him," Reynolds replied. "In a public place. Wired."
The plan was terrifying, but I didn't hesitate. For Lily, I would have walked into a burning building.
Twelve hours later, I sat in a booth at a crowded, brightly lit diner on the edge of town. My hands were folded over my coffee cup to hide their shaking. Beneath my blouse, a tiny microphone was taped to my collarbone. Outside, disguised in unmarked cars and utility vans, a joint task force of local SVU and federal agents waited in the shadows.
The bell above the diner door jingled.
Caleb walked in. He looked terrible. He hadn't slept, his clothes were wrinkled, and his eyes darted around the room like a cornered rat. He spotted me and slid into the booth across from me.
"Where is it?" he demanded, skipping the pleasantries.
"I have it," I said smoothly, staring directly into the eyes of the man I used to love. "But before I give it to you, I want to hear you say it. I want to know exactly what you did to her. Why her, Caleb? Why your own daughter?"
Caleb scoffed, running a frantic hand through his hair. "Because it was clean! No paperwork, no tracking, no suspicious hospital visits. The syndicate needed pediatric metabolic rates for the new compound. They paid fifty grand a week, Sarah. Fifty grand! I just slipped it into her bathwater, timed the absorption, and gave her the neutralizer in the cup so she wouldn't flatline. It was perfectly controlled!"
"She was lethargic," I whispered, disgusted. "She was losing her spark."
"She would have bounced back!" Caleb hissed, leaning across the table. "Once the trial was over, the money would have set us up for life! You ruined it! Now give me the ledger before my handlers realize I'm compromised."
I looked at him, feeling absolutely nothing but pity and contempt.
"I don't have the ledger, Caleb," I said softly.
His eyes widened. "What?"
"I gave it to the feds twelve hours ago," I said, leaning back in my booth.
Before Caleb could even stand up, the diner doors burst open. Four federal agents swarmed the booth, guns drawn.
"Caleb Davis, you are under arrest!" Reynolds shouted, grabbing Caleb by the back of his neck and slamming his face onto the cheap laminate table.
"Sarah! You b*tch! You ruined me!" Caleb screamed as the cuffs clicked tightly around his wrists.
May you like
I stood up, smoothing down my jacket. I looked down at him, my expression completely blank.
"No, Caleb," I said quietly. "You ruined yourself. I just cleaned up the mess."
