Chapter 10 - GRANT’S DEAL
Grant looked smaller in jail clothes.
Not softer.
Just smaller.
Evelyn sat behind the observation glass while Morales interviewed him.
Grant did not know she was there.
His attorney sat beside him.
“I want full immunity on anything involving Voss,” Grant said.
Morales almost smiled.
“You don’t have enough to ask for that.”
“I have a recording.”
“Of?”
“Gideon admitting he had Miriam Mercer killed.”
Behind the glass, Evelyn stopped breathing.
Morales’s face did not move.
“Where is it?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“I want a written agreement.”
“Mr. Calloway, your daughter was locked in a flooding room while you ignored multiple warnings.”
Grant’s eyes flashed.
“Nobody was going to die.”
Morales leaned forward.
“You don’t know that.”
“The water was six inches deep.”
“She’s three.”
“I knew Evelyn was coming.”
That sentence changed the room.
Morales stared.
“What did you say?”
Grant’s attorney turned sharply.
“Grant.”
But Grant had realized too late.
Morales spoke slowly.
“You knew your mother was coming?”
Grant looked down.
“She always comes.”
“She had not been allowed to visit in two months.”
No answer.
“How did you know she was coming that afternoon?”
“I didn’t.”
“You just said you did.”
“I misspoke.”
Behind the glass, Evelyn felt sick.
Morales pushed.
“Did someone tell you?”
Grant stayed quiet.
“Did Vanessa?”
“No.”
“Gideon?”
Grant’s attorney interrupted.
“My client is done on this topic.”
Morales ignored him.
“Was Maisie supposed to be found?”
Grant looked up.
Something ugly entered his face.
“You people are making this dramatic.”
Morales stared at him.
“Your mother found a child behind a bolted door in a flooding room. Tell me which part I’m making dramatic.”
Grant’s mouth twisted.
“She was never in danger.”
“Then what was the point?”
Silence.
Morales leaned closer.
“You wanted Evelyn scared.”
Grant looked away.
“You wanted her to think something could happen to Maisie if she kept refusing you.”
His attorney touched Grant’s arm.
“Don’t answer.”
Morales’s voice lowered.
“Was the flood planned?”
“No.”
That came fast.
Too fast.
“The lock was.”
Silence.
“You knew Evelyn was coming.”
Nothing.
“You wanted her to find Maisie upset.”
Grant stared at the tabletop.
“Not like that.”
Evelyn put both hands over her mouth.
Morales continued.
“Who told you she was coming?”
Grant whispered, “Vanessa.”
Behind the glass, Evelyn looked at Ruiz.
“What?”
Ruiz was already writing it down.
Morales asked, “Why would Vanessa do that?”
Grant laughed.
“Because none of you know who she is.”
“We know about Natalie Mercer.”
Grant’s head snapped up.
For the first time, he looked genuinely shocked.
“You know?”
“You knew?”
Grant stared.
His lawyer closed his eyes.
Morales sat back.
“How long?”
“About six months.”
“And you stayed married?”
Grant smiled without humor.
“You think I married her for love?”
Evelyn felt like the floor disappeared beneath her.
Morales asked, “Then why?”
“Because Voss told me to.”
“Did Voss know who she really was?”
“No.”
“Did Vanessa know Voss was her father?”
Grant shrugged.
“She thought he was.”
“And you?”
“I didn’t care.”
Morales’s expression went cold.
“Where is the recording?”
Grant gave her the address of a storage unit.
Police found the recorder ninety minutes later.
The audio was old.
Fuzzy.
But clear enough.
Thomas Calloway’s voice came first.
You said she’d be scared, not dead.
Then Gideon.
She crossed me.
Thomas again.
Miriam has a kid.
A pause.
Gideon’s answer:
Not mine.
Then Thomas:
You sure?
And Gideon Voss laughed.
Absolutely.
Evelyn listened from the evidence room.
Her dead husband had known.
Gideon had lied.
And Grant had hidden the tape for six months.
Then came the final thirty seconds.
Thomas asked one more question.
What about Evelyn?
Gideon answered quietly.
If she ever talks, use the boy.
Evelyn stared at the speaker.
“The boy?”
Morales looked at her.
“Grant.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
Evelyn’s face went pale.
“Grant was eleven years old when that recording was made.”
Morales understood.
This had started before Grant was an adult.
Before Vanessa.
May you like
Before Maisie.
Gideon Voss had been watching Evelyn’s son since childhood.
