Chapter 7 - ELEANOR'S VISIT
Detective Ruiz traced the call.
Adrian was speaking from his attorney’s office.
He knew he was being careful.
What he did not know was that everything he said was being recorded.
“What did Eleanor do?” I asked.
“I didn’t say she did anything.”
“You said she was the last person to see Rebecca.”
“I said my father wasn’t.”
“Stop playing games.”
Adrian exhaled.
“You always do this.”
“Do what?”
“Push until everything breaks.”
For years, those words would have worked.
I would have questioned myself.
I would have lowered my voice.
I would have tried to make the conversation easier for him.
Now I looked through the glass at Detective Ruiz and continued.
“What happened to Rebecca?”
Adrian went quiet.
Then he spoke.
“Rebecca was leaving Thomas.”
“I know.”
“She had copies of company records.”
“I know that too.”
“My mother went to see her at the marina.”
“When?”
“The night she died.”
Ruiz immediately started writing.
“Why?”
“To convince her to give the records back.”
“Did she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Adrian.”
“I don’t know.”
His voice rose.
“I wasn’t there.”
“But Eleanor told you about it.”
Silence.
There it was.
A small silence.
But enough.
“What did she say?”
“She said Rebecca was angry.”
“Did they argue?”
“Yes.”
“Did Eleanor threaten her?”
Another silence.
“Adrian.”
“She told Rebecca that leaving Thomas would cost her everything.”
My stomach twisted.
“What does that mean?”
“You know how my mother talks.”
“No.”
I glanced at Ruiz.
“Explain it.”
“She told Rebecca that no judge would give her what she wanted.”
“What did Rebecca want?”
“Her daughter.”
I froze.
Rebecca had a daughter.
In all the years I had known the Caldwells, I had never heard anyone mention her.
“Where is she?”
“Her name is Lily.”
“Where is Lily now?”
“With Rebecca’s sister in Oregon.”
“Why did the Caldwells never talk about her?”
“Because Thomas lost custody after Rebecca died.”
That alone told me more than Adrian intended.
“What happened at the marina?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did Eleanor say when she came home?”
Adrian breathed slowly into the phone.
“She was wet.”
Ruiz stopped writing.
“What?”
“It had been raining.”
“Was it raining that night?”
A longer pause.
“No.”
My skin prickled.
“Why was she wet?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I don’t.”
“Then why remember it?”
His breathing changed.
“Because she burned her clothes.”
The room became completely still.
Even through the glass, I saw Ruiz’s face sharpen.
“She burned them?”
“In the vineyard incinerator.”
“Why?”
“I never asked.”
I almost laughed.
“You never asked why your mother came home from the marina soaking wet and burned her clothes after Rebecca died?”
“You don’t understand my family.”
“You’re right.”
I looked at my own reflection in the glass.
“I finally understand them perfectly.”
Adrian lowered his voice.
“Claire, listen to me.”
“No.”
“You need to stop.”
“No.”
“My father will destroy you.”
“He already tried.”
“You don’t know what he has.”
“Neither do you.”
I paused.
“But the police are finding out.”
Adrian cursed under his breath.
Then he said, “If you keep going, my mother goes down too.”
“That isn’t my decision.”
“You could tell them you don’t want to cooperate.”
“He smashed a plate into my head, Adrian.”
“You’re my wife.”
The sentence hit me harder than I expected.
Not because it reminded me of love.
Because I finally heard what it had always meant to him.
Ownership.
“No.”
I removed my wedding ring.
I placed it on the table beside the recorder.
May you like
“I’m not.”
Then I disconnected the call.
