Chapter 10 - The Storage Unit
The address belonged to a storage facility near the airport.
I did not go there.
I gave it to Detective Reyes.
Dileia did not understand why that made me angrier than anything else.
She had spent years assuming I would rush in, clean up the mess, and keep the family embarrassment private.
Not this time.
By sunset, police had located Caleb.
He was not at the storage unit.
He was at a hotel near the interstate with two suitcases and a one-way ticket confirmation to Tampa on his phone.
The storage unit was opened later under legal authority.
Patricia called me at 9:18 p.m.
“Sit down.”
“What did they find?”
“Copies of deeds. Tax records. signature samples. Listing photographs. Blank seller disclosures.”
“How many properties?”
“At least nine folders.”
I pressed my fingers to my forehead.
“Was mine there?”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
A pause.
“Your closing file.”
That stopped me.
My original closing documents were in a locked file cabinet at my apartment.
I went straight to the cabinet.
The folder was there.
But when I opened it, several photocopies were missing.
The access code on my apartment building log showed one family guest entry in October.
Mom.
I called her.
“Did Dileia come with you when you stayed at my place?”
“No.”
“Did you let anyone in?”
Mom went silent.
“Mom.”
“She stopped by for ten minutes.”
I closed my eyes.
“She said she needed the bathroom.”
“And you left her alone?”
“I was packing the car.”
There it was.
Ten minutes.
Enough to photograph paperwork.
Enough to copy a key tag.
Enough to learn everything I had tried to protect.
May you like
Then Mom said something worse.
“She asked me where you kept your spare keys.”
