Chapter 15 - The Recording
Then Vale stepped forward and handcuffed Tove.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
Tove blinked. "For what?"
Cullen lifted Mireya's wrist.
The red emergency light blinked.
Tove's face emptied.
"No."
Vale took the watch carefully.
"You have the right to remain silent."
"No. You don't understand."
"I understand enough."
Rourke was arrested beside her.
Bryce survived the second gunshot. The bullet had passed through his upper arm. Paramedics carried him out under guard.
Cullen stayed seated on the lighthouse floor with Mireya in his lap.
"You did so good," he whispered.
She shook her head.
"I was scared."
"Being brave doesn't mean you weren't scared."
Her breathing was fast again.
He helped her with the inhaler, then held her until she stopped shaking.
At the hospital, doctors cleared Mireya after observation.
Just before dawn, Vale came into the room.
"The watch captured Rourke admitting he chased Marisol. It captured Tove admitting she told him where Marisol was. Bryce is giving a full statement."
Cullen looked at his sleeping daughter.
"Is it enough?"
"It's a beginning."
Vale set a plastic evidence bag on the table.
Inside was a blue rescue inhaler.
"We found this in Tove's suitcase in the lighthouse basement. Serial number matches Marisol's pharmacy record."
Cullen stared at it.
"Why keep it?"
"Control. Trophy. Insurance. Ask a psychiatrist."
Vale hesitated.
"There was something else in the suitcase."
He handed Cullen a sealed evidence copy.
A letter.
Written by Marisol.
Addressed to Tove.
Cullen read the first line.
Tove, I know what you did to my daughter.
May you like
His hands began to shake.
The letter had been written three days before Marisol died.
