The Brother Caleb Forgot
Chapter 07 - The Brother Caleb Forgot
Caleb returned to his childhood home for the first time since his father's funeral.
The house had been empty for years.
Dust covered the furniture.
Luke's bedroom remained almost untouched.
Caleb searched until midnight.
Nothing.
At 1:17 a.m., Eli appeared in the doorway.
Mara had been discharged from the hospital, and Caleb had insisted they stay at the house temporarily.
“Can't sleep?”
Eli shook his head.
Caleb sat beside him.
“What was your mom like when you were little?”
“She worked a lot.”
“Was she happy?”
Eli thought about it.
“Sometimes.”
Caleb smiled sadly.
Eli pointed toward a photograph of Luke.
“That's him?”
“Yeah.”
“My dad?”
Caleb nodded.
Eli stared at the picture for a long time.
“Was he good?”
Caleb almost answered immediately.
Then he remembered Richard's documents.
“I think he was.”
Eli looked disappointed.
Caleb corrected himself.
“No. I know he loved people. I know he stood up for people. And I know he would have loved you.”
That seemed enough.
Later, after Eli fell asleep, Caleb returned to Luke's room.
He remembered something.
Luke hated banks.
He hid everything.
Caleb pulled open the vent beneath Luke's desk.
Inside was an old flash drive wrapped in plastic.
The files contained photographs of construction materials.
Emails.
Inspection reports.
And a video recorded three days before Luke died.
Luke appeared on screen.
“If something happens to me, it wasn't an accident.”
Caleb stopped breathing.
Luke continued.
“I found out who's stealing.”
A name appeared on the screen.
It was not Richard Reed.
May you like
It was Jonathan Mercer.
Their father.
