Chapter 2 - The Password He Needed Before Five
Caleb took the burgundy case from Margaret’s hand.
It was empty.
He snapped it open twice as if a memory card might somehow appear.
“Where is it?”
Margaret looked at the dog food dripping from her sleeves.
“Where’s what?”
“Don’t do this.”
“You’ve been telling everyone I can’t remember anything. Maybe you were right.”
His jaw tightened.
For eighteen months Caleb had corrected her in front of people.
You already paid that bill, Mom.
We talked about this yesterday.
You gave me permission.
You must’ve forgotten.
At first Margaret believed him.
She was sixty-seven. Tom had died three years earlier. Grief had turned some weeks into fog.
Caleb had moved into the detached guesthouse behind her Walnut Creek home after his separation and told everyone he was helping her.
He drove her to appointments.
Fixed broken faucets.
Handled online bills she hated dealing with.
Margaret had been grateful.
Then the corrections became more frequent.
And stranger.
She would remember placing her checkbook in the kitchen drawer and find it in Caleb’s office.
She would question a transfer and be shown an email she didn’t remember sending.
Twice, Caleb told his sister Rebecca that their mother had left the stove on.
Margaret knew she hadn’t.
Three weeks earlier, she had stopped arguing and started taking notes.
Caleb grabbed the kennel padlock.
“Last chance. What’s the password to the archive?”
So that was what he wanted.
Not her checking account.
Not her phone.
The encrypted folder she had created after discovering that almost $190,000 had disappeared from an investment account.
Margaret looked at him.
“Why do you need it so badly?”
His phone buzzed.
He glanced down.
A bank notification filled the screen.
Margaret caught only three words.
ACTION REQUIRED TODAY.
Caleb shoved the phone into his pocket.
“You have until five.”
“What happens at five?”
He unlocked the kennel.
For one second Margaret thought he had finally come to his senses.
Instead, he pointed toward the house.
“Go clean yourself up. Then you’re giving me that password.”
He believed humiliation would make her obedient.
It had worked before.
Margaret stepped barefoot onto the patio.
Caleb carried the broken camera toward the guesthouse.
May you like
He never noticed the second burgundy case taped beneath the plastic drum.
That one wasn’t empty.
