Page 97 of A Forgotten Mistake

Caleb thrashes some as I reach in and pull him out. I cut the tape off his ankles and force him to walk toward the silo. Of course he doesn’t want to and tries to ram into me, so I let him go and watch him fall on his face. Once down, he wallows in a puddle for a second before I haul him back up and check that he hasn’t bled anywhere. All blood still seems to be inside of him for the moment, but his face is red from anger. He decides to stop walking, which means I drag him the rest of the way.

Once inside, I look around for where to put him. He’d be easier to work with if he were lying out flat. It also seems to unnerve people, make them feel more vulnerable, but I feel like Gabriel wouldn’t enjoy it as much, so I grab a chair I’ve used on occasion and set it in the middle of the room before guiding Caleb onto it.

I tape his legs to the chair legs and his arms down to the armrests before Gabriel walks in. Caleb’s eyes immediately go to him, like this might be his one saving grace. Gabriel’s expression is unreadable as he enters, something he’s perfected from dealing with suspects.

I hand him some protective gear and gloves and scrutinize his every movement, but he slides them on as if he’s walking into any other crime scene. Anxiety roils inside me as I stare at this man capable of making me feel emotions that I had convincedmyself I couldn’t even feel. How does he have so much power over me? Endless power to make me feel these things that were previously foreign to me.

Gabriel looks over at me and I realize he’s not covering his face at all. I mean… neither am I, but there’s no possible way he would have done so without being fully confident that this man is never going to be able to tell someone what either of us look like. He… really isn’t going to try to talk me out of it, is he?

He gives me a nod, and I turn to Caleb who is giving Gabriel pleading eyes. I reach out and wrap my hand around Caleb’s neck before getting close enough to whisper into his ear. “If you don’t want to die, you’re going to tell us everything you did to Leanne and her parents. Do you understand?”

Caleb nods and I rip the tape off. “Save me! Please, please, he’s fucking crazy! Please! He came up and fucking attacked me. Please.”

He’s searching Gabriel for any semblance of concern, but Gabriel’s face is a completely unreadable mask. Even I’m over here trying to figure out how to read it. I find myself at a loss as I stand here. He wants a confession, but killers don’t offer confessions for no reason. Not if they already think they’re going to die. The only reason they would offer anything up is to brag or to bargain.

That is, until you make them think that there’s no other choice.

So what the fuck am I going to do with Gabriel standing here? Tickle Caleb to death? Beg him to tell me so I can send Gabriel on his way?

“How’d you meet Leanne?” I ask, suddenly falling into interrogator mode. I’m not quite sure where it’s going to get me, and it quickly proves that it’s not getting me anywhere as Caleb starts up the waterworks.

“P-Please. Save me. Please. Please. I don’t know what the fuck he’s talking about. Please. I don’t even know who you’re talking about.”

“I… will… let you live if you tell the truth,” I try. Like why the fuck would that even work? Of course he’s not going to be dumb enough to think that a full-on confession would lead to him living a life of luxury when I currently have him tied up in a silo with both of our faces on display.

Alright… try two.

“Uh… pretty please?” I ask.

Gabriel looks over at me with a raised eyebrow. It’squiteapparent that he thinks I’m being ridiculous, but I’m not sure what he expects me to do. He reaches out to me. “A word?”

“I have many words for you,” I assure him. “Most have to deal with how much I love you.”

He heads out into the rain, and I follow him. “What are you doing?” he asks.

“Simply asking the man nicely for his confession.”

“And how is that going?”

“He looked pretty concerned when I whispered in his ear that I’d tickle him if he didn’t answer.”

“We’ll be here all night if you don’t take this seriously. I want him to recognize what he’s done wrong. I want him to admit it.”

How the hell does he think I’m not taking this seriously? Okay… maybe it was the tickle thing. “Fine, fine.”

We head back inside where Gabriel looks at me. “Where’s his phone?”

“I got rid of his real phone, but he had a second that looks like a burner phone, probably to keep track of Leanne,” I respond. “I assume you’d like to see?”

“I would,” he says as he takes the phone from me.

“Do you need a finger to open the phone?” I ask, since he seemed quite fussy about the last finger I gave him.

“I sure don’t,” Gabriel says. “It looks like it requires a passcode. Get me the number.”

“You heard him. What’s the number?” I ask.

Caleb shakes his head while giving Gabriel a desperate look. Gabriel seems to be his only hope. He’s positive that the only way he’s getting out of any of this is with his help. “It’s not my phone. I’ve never seen that phone in my life! He’s lying! He’s planting shit on me. It’s not my phone.”

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