Page 86 of The Inmate
I don’t know why I’m doing this. We got exactly what we wanted. And a large part of it is because Caleb went out with Natalie. But I can’t help the way I’m feeling.
“You havegotto be kidding me, Dawn,” he growls. “YouknowI didn’t want to go out with her. I didn’t want to do any of that! I told youno. But you kept pushing and pushing.”
That is not inaccurate. Caleb did not, in fact, want to date Natalie. He thought it would be enough to just be friendly with her. But I felt like he could incriminate her so much better if he were her boyfriend. So I talked him into it. It actually took quite a bit of work, because he really, really didn’t want to do it. But I was relentless. I wouldn’t give up until he agreed.
“You didn’t have to do it,” I point out. “You could have refused.”
“Have you evermetyou?” he shoots back.
“I’m just saying…”
“You made me do it! You begged me! Youcried!”
I did put on quite the performance. And it wasn’t an act. It’s that important to me to get Natalie behind bars. So yes, I did tear up a bit. But deep down, I was still hoping he would refuse. Because, you see, Caleb is supposed to love me and only me. And if you really love a woman, you would never agree to kiss another woman. Not under any circumstances.
Caleb frowns. “You know, I didn’t even sleep with her. And believe me, that wasn’t easy.”
“Oh, I’m sure.”
“I didn’t mean it like that! I’m just saying, I didn’t do anything with her.”
“Except kiss her.”
“Yes. But that’s it. And I hated it. I wanted to throw up after.”
He’s lying. He doesn’t hate Natalie the way I do. He was going to let the whole thing go. When I suggested getting jobs at Vixed to set her up and send her to prison, which is what she deserves, Caleb looked at me like I was out of my mind. Ten years ago, he would’ve been happy to go along with it. But I had to force him to do it now. Kicking and screaming.
Mia has been dead for thirteen years now. And it feels like I’m the only one who truly cares anymore. Even her own brother has forsaken her.
I still care, Mia. I did all this for you.
Natalie is going to pay. Those emails left on my computer were a stroke of brilliance. Who is stupid enough to leave their computer password on a sticky note under their mouse pad? But I’m sure the police bought it. Those emails I composed to Mia were a work of art. I’m so glad Mia could play a little part in the plan to take down the woman who killed her. Caleb even set up an untraceable fake account from Mia to “reply” to the emails and make it all seem more real. Caleb composed dozens of fake emails allegedly from Mia, and we gave her the life she always wanted. She always dreamed of living on the West Coast, and of course, being married to George.
In my emails, I painted Natalie to be a psychopath. And it all but says she was at my house on the night of the disappearance. Then there’s the bloody ceramic turtle Caleb planted in her laundry hamper. And her fingerprints strategically scattered throughout my house. And one more damning little surprise.
She’s finished. There’s no way she isn’t going down for murder.
Caleb reaches for my hand. He laces his fingers into mine. I saw Natalie hold his hand like that once. “You’re not really upset over this, are you?”
“No, it’s fine,” I lie. “We should get on the road soon.”
Caleb nods. We both get out of bed and start getting dressed. It’s lucky Natalie told him that she had traced my calls. If she hadn’t, it could’ve ruined everything. That was a very close call.
I’m not going to take any chances anymore. This has to go exactly to plan.
ChapterFifty
NATALIE
I’ve never spentthe night in jail.
Obviously. I’m not the sort of person who gets hauled in by the police. I don’t get drunk and make a spectacle of myself in public. I don’t do drugs. In general, I follow all the laws to a T.
Yet here I am.
There’s something inhuman about being kept in a cage this way. It makes me feel less like a person and more like some sort of animal. It’s stifling. Claustrophobic.
I’m in a tiny cell with one other woman. She’s not much bigger than me, but she’s absolutely terrifying. She has pockmarks all over her face, and a jagged scar splitting one of her eyebrows in half. She has tattoos everywhere. She even has them on her neck. I once tried to get a tattoo, and I chickened out—and that was going to be a tiny heart on my shoulder blade. How gutsy do you have to be to let somebody tattoo a giant skull on yourneck?
