Chapter 15 - The Talbot PropertyThe Talbot property was mostly desert.

Creosote.

Dust.

Low brush.

Distant mountains turning purple under the evening sky.

The five-acre Callahan trust parcel sat along a rough access road between two larger Canyon Meridian tracts.

Robert had never seen it before.

Donna had.

That realization followed him everywhere.

The Attorney General's team refused Voss's demand for "no police."

Instead they built a controlled response.

No theatrical raid.

No retired detective taking over.

Robert hated every minute.

He and Daniel waited two miles away in an unmarked vehicle while negotiators attempted contact.

The blue key had already served its purpose.

Locker 118 was secure.

The cassette was in evidence.

Investigators prepared a duplicate key and inert tape case in case an exchange became necessary.

At 6:40 p.m., Vanessa called Daniel.

Detectives recorded the conversation with his consent.

Daniel answered.

"Vanessa?"

Her breathing shook.

"I'm okay."

"Where are you?"

"You know."

"Are you with Voss?"

"No."

Robert leaned closer.

"Eric?"

A pause.

"Yes."

Daniel closed his eyes.

"Did he hurt you?"

"I'm okay."

"That's not an answer."

Vanessa's voice cracked.

"He hit me."

Daniel's hand tightened around the phone.

Robert placed a steadying hand near his son's arm without touching.

Daniel continued.

"Can you leave?"

"No."

"Is Eric armed?"

Silence.

"Vanessa."

"Yes."

The negotiator wrote a question on a pad.

Daniel read it.

"Is Voss coming?"

"I don't know."

Then Vanessa whispered, "Daniel, don't bring the tape."

Eric shouted in the background.

"What did you say?"

The line disconnected.

Daniel stared at the phone.

Robert said, "She warned us."

Daniel looked furious.

"That doesn't erase anything."

"I didn't say it did."

"I know."

He rubbed his face.

"I just need everyone to stop turning her into one thing."

Robert understood.

Victim.

Abuser.

Daughter.

Conspirator.

Girlfriend.

Witness.

None alone explained her.

At 7:05, surveillance spotted Eric Dane's SUV near an abandoned irrigation structure.

Vanessa was inside.

No sign of Voss.

A tactical team moved only after Dane stepped away from the vehicle carrying a handgun.

He saw them.

Dropped the weapon.

Ran.

He made it forty yards.

That was all.

Vanessa was removed from the SUV.

Alive.

Bruised.

Shaking.

Daniel did not go to her.

Robert noticed how difficult that was.

Investigators searched Dane.

They found two phones.

One belonged to Voss.

On the second device was a message sent twenty minutes earlier.

DO NOT LET THE GIRL TALK.

Morales showed Robert.

"Attempted murder instruction?"

"Potentially."

Another message followed.

THE CALLAHANS DON'T MATTER AFTER TONIGHT.

Daniel stared at it.

Vanessa sat in an ambulance fifty yards away.

A deputy stood nearby.

She saw Daniel.

She did not call his name.

That restraint mattered more than an apology would have.

Morales approached her after medics cleared the immediate danger.

Vanessa agreed to speak.

Her attorney was being arranged.

Before questioning stopped, she volunteered one urgent fact.

"Voss isn't running."

Morales asked, "What does that mean?"

Vanessa looked toward Robert.

"He has a buyer meeting tomorrow."

"For the land?"

"Yes."

"He can't sell disputed property."

"He can if he controls the Talbot parcel."

"He doesn't."

Vanessa's eyes moved to Robert.

"He has Donna's signature."

Robert felt the old accusation return.

"The consulting agreement?"

"No."

Vanessa shook her head.

"A deed."

Robert stared.

"What deed?"

"Voss showed it to me years ago. He said Donna transferred the five acres to Canyon Meridian before she died."

"That's false."

"I know."

"How?"

"Because I watched Miriam forge the notarization."

Robert went still.

"When?"

"Four years ago."

"Before Donna died?"

"Three weeks before."

Robert understood.

Voss had been preparing to steal the land while Donna was alive.

"Why didn't he record the deed?"

"He couldn't."

"Why?"

"Donna filed something."

Robert looked at Morales.

"A title lock?"

Morales nodded slowly.

Arizona property owners could record notices or trust restrictions that complicated transfers.

Vanessa said, "Donna knew he was coming."

Robert's throat tightened.

"What did she file?"

"I don't know."

"But Voss does?"

"Yes."

"Where is he?"

Vanessa's eyes filled.

"At your house."

Robert stopped breathing.

Daniel turned.

"What?"

Vanessa continued.

"He told Eric the house was the only place Donna could have hidden the original restriction document."

Robert grabbed his phone.

A security alert had arrived eight minutes earlier.

Garage door opened.

Then another.

Interior motion detected.

Then the system went offline.

Robert looked toward the western horizon.

His home was thirty minutes away.

Morales was already moving.

"Units are going."

Daniel started toward the vehicle.

Robert stopped him.

"No."

Daniel turned furiously.

Robert held up a hand.

"Not because you're a child."

Daniel waited.

"Because the police are already there, and charging into a house where Voss may be armed helps nobody."

Daniel's breathing slowed.

Robert added, "Including me."

It was the first time he had admitted fear before issuing an order.

Daniel nodded.

They waited.

Ten minutes.

Fifteen.

Then Morales received a call.

Her expression changed.

"What?"

She listened.

Then looked at Robert.

"Voss wasn't at your house."

Robert's stomach sank.

"Then who was?"

"Nobody."

"Security alert?"

"Triggered remotely."

Daniel understood first.

"Diversion."

Morales nodded.

Robert turned toward Vanessa.

"Where would he really go?"

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She stared toward the desert.

Then whispered, "Donna's grave."