“Apparently not enough.”
Caleb accepted it.
“No.”
He looked up.
“When Luke called me this year, he was sober.”
“Maybe.”
“He sounded different.”
“That is not evidence.”
“I know.”
Daniel almost snapped again.
Then stopped.
Caleb continued.
“He said he had made mistakes. He admitted the drinking.”
“But blamed me for the adoption.”
“Yes.”
“And you preferred that story.”
Caleb’s eyes lowered.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because then I hadn’t abandoned Hannah too.”
The room became quiet.
Daniel looked at him differently.
Not forgiving.
Understanding.
Caleb’s loyalty to Luke was not only brotherhood.
It was self-protection.
If Luke remained the victim, then Caleb’s silence years earlier remained less ugly.
If Daniel had manipulated everything, Caleb did not have to admit Hannah had been right.
Adults could spend entire lives protecting the version of history that made them easiest to forgive.
Daniel recognized that because he had done smaller versions himself.
After Hannah died, he spent months blaming doctors for not finding the aneurysm.
Then himself for not recognizing a headache two days earlier.
Grief searched for control anywhere it could find it.
That did not excuse Caleb.
But it explained something.
“What do you want from me?” Daniel asked.
“Nothing.”
“You requested the meeting.”
“I wanted you to know I’m cooperating.”
“With Internal Affairs?”
“And prosecutors.”
Daniel nodded.
“Good.”
“I gave them everything Luke sent me.”
“Good.”
“I’m resigning.”
Daniel looked up.
Caleb continued.
“I don’t think I should have authority over people while I figure out why I used it the way I did.”
That surprised Daniel.
“You’re expecting me to tell you not to?”
“No.”
“Good.”
A faint, sad smile crossed Caleb’s face.
“I didn’t.”
Daniel stood.
The meeting was over.
Caleb stood too.
At the door he stopped.
“Can I ask one thing?”
Daniel waited.
“Does Sophie hate me?”
Daniel felt immediate anger at the selfishness of the question.
Then he looked at Caleb’s face.
“She is seven.”
Caleb nodded.
“She’s mostly scared.”
“That’s worse.”
“Yes.”
Caleb left.
Daniel did not shake his hand.
The case against Luke moved slowly.
The forged letter produced an unexpected discovery.
A forensic document examiner determined Hannah’s signature had been traced from an authentic document.
Not one from Carol’s box.
A more recent copy.
Investigators traced the source to Hannah’s probate file.
Publicly accessible documents included scanned signatures.
Luke downloaded them.
He had spent weeks building a letter designed not primarily to fool Daniel.
To fool Caleb.
That distinction devastated Caleb.
Luke understood exactly which guilt to press.
Exactly which family loyalty to exploit.
The criminal case eventually ended in a plea agreement.
Luke admitted falsifying the letter and violating the protective order.
He received probation with strict conditions, mandatory treatment, and an extended no-contact order involving Sophie.
Some people thought the sentence was too light.