{"id":8502,"date":"2026-09-25T21:42:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T21:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=8502"},"modified":"2026-09-25T21:42:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T21:42:59","slug":"part-31-frank-delaneys-daughter-had-carried-bellwaters-guilt-for-ten-years-and-caleb-wanted-her-to-hear-what-her-father-never-managed-to-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=8502","title":{"rendered":"PART 31 \u2013 Frank Delaney\u2019s Daughter Had Carried Bellwater\u2019s Guilt for Ten Years, and Caleb Wanted Her to Hear What Her Father Never Managed to Say"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rachel Delaney was twenty-seven.<\/p>\n<p>For some reason, I had kept imagining her as seventeen.<\/p>\n<p>The age Frank\u2019s story froze her.<\/p>\n<p>Drug arrest.<\/p>\n<p>Fear.<\/p>\n<p>Leverage.<\/p>\n<p>The reason he obeyed Hale.<\/p>\n<p>But time had moved for Rachel too.<\/p>\n<p>Holt arranged the meeting at a treatment center where Rachel worked.<\/p>\n<p>Not attended.<\/p>\n<p>Worked.<\/p>\n<p>She was a recovery counselor.<\/p>\n<p>That surprised me.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps it should not have.<\/p>\n<p>People often build careers around the places that nearly swallowed them.<\/p>\n<p>I did not go into the first conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Caleb had said help.<\/p>\n<p>Not interrogate.<\/p>\n<p>Holt spoke to Rachel first.<\/p>\n<p>Then Rachel agreed to meet me.<\/p>\n<p>She entered a small conference room wearing dark jeans and a green sweater.<\/p>\n<p>Frank\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Same cautious way of studying a room before sitting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve seen you on the news.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That startled me.<\/p>\n<p>The Bellwater investigation had begun leaking into public reporting despite efforts to protect patient details.<\/p>\n<p>Frank\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n<p>Historical misconduct.<\/p>\n<p>Hospital data investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Not everything.<\/p>\n<p>But enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She shrugged.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExisting in the same mess.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I understood that sentence too well.<\/p>\n<p>I sat opposite her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy son asked me to find you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaleb?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That surprised me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout a month before he died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone had met my son.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe called.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo ask about my father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you talk?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you tell him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat Dad changed the report because of me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My chest tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what Frank told you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas it true?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPartly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She gave a bitter laugh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently \u2018partly\u2019 is the official language of this family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel explained.<\/p>\n<p>At seventeen, she had been using prescription opioids recreationally.<\/p>\n<p>Then regularly.<\/p>\n<p>Then desperately.<\/p>\n<p>A local officer caught her carrying pills.<\/p>\n<p>Frank intervened.<\/p>\n<p>The charge disappeared before formal processing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought Dad saved me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He had.<\/p>\n<p>In one way.<\/p>\n<p>Then Gerald Voss and Hale learned.<\/p>\n<p>Frank became vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p>He altered reports.<\/p>\n<p>Ignored suspicious claims.<\/p>\n<p>Passed information.<\/p>\n<p>All partly because he feared Rachel\u2019s hidden charge could be resurrected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you blamed yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDad told me after he retired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat exactly?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat he started compromising cases because people had leverage over him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat the leverage was me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>He had put the weight directly in her hands.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe not intentionally.<\/p>\n<p>But still.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Bellwater came back up, he said that if he hadn\u2019t saved me from the drug charge, he would have been clean enough to help David Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat I wished he\u2019d let me get arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That hurt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told him David would be alive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another child doing impossible mathematics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I had gone to jail, David lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Frank made choices after the leverage existed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She flinched.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds like blame.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not cruelty.<\/p>\n<p>Ownership.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour father was scared for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat explains.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t erase.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaleb said something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel looked toward the window.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was strange.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe sounded like he had thirty years of therapy at nineteen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe had too much hospital time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat my father delayed the ambulance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My throat tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew then?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before I did.<\/p>\n<p>Caleb had found Rachel too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hung up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe called back two days later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sounded like him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor dropping that on me without knowing what Dad had told me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Good.<\/p>\n<p>Then they spoke again.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel told Caleb about addiction.<\/p>\n<p>Frank.<\/p>\n<p>The arrest.<\/p>\n<p>The guilt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Caleb say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat Dad used me as an explanation because it was easier than admitting he was scared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My chest tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Accurate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said, \u2018Parents love blaming love when fear makes them stupid.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed despite myself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds rude.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlso accurate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said his mom would probably understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I made bad choices out of fear too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost answered.<\/p>\n<p>Then stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel was not asking for my confession.<\/p>\n<p>She was trying to understand whether parents could love deeply and still do damage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d I said simply.<\/p>\n<p>She nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Caleb want from you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said if Frank ever told the whole truth, I should decide whether I wanted to hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fair.<\/p>\n<p>Holt had told me Frank wanted to amend his statement.<\/p>\n<p>I asked Rachel if she wanted to know why.<\/p>\n<p>She hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs it about me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat means probably no.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked surprised.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have to?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone keeps acting like truth is automatically good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was another thing I had learned.<\/p>\n<p>Truth can be necessary and still hurt.<\/p>\n<p>Consent matters.<\/p>\n<p>Timing matters.<\/p>\n<p>Who owns it matters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaleb said the same.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course he did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel stared at the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I want to know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Long pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Holt brought Frank in later.<\/p>\n<p>Not literally into the room.<\/p>\n<p>He appeared by secure video from detention.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel sat rigidly.<\/p>\n<p>I remained only because she asked.<\/p>\n<p>Frank looked older than he had at Bellwater.<\/p>\n<p>Older even than his age.<\/p>\n<p>When he saw Rachel, he began crying.<\/p>\n<p>She did not.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t start there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Good.<\/p>\n<p>She had boundaries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did you ask to change your statement?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank took a breath.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I lied about you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou told investigators Gerald and Hale controlled you because they could expose your drug charge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPartly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There was that word again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat wasn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey couldn\u2019t expose it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe charge was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGone how?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNever entered formally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what leverage did they have?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNone after the first year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room changed.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHale kept implying he could reopen it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut he couldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout a year before Bellwater.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel\u2019s face emptied.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo when David died, I wasn\u2019t leverage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why did you still help them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank cried harder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause by then I had already done too much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>The truth Caleb wanted Rachel to hear.<\/p>\n<p>Not her.<\/p>\n<p>Him.<\/p>\n<p>Frank continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I exposed Hale, I exposed myself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel whispered:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou blamed me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor ten years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou let me think a man died because you saved me from getting arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank could barely speak.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel stood.<\/p>\n<p>For one second, I thought she would leave.<\/p>\n<p>Then she turned back to the screen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI used because I was sick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou covered it because you were scared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen you kept lying because you were a coward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No excuses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t get to make me the reason anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t get to say you did it for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou did some things for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd some things for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel\u2019s hands shook.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She sat again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSay it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank frowned through tears.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSay David Mercer did not die because of me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My entire body tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Frank looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>I shook my head.<\/p>\n<p>Not me.<\/p>\n<p>Her.<\/p>\n<p>He looked back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDavid Mercer did not die because of you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel closed her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt wasn\u2019t because of you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She cried then.<\/p>\n<p>Quietly.<\/p>\n<p>Not relief exactly.<\/p>\n<p>Release.<\/p>\n<p>A sentence withheld for ten years had finally reached the person who needed it.<\/p>\n<p>Frank continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI delayed because I was afraid of prison.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel listened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot because of your arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She nodded once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI lied because blaming what happened to you made me feel less selfish.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My chest tightened.<\/p>\n<p>That was brutal.<\/p>\n<p>Necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel wiped her face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank looked stunned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot forgiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you for finally saying it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She ended the call herself.<\/p>\n<p>Afterward, she sat quietly for several minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Then looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes it feel better?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKnowing the truth about David.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I considered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDifferent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not the same.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you glad you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though it hurts?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I am too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We left the treatment center together.<\/p>\n<p>Outside, she stopped me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaleb told me one more thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said you would probably try to fix everyone once Bellwater ended.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is insulting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said that too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me to tell you not to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery useful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said, \u2018Mom will turn grief into a job if you let her.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My throat tightened.<\/p>\n<p>That was uncomfortably accurate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said you were allowed to help people but not because helping them meant you didn\u2019t have to sit still.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked away.<\/p>\n<p>The world had become too quiet after the investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Without something to chase, grief had space.<\/p>\n<p>Caleb knew.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told me to ask whether you\u2019d eaten.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>She raised an eyebrow.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaleb wins.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hate all of you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She smiled.<\/p>\n<p>It was the first real smile I saw from her.<\/p>\n<p>On the drive home, Holt called.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrank\u2019s amended statement changes charging exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEleanor Voss wants to enter a cooperation agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared out the window.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does she offer?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFull financial architecture. Names of surviving brokers. Foundation accounts. Gerald\u2019s private records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn exchange?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConsideration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReduced charges.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPotentially.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt anger.<\/p>\n<p>Not surprise.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does Caleb say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Holt was silent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was rhetorical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think prosecutors decide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Correct.<\/p>\n<p>Not me.<\/p>\n<p>This was not revenge.<\/p>\n<p>It was evidence and law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSay it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVale wants to cooperate too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCompeting confessions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEssentially.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRourke?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStill with Samuel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKessler?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlready giving everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The structure was collapsing because everyone realized silence no longer protected them.<\/p>\n<p>Lantern had worked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes Margaret know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does she want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo testify against Eleanor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Daughter against mother.<\/p>\n<p>Another family inherited into consequence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs that necessary?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer evidence matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes she want to?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then that was hers.<\/p>\n<p>Not mine.<\/p>\n<p>When I reached home, another Lantern file had unlocked.<\/p>\n<p>FILE 25.<\/p>\n<p>Caleb on video.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHi, Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou found Rachel?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He smiled faintly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope she told Frank to stop using her as an excuse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost laughed.<\/p>\n<p>Then his expression softened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow please do something extremely difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTake one day off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo phone calls about Bellwater unless somebody is actively in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo helping strangers I left you as homework.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGo somewhere Dad liked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My chest tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTake Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd if you cry, that does not count as productive activity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I covered my face.<\/p>\n<p>He knew.<\/p>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter that, there is one person left from my list.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach sank.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The video ended.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=8503\">Click here to continue reading: PART 32: Caleb\u2019s Last Assignment Was Me, and One Day Without Bellwater Forced Me to Remember the Life We Had Before It Became Evidence<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rachel Delaney was twenty-seven. For some reason, I had kept imagining her as seventeen. The age Frank\u2019s story froze her. Drug arrest. Fear. Leverage. The reason he obeyed Hale. But &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feel-one-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8502"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8545,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8502\/revisions\/8545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}