Chapter 6 - THE MISSING $10,500
Detective Vega eventually proved something almost absurd.
The missing $10,500 had never existed.
Not in the drawer.
Not anywhere.
Dustin invented the number.
Why $10,500?
Because one of the Cabrillo subcontractors had demanded exactly $10,500 for an overdue plumbing invoice that morning.
The number was already in Dustin’s head.
His accusation was improvised.
The violence was not planned in advance.
The lie was.
How did police prove it?
Dustin forgot our living room camera.
Not hidden.
A simple device pointed toward the front door.
It captured audio from the nearby office.
Thirty-seven minutes before I came home, Dustin called Wyatt.
“Beatrice saw the Cabrillo wire.”
Wyatt:
“How?”
“She was in my desk.”
“What are you going to do?”
Long silence.
Then:
“Get her out.”
“How?”
“I’ll say cash is missing.”
Wyatt:
“Dustin, don’t be stupid.”
“I need time.”
“Tell Audrey.”
“No.”
Then:
“If Beatrice leaves tonight, I can deal with Audrey after.”
The recording continued.
Dustin opened drawers.
Moved papers.
There was no sound of counting money.
No cash.
Nothing.
He was constructing the scene.
Then Mom entered.
The rest matched what she told police.
She apologized for moving his documents.
Dustin accused her of taking money.
She denied it.
He became louder.
Then the first slap.
The camera did not show the office directly.
But it captured the sound.
Then the second.
My chest hurt listening.
I turned it off halfway.
Paige said:
“You don’t have to hear the rest.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
She closed the laptop.
“Evidence can exist without living inside your head every day.”
I looked at her.
That became one of the most important things anyone told me.
The recording existed.
Police had it.
Lawyers had it.
I did not need to keep replaying it to prove what happened.
The assault case moved forward separately from the divorce.
Wyatt faced questions about his role.
He had not been present for the violence.
But his texts and the phone call showed knowledge of the financial deception.
Tristan cooperated earlier.
He admitted he knew Dustin had not clearly obtained my permission.
But claimed he did not know about forged documents.
Evidence mostly supported that distinction.
The brothers began blaming each other.
Predictable.
Cabrillo Point went into receivership.
Construction stopped.
The unfinished townhomes sat behind fencing overlooking the canyon.
A monument to money they expected the future to repay.
May you like
It never did.
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