Chapter 4: Deal with the Devil

“Retract your confession?”

With the evidence stacked against him, I couldn’t believe it. I warned Caleb:

“Caleb, every interrogation was recorded. No one forced you. All the evidence points to you. Don’t make something up just to buy time.”

He nodded, voice low:

“Man, I can’t accept the death penalty because I didn’t want to kill Mark. It was Tom Reynolds who wanted him dead.”

“Tom Reynolds?”

He clarified:

“The project manager at the site.”

I pieced it together:

“Tom Reynolds—the prosecution’s witness?”

“Yes.”

I summed up my tangled thoughts in a single line:

“A contract killing?”

Caleb nodded, staring me down.

“He offered me $180,000 to kill Mark.”

“Why are you only saying this now?”

“$180,000. If I survived prison, I’d get the money. That’s why I turned myself in—hoping for a lighter sentence. If I made it out, I’d get the payout. But now I’m on death row, so the money’s gone. I’d rather save my life.”

Now it made sense.

“No wonder you relaxed when you thought you’d get out in thirteen years.”

But something didn’t add up.

Mark was just a construction worker. Tom Reynolds was the manager. Why not just fire Mark?

I asked, and Caleb shrugged:

“I don’t know. Mark probably knew something about Tom—maybe threatened to spill it.”

I frowned, thinking. This was getting complicated.

“It’s a construction site. Tom could’ve staged an accident. Why you?”

Caleb replied:

“If Mark died on the job, the site would get shut down and investigated. Delays would cost them a fortune.”

That tracked.

Mark had blackmailed Tom. Tom couldn’t take it—so he hired Caleb to do the dirty work.

Caleb knew he’d do time, but hoped surrendering would get him a lighter sentence—and his payday.

He never mentioned it before because he wanted the money.

Now, with death looming, he wanted to save himself.

If we could prove Tom ordered the hit…

Maybe Caleb’s sentence would drop to fifteen years.