Chapter 14 - The Second Tracker
The second tracker was harder to see than the first.
It had been wrapped in black tape and fixed behind a trim panel beneath Sarah’s rear bumper.
If we had not known to search for it, I doubt I would have noticed.
Sarah stood three feet away with both arms folded across her chest.
“Don’t touch it yet.”
I looked at her.
She almost smiled.
“Facts first.”
I nodded.
We photographed the device where it sat.
We photographed the license plate and wider view of the bumper.
Then Sarah called the police nonemergency number and gave the existing incident number.
Officer Martinez came to the house forty minutes later.
I was glad it was her.
She crouched beside the car and looked under the bumper.
“You found another one?”
Sarah nodded.
“We have video of Derek saying he put it there.”
Martinez stood.
“You have what?”
Sarah showed her the archived camera clip.
Martinez watched the relevant segment twice.
Then she looked at me.
“You two have had a busy week.”
“That is one word for it.”
She documented the tracker and took possession according to department procedure.
Sarah also provided a copy of the video through the method Martinez requested.
“Does this mean he gets arrested?” Sarah asked.
Martinez did not promise anything.
“It means the evidence gets added to the investigation.”
“Which investigation?”
“Several issues have been referred for review.”
“Fraud too?”
“That may involve different investigators and the financial institutions.”
Sarah looked frustrated.
Real investigations were not television.
No single detective walked into a room carrying every thread of the story.
Different systems moved at different speeds.
Banks investigated transactions.
Police documented incidents.
Attorneys filed motions.
Courts set hearings.
Medical offices protected records.
Each part felt slow when fear was immediate.
Martinez seemed to understand that.
“Keep doing what you’re doing,” she said.
“Document contact.”
“Follow the order.”
“Call if he appears.”
Sarah nodded.
After the officer left, she stood in the driveway looking at the empty place under the bumper.
“I drove with that for weeks.”
“Yes.”
“He knew everywhere I went.”
“Probably.”
“The grocery store.”
“Yes.”
“The doctor.”
“Yes.”
“Mom’s cemetery.”
That one hurt.
Sarah visited Ellen’s grave every other Sunday.
She went alone because she said grief needed privacy.
Derek had known where she was anyway.
“I hate him,” she said.
The sentence was flat.
No screaming.
No recording.
No performance.
Just grief wearing anger’s clothes.
“You’re allowed,” I said.
“I still miss him sometimes.”
“You’re allowed that too.”
She looked at me.
“That makes no sense.”
“People rarely do.”
Two days later, Laura received a call from Aaron Pike.
Not about the trackers.
About Cal.
The name had appeared in financial discovery requests because of the handwritten note from the nursery and the old phone recording.
Pike claimed Cal Ramsey was an unrelated private creditor and accused Sarah of trying to drag third parties into the divorce.
Laura found the objection interesting.
“People usually do not fight this hard over irrelevant names,” she said.
She obtained contact information for Cal through lawful discovery channels and sent a request for relevant records.
Cal responded through his own attorney within twenty-four hours.
He wanted no part of Derek’s divorce.
He was willing to preserve documents.
He was also willing to speak voluntarily if counsel was present.
Before we met Cal, Sarah called one former Northway coworker herself.
Her name was Mia Torres.
Sarah had avoided Mia for months because Derek said Mia disliked him and “put ideas in her head.”
When Mia answered, Sarah nearly hung up.
“Sarah?”
“Hi.”
There was a pause.
“Oh my God, are you okay?”
The concern was immediate enough to make Sarah cry.
She hated that.
“I’m okay right now.”
“Where have you been?”
“At my dad’s.”
Another pause.
“Good.”
Sarah looked at me.
“Why good?”
Mia exhaled.
“I did not know how to tell you this without making you defend him.”
“Tell me what?”
“Derek contacted me after you quit.”
Sarah went still.
“What did he want?”
“He asked whether you had complained about him at work.”
“Complained about what?”
“He did not say.”
Mia continued.
“He also asked me not to invite you to a team dinner because you needed to focus on the pregnancy.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
“I thought everyone forgot me.”
“No.”
Mia’s voice broke.
“We thought you wanted space.”
“Derek told us you were overwhelmed and did not want calls.”
Sarah covered her mouth.
Another small mystery solved.
Isolation had looked like abandonment because Derek had been speaking for her on both sides of the silence.
Sarah asked about Northway.
Mia had not worked in Derek’s department, but she remembered the week he left.
“There was no company-wide layoff then.”
“Did you know why he left?”
“No.”
“I heard rumors, and I am not going to repeat rumors like facts.”
I looked at Sarah.
She almost smiled.
“Dad has infected everyone.”
Mia sounded confused.
“Long story.”
Before hanging up, Mia said one more thing.
“You did not disappear because we stopped caring.”
Sarah had to sit down.
After the call, she stared at her contacts list.
“How many people did I lose because he told each side the other side wanted distance?”
“We can find out slowly,” I said.
She nodded.
Slowly had become another kind of safety.
Laura scheduled the meeting at her office.
Cal Ramsey was not what I expected.
I had imagined a loan shark because my brain had been filling blank spaces with dramatic answers.
He was a forty-two-year-old accountant in a brown sport coat who looked like he apologized when elevators closed too quickly.
He shook Sarah’s hand first.
“I’m sorry.”
She looked confused.
“For what?”
“For lending him money.”
“That was your choice, not mine.”
“It became your problem.”
Cal sat across from Laura’s desk.
His attorney sat beside him.
I remained against the wall because Sarah had asked me to attend.
Laura began carefully.
“How did you know Derek Mitchell?”
“We worked together at Northway.”
“What did he do there?”
“Enterprise sales.”
“And you?”
“Finance operations.”
“When did you first lend him money?”
Cal looked at Sarah.
“Last February.”
That was before the March argument.
“How much?” Laura asked.
“Ten thousand.”
“Why?”
“He said he had an investment opportunity involving refurbished commercial hardware.”
“Did you invest?”
“No.”
“It was a personal loan.”
Cal’s attorney slid a copy of a promissory note across the desk.
Derek’s signature was at the bottom.
“How much total did you eventually lend?”
“Thirty thousand.”
Sarah inhaled sharply.
“Did he repay any?”
“Five thousand four hundred.”
“That matches the twenty-four-six note,” Sarah whispered.
Cal nodded.
“I sent it to collections after he stopped paying.”
“Why did he stop?” Laura asked.
“He lost his job.”
Sarah leaned forward.
“He told me Northway eliminated his department.”
Cal looked uncomfortable.
“They did not.”
The room went quiet.
“What happened?” Laura asked.
Cal’s attorney spoke.
“We need to be careful about confidential employment information our client may not be authorized to disclose beyond his personal knowledge.”
Cal nodded.
“I can tell you what Derek told me and what I personally observed.”
“Please do.”
“He had expense reimbursement problems.”
“What kind?”
“He submitted receipts that were questioned.”
Cal shifted in his chair.
“I was not part of the final HR decision.”
“But he was not part of a department layoff?” Sarah asked.
“No.”
“Was anyone else terminated that day?”
“Not that I know of.”
Sarah sat back.
Another story gone.
Laura pointed to the old phone transcript.
“On a recording from eight months ago, you told Derek you would not touch anything with a forged signature.”
Cal rubbed his forehead.
“I remember that conversation.”
“What prompted you to say that?”
“He asked whether I knew someone who could help him pull equity from the house quickly.”
“Why mention forgery?”
“Because he said Sarah did not like debt and might resist.”
Sarah stared at him.
“What exactly did he say?”
Cal looked miserable.
“He said he could handle your signature if the rest of the paperwork was ready.”
My hands tightened at my sides.
Cal saw them and looked away.
“I told him not to involve me.”
“Did you report it?” Sarah asked.
“No.”
“Why?”
Cal’s face flushed.
“Because I thought he was talking big.”
“You heard a man say he could handle his wife’s signature and thought he was talking big?”
“Yes.”
Sarah’s eyes filled.
“That would have been useful to know.”
“I know.”
“No, you know now.”
Cal accepted that without defending himself.
“You’re right.”
The room stayed quiet.
Finally, Sarah looked down.
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize to me,” Cal said.
“No.”
She wiped her cheek.
“I’m practicing not apologizing for the wrong person.”
Laura returned to the documents.
“Why did Derek need so much money?”
Cal took a breath.
“He kept saying he was moving money between opportunities.”
“What opportunities?”
“Equipment resale.”
“Anything else?”
Cal hesitated.
His attorney looked at him.
“You can answer from personal knowledge.”
Cal nodded.
“He was also betting heavily.”
Sarah’s head lifted.
“Betting?”
“Sports apps.”
“How heavily?”
“I don’t know exact totals.”
“He asked to borrow five thousand once because he said a bank transfer was delayed.”
“Did you give it to him?”
“No.”
“Did he say Sarah knew?” Laura asked.
“He said she hated gambling and would overreact.”
Sarah let out a hollow laugh.
“I didn’t know there was anything to react to.”
Cal opened a folder.
“I brought texts.”
His attorney handed copies to Laura.
The messages were between Cal and Derek over nearly a year.
Most concerned repayment.
Several concerned the house.
One message from Derek read, ONCE SARAH IS IN THE HOSPITAL WITH THE BABY, SHE’LL SIGN WHATEVER I PUT IN FRONT OF HER.
I read it twice.
Sarah did not move.
Cal had replied, THAT IS NOT A PLAN I WANT ANY PART OF.
Derek answered, RELAX.
Then another.
SHE TRUSTS ME.
Sarah stood.
“I need a minute.”
Laura nodded.
I started to follow.
Sarah looked at me.
“I said I need a minute.”
I stopped.
“Right.”
She left the office alone.
That was another kind of progress.
Ten minutes later, she returned.
Her eyes were red, but her voice was steady.
“Is there anything else?”
Cal looked toward his attorney.
Then back at Sarah.
“Yes.”
Laura leaned forward.
“What?”
Cal slid one final printout across the desk.
“This is the part I should have told someone about months ago.”
The message was from Derek.
IF THE HELOC DOESN’T WORK, I NEED ANOTHER WAY TO MOVE THE HOUSE MONEY BEFORE SHE CAN STOP ME.
Cal’s reply was immediate.
THAT SOUNDS LIKE DIVORCE TALK.
May you like
Derek answered.
ONLY IF SHE FINDS OUT.
