Chapter 16 - Peter Bennett
Peter Bennett had died of pancreatic cancer.
Nora knew the timeline.
Diagnosis. Treatment. Hospice. Funeral.
There was no mystery.
That was why Celeste's words worked.
They made Nora doubt something solid.
She hated her for it.
Daniel agreed to meet with Nora only after his attorney secured a proffer agreement.
They sat across from each other in a county interview room.
He looked smaller in jail clothes.
Nora hated noticing.
"Did you kill my father?"
Daniel's face went blank.
"No."
Fast answer.
"Did your mother?"
"No."
"Then what is she talking about?"
Daniel stared at the table.
"Peter found out about us before you did."
"About the fraud?"
"About why I met you."
Nora's throat tightened.
Daniel admitted Celeste had encouraged him to pursue Nora after Peter's diagnosis.
At first, Daniel agreed for strategic reasons.
Then he fell in love with her.
"Do not make that the pretty part," Nora said.
"I'm not."
Peter confronted Daniel six months before his death.
He offered Daniel a choice: tell Nora everything and help expose Celeste, or disappear from Nora's life.
Daniel promised to confess.
He did not.
"That's it?"
Daniel shook his head.
Peter had changed his pain medication near the end.
Daniel knew the new dose made him confused.
When Peter asked for help contacting federal investigators, Daniel told the hospice nurse Peter was delirious.
"You stopped him?"
"I delayed him."
"How long?"
Daniel's eyes filled.
"Five days."
Peter died on the fifth night.
Nora stood up so fast the chair scraped backward.
Daniel said, "I didn't kill him."
"You stole his last five days."
He looked away.
That was worse than an argument.
Rourke later confirmed hospice notes: Peter had repeatedly asked for Kessler and an investigator. Daniel had told staff not to disturb him.
No murder.
Something uglier in a quieter way.
That night Nora opened Peter's last recording again.
At the very end, after several seconds of static, was a sentence she had missed.
"If Daniel fails me, don't let Nora become me. I spent too long collecting proof and not enough time living."
Nora closed the recorder.
May you like
For the first time since the cliff, she cried for her father instead of the case he left behind.
