Chapter 9
Eric’s eyes were wide with terror.
For one terrible second, I forgot what he had done.
I forgot the hard drive.
The forged stamp.
The break-in.
All I saw was a man tied to a chair, breathing through his nose, staring at the camera like we were his last chance.
Tyler held the phone close to his own face again.
“Here’s how this works,” he said. “Daniel brings me cash. Fifty thousand. Tonight.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“You know I don’t have that kind of cash.”
Tyler laughed.
“Claire does.”
I did not.
But Tyler believed I did.
Because Margaret believed every woman with a job had secret money hidden somewhere.
Agent Harris motioned for Daniel to keep him talking.
Daniel said, “Let Eric go.”
“Eric betrayed family.”
“He helped you.”
“He helped himself.”
Tyler’s face twitched.
“He always thought he was smarter than me. Everybody does.”
Nobody spoke.
Tyler’s rage was thin and unstable now.
The kind that could turn in any direction.
He leaned closer.
“Mom is in jail because of Claire. You’re all acting like she did something wrong when she was trying to protect me.”
“She planned to kill Claire,” Daniel said.
Tyler’s expression went blank.
“She wouldn’t have had to if Claire stayed out of it.”
Robert made a broken sound.
Tyler heard him.
“Dad? You there?”
Robert stepped into view despite Agent Harris shaking his head.
“Tyler, please. Tell us where you are.”
Tyler smiled like a child seeing a toy.
“Hi, Dad.”
Robert’s eyes filled.
“Let Eric go.”
“Why? He’s your family too. You always taught us family helps family.”
Robert cried.
“I taught you wrong.”
Tyler’s smile faded.
“What?”
“I gave you money when I should have given you consequences. I let your mother protect you when I should have protected Daniel. I helped turn you into this.”
Tyler’s face twisted.
“Don’t talk to me like that.”
“I love you,” Robert whispered. “But I will not save you from what you did.”
Tyler screamed and kicked something off camera.
Eric flinched violently.
“Shut up!”
Robert stepped back, sobbing.
Tyler breathed hard into the phone.
“Fifty thousand. Midnight. Old Miller Cannery. Daniel comes alone. If police come, Eric dies.”
The call ended.
Agent Harris was already moving.
Detective Brooks coordinated with tactical units.
Daniel was not going alone.
No one allowed that.
But Tyler was spiraling, and Eric was in real danger.
The Miller Cannery had been abandoned for years.
A rusted building near the river.
Empty loading docks.
Broken windows.
Plenty of places for someone desperate to hide.
Agent Harris planned a controlled drop with a tracking bag and hidden officers.
Daniel insisted on being there.
I begged him not to.
He looked at me with red eyes.
“He’s my brother.”
“He threatened your life.”
“I know.”
“He cut my brakes.”
“I know.”
“He could kill you.”
Daniel touched my face gently.
“If I don’t go, he may kill Eric.”
I hated that he was right.
I hated that his decency had become another weapon Tyler could use.
At midnight, Daniel walked toward the cannery with a duffel bag full of paper stacks and trackers.
I watched from inside an unmarked van with Agent Harris and Detective Brooks.
My heart pounded so hard I felt sick.
Robert sat beside me, whispering prayers.
Daniel’s voice came through the wire.
“I’m here.”
Tyler stepped from the shadows.
He had a knife in one hand.
His other hand shook.
“You brought it?”
“Yes.”
“Where’s Claire?”
“Safe.”
Tyler laughed.
“No one is safe.”
He kicked the duffel bag.
“Open it.”
Daniel knelt slowly and unzipped it.
Tyler glanced inside.
He did not notice the trackers.
“Good brother,” Tyler said.
“Where is Eric?”
“Inside.”
“Let him go.”
Tyler’s smile turned bitter.
“You still think you get to give orders.”
“I’m trying to help you.”
“No. You’re trying to be the hero. Like always.”
Daniel stood carefully.
“I never wanted to be your enemy.”
“You became my enemy when you chose her.”
“Claire did not do this.”
Tyler’s face contorted.
“She said no.”
That was it.
The whole terrible thing.
I had said no.
No to money.
No to theft.
No to being bullied.
No to Margaret.
And that no had exposed everything.
Tyler raised the knife.
Officers moved silently in the dark.
Daniel said, “Tyler, look at me.”
Tyler’s hand trembled.
“I’m tired, Danny.”
“I know.”
“I can’t fix it.”
“No. But you can stop making it worse.”
For a second, Tyler looked like a little boy.
Lost.
Scared.
Then headlights flashed behind the cannery.
A car screeched into the lot.
Everyone froze.
The driver’s door opened.
Margaret stepped out.
She was supposed to be in custody.
But there she was.
Free.
May you like
Smiling.
“Tyler,” she called gently. “Don’t listen to your brother.”
