Chapter 17 - Kyle’s Secret
Kyle looked sick when Emily confronted him outside the courthouse.
Sarah stood beside her.
Detective Pierce stood ten feet away.
“What did Grant mean?” Emily asked.
Kyle rubbed both hands over his face.
“I was hoping he wouldn’t drag me into that.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Kyle looked at Pierce.
“Am I being questioned?”
Pierce said, “You can have an attorney present if you want one.”
Kyle shook his head.
“No. I’m done protecting people.”
Emily’s stomach tightened.
“Then talk.”
Kyle admitted he had helped Linda fill out insurance paperwork fourteen months earlier.
Not because he knew it was fraudulent.
Linda had told him Emily and Grant were updating family coverage and needed help with an online form.
“I typed information she gave me,” he said. “Name, birthday, address.”
“Did you see my signature?”
“No. She already had a signed page.”
Emily closed her eyes.
The lake house.
The papers at dinner.
“Why didn’t you tell police?” Sarah asked.
“I didn’t realize it mattered until I heard about the policy.”
“And then?”
Kyle looked ashamed.
“Then I panicked.”
Emily stared at him.
“You saw me in that shed and still decided to protect yourself.”
Kyle flinched.
“Yes.”
It was not the answer she wanted.
It was the first completely honest answer he had given.
Pierce asked, “Did Linda say why she wanted the policy?”
Kyle hesitated.
“She said Grant had made too many mistakes and somebody had to protect the family.”
“What family?”
“I thought she meant Ellie.”
Emily’s voice sharpened. “Did she say Ellie?”
“No.”
“Then you assumed.”
“Yes.”
Kyle reached into his coat pocket.
Pierce immediately said, “Slowly.”
Kyle pulled out a small flash drive.
“I brought this.”
“What is it?”
“Backup from my old laptop.”
He handed it to Pierce.
“Grant used my computer last year. I found a folder afterward and copied it because I thought he was hiding business records.”
“Did you open it?”
Kyle nodded.
“Most of it was invoices.”
“Most?”
Kyle looked at Emily.
“There was an audio file.”
Emily’s pulse jumped.
“What was on it?”
May you like
Kyle swallowed.
“My mother saying, ‘If Emily leaves, we lose everything.’ Then Grant says, ‘Then she doesn’t leave.’”
