Chapter 6 - What Tyler Did That Night

Grant did not touch the phone.

"What does he mean?"

Tyler's lower lip trembled.

"I don't know."

"Tyler."

"I said I don't know!"

Grant kept his voice level. "Then tell me what you remember."

Tyler sat on the edge of his bed.

For a while all Grant heard was the air conditioner.

Then Tyler said, "Mom and I fought the night before she died."

Grant knew that much. Caroline had taken away Tyler's gaming system after he skipped school.

"She told me I was starting to sound like Uncle Victor. I told her I wished she wasn't my mom."

Grant swallowed.

"Kids say terrible things when they're angry."

"I texted Uncle Victor after."

"What did you say?"

Tyler stared at the floor. "I said, 'I hate her. I wish she'd go away.'"

Grant felt sick.

"And?"

"He called me. He said not to worry. He said moms get dramatic. Then he asked where she was going the next day."

Grant's hands went cold.

"Did you tell him?"

Tyler nodded.

"She had that charity lunch in Pine Ridge. I told him what time she was leaving."

Tyler covered his face.

"So I did help him."

Grant sat beside him.

"You were fourteen. You complained to your uncle after a fight. That is not the same as cutting a brake line."

"But if I hadn't told him—"

"Stop. The person who chooses violence owns the violence."

Tyler looked at him, eyes red.

For the first time in months, he leaned toward Grant instead of away.

Grant pulled him close.

At the doorway, Leah stood silently.

Tyler saw her and stiffened.

"You heard?"

"Yeah."

He looked ashamed. "I'm sorry about the messages. And... everything."

Leah did not rush to forgive him.

"I believe you're sorry," she said. "I'm still scared of you right now. Both can be true."

Tyler nodded slowly.

It was the most honest thing anyone had said all night.

Grant looked at Victor's burner phone.

"We are not going to the old house."

Leah said, "He expects us."

"Exactly."

The burner buzzed again.

A photo appeared.

It showed the inside of Grant's home office.

Taken that night.

On Grant's desk sat a framed picture of Caroline.

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Behind it, written across the wall in black marker, were five words:

I CAN STILL GET IN.