Chapter 13 - THE BROTHER I NEVER KNEW ABOUT
His name was Derek Collins.
Brad's older brother.
Eight years earlier, I had been a junior officer assigned to assist with records in an investigation involving stolen military equipment.
I barely remembered Derek.
He wasn't the central figure.
He was one of several civilians involved.
But the evidence I helped preserve contributed to his conviction.
He served four years.
According to investigators, Brad blamed everyone involved.
Including me.
Suddenly, the photographs made sense.
The planning.
The records.
The obsessive notes.
Brad hadn't accidentally met Rachel.
He had approached her.
He knew who she was before she knew who he was.
The affair had been part of something larger.
Rachel sat in stunned silence when investigators told her.
"He said we met by chance."
She whispered.
Nobody answered.
"He knew Ethan?"
"Yes."
Rachel looked at me.
For the first time, I saw something in her face that wasn't self-pity.
Horror.
She had destroyed her family for a man who had been using her from the beginning.
I didn't feel satisfaction.
Only exhaustion.
Rachel gave police every account she could remember.
Every location.
Every friend Brad might contact.
That cooperation helped.
But it didn't erase what she had done to Lily.
Two days later, police located Brad.
He had checked into a motel under another name.
When officers arrived, he tried to leave through the rear stairwell.
He didn't get far.
Among his belongings were several thousand dollars in cash.
My documents.
More forged records.
And a second airline ticket.
Only one passenger.
Brad Collins.
Rachel had never been part of his final escape plan.
Neither had Lily.
Brad had intended to take the money and disappear.
The revenge had already succeeded.
My marriage was destroyed.
My daughter had been traumatized.
My reputation had temporarily become part of a bizarre public lie.
Brad believed that was enough.
He was wrong.
Because Melissa's video existed.
Mark's security footage existed.
The recordings existed.
The fundraiser records existed.
And Brad had documented almost everything himself.
When investigators asked why he kept so much evidence, Jenna gave them the answer.
"Brad never trusts anyone."
She said.
"He keeps proof because he thinks proof gives him power."
This time, the proof gave power to everyone he had hurt.
But Brad still had one card left.
During questioning, he told investigators something about Rachel.
May you like
Something she had not confessed.
Something involving the night Lily was first told I had died.
