Chapter 9 - Tyler Finally Talks
Tyler requested to speak with Rachel alone.
She refused.
He agreed to a recorded meeting with her attorney and the detective present.
Rachel attended through video from the hospital.
Tyler looked exhausted.
The confidence from the driveway was gone.
“Vanessa is blaming me for everything,” he said.
Rachel stared at him.
“You left Lily in a locked car.”
“My mother said the temperature would be controlled.”
“The engine was off.”
“Victor changed the plan.”
“You locked the door.”
“I thought you would be found.”
“You removed my phone.”
“Vanessa did.”
“You watched her do it.”
Tyler had learned from Judith to divide guilt into small pieces.
Each person performed one act.
No one claimed the whole crime.
Rachel asked about Martin.
Tyler admitted his uncle was hiding inside one of Victor Dane’s medical facilities.
He offered the address in exchange for contact with Lily.
Rachel’s face became still.
“You used our daughter as leverage before she could hold up her own head.”
“You do not get to do it again.”
Tyler began crying.
“I love her.”
“No.”
“You love what she gives you.”
“The trust.”
“The company.”
“The chance to punish me.”
Tyler looked toward the detective.
He gave them the facility location without an agreement.
Perhaps he understood there would be no deal.
Perhaps he feared Victor more than prison.
Police raided the building that night.
Martin was not there.
They found medical records, sedatives, and forged psychiatric evaluations.
One evaluation carried Rachel’s name.
Another carried mine.
Judith planned to declare both of us incompetent.
If Rachel died, I would normally become Lily’s guardian.
The second evaluation eliminated me.
Tyler would remain the only acceptable parent.
The facility also contained photographs of other women.
Each had married a client connected to Judith’s law practice.
Several later lost custody after sudden psychiatric crises.
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This was not Judith’s first attempt.
Rachel had simply been the first victim protected by a hidden camera.
