Chapter 6 - WHAT TYLER DID IN ARIZONATyler was found before Gregory.
He had checked into a luxury hotel under his mother’s maiden name.
Federal agents entered his suite at 8:30 that night.
By 9:15, his attorney was screaming about unlawful intimidation on television.
By 10:00, Tyler was sitting inside an interview room.
He wasn’t arrested for the vehicle deaths.
Not yet.
He was being questioned about evidence tampering, obstruction, and Ranger’s assault.
Brooks didn’t let me watch the interview.
She did tell me what mattered afterward.
“Tyler was in Arizona.”
I felt cold.
“When?”
“Three days before the second crash.”
“Why?”
“Vaughn Meridian sponsored a promotional event near the training center.”
“And?”
“Tyler went with Daniel Cross.”
“For social media?”
“Supposedly.”
“Did he touch the vehicle?”
Brooks looked at me.
“Yes.”
I swore.
“What did he do?”
“He claims Cross asked him to install prototype telemetry units.”
“Tyler isn’t an engineer.”
“No.”
“He barely understands how a toaster works.”
“That may be part of the problem.”
The telemetry unit Tyler installed was designed to collect performance data from the vehicle’s stability-control system.
It should never have affected vehicle operation.
But according to engineering logs recovered from the warehouse, the prototype had a wiring configuration capable of interfering with sensor communication if installed improperly.
“Did Tyler install it improperly?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Did the crash happen because of him?”
“We don’t know.”
That uncertainty was unbearable.
I looked at Ranger.
He had taken twelve assisted steps that afternoon.
The right side of his body remained weak.
But he was fighting.
“Why would Daniel Cross let Tyler near military equipment?”
“Because Tyler was family.”
There it was again.
Family.
The excuse that contaminated everything.
“What does Tyler say happened afterward?”
“He says the telemetry box malfunctioned during testing. Cross removed it.”
“Before the crash?”
“Tyler says yes.”
“You don’t believe him.”
“Evidence suggests something remained connected to the system.”
I rubbed my forehead.
“Where is Gregory?”
“No confirmed sighting.”
“Do you think he ran?”
Brooks hesitated.
“I think Gregory wanted us to find that note.”
“So?”
“So people planning to disappear permanently usually don’t leave investigators a breadcrumb.”
That gave me hope.
Then an officer entered the room.
“Agent Brooks.”
He handed her his phone.
She read something.
“What?”
Brooks looked at me.
“We found Gregory.”
He was alive.
Barely.
A fisherman spotted him two miles downriver after hearing someone calling from beneath an old service bridge.
Gregory had a broken arm, two fractured ribs, and hypothermia.
He claimed someone had followed him from Vaughn Meridian.
His SUV had been forced toward the riverbank.
“Who?”
“He didn’t see.”
“Do you believe him?”
“We found damage on the passenger side consistent with another vehicle.”
Not suicide.
Not escape.
Someone wanted my brother gone.
Gregory was transported under guard to the same hospital system where Ranger was being treated, though twenty minutes away.
I wanted to go.
Brooks discouraged it.
“Until we know who attacked him, assume you’re also a target.”
“For what?”
“You’re connected to the recording that started all of this.”
I laughed without humor.
“Ranger started this.”
“No.”
Brooks looked through the glass at him.
“Tyler started it.”
Fair point.
At midnight, Mason returned for another interview.
He had more.
A private group chat.
Tyler and his friends called themselves The Kings Club.
Mostly obnoxious rich-kid nonsense.
Cars.
Parties.
Cruel jokes.
Then investigators found a message from Tyler dated two days after the Arizona crash.
DANNY SAYS I NEVER TOUCHED THAT TRUCK AND DAD WILL HANDLE THE PAPERWORK.
Another:
If anybody asks, I was in Scottsdale all week.
Tyler had lied about his location.
Worse, Gregory knew.
I drove to the hospital where my brother was being guarded.
Brooks came with me.
Gregory looked terrible.
Purple bruising surrounded one eye.
His left arm was immobilized.
But he smiled when I entered.
“Still ugly.”
I nearly cried.
“Still arrogant.”
“Good.”
I sat beside him.
“Who ran you off the road?”
“I don’t know.”
“Daniel?”
“He was already in custody.”
“Someone working for him?”
“Maybe.”
“Gregory, what happened in Arizona?”
His eyes closed.
“Elena—”
“No more protecting Tyler.”
“He didn’t mean to cause anything.”
My blood chilled.
“What did he cause?”
“Daniel invited him onto the test site.”
“Why?”
“Tyler had been pestering him about seeing the new systems.”
“And you allowed it?”
“I didn’t know until later.”
“What happened?”
Gregory stared toward the ceiling.
“Tyler installed a telemetry module under Daniel’s supervision.”
“Improperly?”
“I don’t know.”
“You do know.”
His jaw tightened.
“During a test, the vehicle threw a sensor fault.”
“And?”
“Daniel removed the telemetry unit.”
“Everything?”
Gregory looked at me.
“No.”
I stopped breathing.
“A connector harness remained attached.”
“And that harness could interfere with the stability system.”
“We learned that afterward.”
“Before the crash?”
He didn’t answer.
I stood.
“Before the crash?”
“Yes.”
The word was almost inaudible.
“You knew there was a problem before Lieutenant Walsh died?”
“Twenty-seven hours before.”
I stared at my brother.
“You let them use the vehicle?”
“I told Daniel to ground it.”
“Did you tell the Army?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Daniel said he would.”
“And you trusted him?”
“I checked the next morning. He said it was done.”
“But it wasn’t.”
“No.”
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I asked:
“What did you do after the crash?”
Gregory cried then.
Not loudly.
Tears slid sideways into his hair.
“I panicked.”
“You hid Tyler.”
“Yes.”
“You altered records.”
“I approved a revised travel schedule showing him in Scottsdale.”
“That made him look innocent.”
“I thought he had made a stupid mistake.”
“Six families thought their children caused their own deaths.”
“I know.”
“No. You know now.”
“Elena—”
“You let them carry that shame for a year.”
He covered his face.
I had never seen my brother cry.
Part of me wanted to comfort him.
Another part wanted him to feel every ounce of what those families had endured.
“Who tried to kill you?”
Gregory lowered his hands.
“I think Daniel had insurance.”
“What does that mean?”
“A contingency plan.”
“People?”
“Documents.”
He looked toward the door.
“Daniel kept copies of everything. If he was ever prosecuted, he planned to make it look like I authorized the cover-up from the beginning.”
“Didn’t you?”
“After the crash, yes.”
The answer was devastatingly simple.
“But not before?”
“No.”
“Can you prove that?”
Gregory looked at me.
“There’s an original audio file.”
“Where?”
“Corporate emergency archive.”
“Federal agents searched the servers.”
“Not this one.”
“Where is it?”
He swallowed.
“It isn’t connected to the network.”
“Location?”
“My house.”
I stared at him.
“Your lake house?”
“Yes.”
The place where Tyler attacked Ranger.
Gregory nodded.
“Behind Dad’s old gun safe. There’s a wall compartment.”
“What’s on the audio?”
“My call ordering Daniel to ground the Arizona vehicle before the crash.”
That could prove Gregory tried—too quietly and too late—to prevent it.
More importantly, it could prove Daniel ignored a direct safety order.
“Agents need it.”
Gregory shook his head.
“What?”
“There’s something else in that compartment.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
He stared at me.
“Evidence that Daniel Cross has been paying somebody inside the military procurement office.”
Corruption.
Bribery.
Maybe more.
Brooks had been standing silently near the door.
Now she stepped forward.
“We’re going to your house.”
Gregory looked at her.
“Then go fast.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever ran me off the road knows I survived.”
May you like
He looked at me.
“And if they know about the archive, they’ll burn the house before sunrise.”
