Chapter 4 - Tyler Said It Started As A Favor
Nobody interrogated Tyler at the dining table.
He had a lawyer before the night ended.
That was the correct thing.
Even if part of me wanted to shake the truth out of him.
Especially then.
I went to the hospital for imaging and a formal evaluation.
My wrist was badly bruised, not broken.
My lip needed two stitches.
Michael had been placed on administrative leave before sunrise.
His service weapon was retained pending the state investigation.
None of that answered why my twenty-two-year-old brother had documents bearing my name.
Emma came to the hospital alone.
She stood in the doorway.
“Can I come in?”
I almost said, You're my mother.
Instead:
“Yes.”
She sat.
For several minutes she watched nurses move outside the room.
Then:
“Tyler says it started as a favor.”
I looked at her.
“For who?”
“Michael.”
“Michael says Tyler brought him the company.”
“I know.”
“So which one is lying?”
She shook her head.
“Maybe neither about that part.”
I waited.
“Tyler started doing social media work for Northline last year.”
I remembered the name.
“Emergency-response company.”
“Yes.”
“He told me he did marketing.”
“So did I.”
“He apparently started introducing them to local agencies.”
My jaw tightened.
“At twenty-two.”
“He wanted Michael to take him seriously.”
That sounded like Tyler.
“Northline wanted a police pilot.”
“And Tyler used my name.”
Emma looked away.
“According to him, he told them his sister had spent her career in federal emergency planning.”
“I haven't.”
“I know.”
“I oversee military logistics.”
“I know.”
“Those aren't interchangeable because they both involve maps.”
“I know.”
I hated how much I sounded like Michael when I was angry.
Emma continued.
“Tyler says somebody at Northline drafted a sample endorsement.”
“Somebody?”
“He won't tell me more.”
“Because his lawyer told him not to.”
“Yes.”
Good.
At least one person in this family had learned restraint.
I looked at my mother.
“Did you know?”
“Not about the letter.”
“Did you know he was using my name?”
She hesitated.
There it was.
“Avery—”
“How much?”
“He mentioned you in meetings.”
I laughed once.
“Meetings.”
“He said he never claimed you were involved.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
Her eyes filled.
Because this family had spent a decade deciding that telling Avery something was worse than whatever was actually happening.
“I thought you'd cut him off completely.”
“We barely speak.”
“I know.”
“So what exactly were you protecting?”
Emma looked at her hands.
“The possibility that you might come back.”
That hurt more than it deserved to.
I looked toward the window.
“Why did you call me yesterday?”
Her face changed.
“You haven't asked that.”
“I am now.”
She reached into her purse.
Not a secret file.
Just a printed screenshot.
An email Tyler had left open on the family computer.
It was from Northline.
The subject line:
GENERAL MITCHELL AUTHORIZATION — FINAL VERSION.
I stared.
Emma said:
“I saw it three days ago.”
“And called me.”
“Yes.”
“Why not Michael?”
“I did.”
“What happened?”
“He said your whole career was fake.”
My eyes narrowed.
Emma swallowed.
“And he said Tyler could prove it.”
I looked back at the screenshot.
“That's when I told you to keep everyone in the house tonight.”
“Yes.”
Michael had thought I walked in pretending to be a general.
Emma had invited me because she already suspected Tyler had impersonated one.
Then my mother said:
“There is one thing I didn't tell you on the phone.”
May you like
I looked at her.
“Michael saw that email before I did.”
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