Chapter 6 - THE MAN BESIDE THE BULLYTravis Boone was arrested the next morning.
Not dramatically.
No chase.
No standoff.
Police found him eating breakfast at his mother's house as though nothing unusual had happened.
What they found in his car changed the case.
A laptop.
Lock picks.
Printed photographs.
Several memory cards.
And a key to my apartment building.
Travis initially denied everything.
Then police showed him the recovered camera footage.
His story changed.
He admitted entering my apartment.
He admitted installing the camera.
But according to him, it had been Derek's idea.
Derek paid him five hundred dollars.
“Why me?” I asked Sergeant Daniels.
We were sitting inside a small interview room at the station.
Cole sat beside me.
Daniels flipped through his notes.
“Travis claims Derek believed you were trying to get him fired.”
I stared.
“Before he choked me?”
“Yes.”
“I barely spoke to Coach Miller.”
“Apparently you made a comment.”
“What comment?”
“Two months ago.”
I searched my memory.
Nothing.
Daniels continued.
“After Priya's wrist injury, you asked whether Derek should be teaching beginners.”
I remembered.
It had been casual.
Priya had left training early.
Her wrist was swollen.
I'd said to another woman, Maybe Derek shouldn't teach beginners if he can't control himself.
“That?”
“Someone repeated it to him.”
“So he put a camera in my bedroom?”
“According to Travis, Derek wanted leverage.”
The word sickened me.
“What kind of leverage?”
“Embarrassing footage. Personal information. Anything he could use if you complained.”
Cole's jaw tightened.
Daniels noticed.
“Travis says Derek had done similar things before.”
“Other cameras?”
“Not always. Sometimes following people. Looking into relationships. Workplaces. Financial problems.”
It was worse than a bully.
Derek didn't just intimidate people physically.
He collected vulnerabilities.
He made resistance expensive.
“How many?”
“At least seven we're investigating.”
I thought of Coach Miller saying he'd tried managing Derek.
He'd had no idea what he was managing.
Or maybe he'd simply chosen not to know.
“Where's Derek?”
Daniels sighed.
“Still missing.”
“Does Travis know?”
“Claims he doesn't.”
“You believe him?”
“Not completely.”
Cole finally spoke.
“What changed between them?”
Daniels glanced at him.
“What do you mean?”
“Derek trusted Travis enough to use him for illegal surveillance. Now Travis sits calmly at his mother's breakfast table while Derek runs.”
Daniels leaned back.
“You think they split.”
“I think Derek left him behind.”
“And Travis knows it?”
“Maybe.”
That afternoon, prosecutors offered Travis a deal contingent on cooperation.
By evening, he started talking.
Derek had maintained what Travis called an “insurance folder.”
Information about students.
Coaches.
Competitors.
Sponsors.
Anyone who could hurt his reputation.
The filing cabinet police found was only part of it.
The real archive was digital.
Where?
Travis didn't know.
But he knew Derek had once bragged that if anyone tried destroying him, he'd “burn the whole gym down without touching a match.”
The next breakthrough came from an unlikely person.
Coach Miller.
He arrived at the police station carrying an old external drive.
He looked ten years older than he had a week earlier.
“I think this matters.”
Daniels connected it to a secured computer.
The drive contained accounting records from Harbor Point.
Nothing dramatic at first.
Membership fees.
Equipment purchases.
Tournament expenses.
Then Miller pointed to transfers made over eighteen months.
Payments to a company called BCT Performance Consulting.
Daniels frowned.
“What is this?”
“Derek told me it handled promotional services.”
“How much?”
“Almost ninety thousand dollars.”
My eyes widened.
“You paid Derek ninety thousand?”
“I didn't know it was Derek.”
“What?”
Miller looked humiliated.
“Police searched corporate records this morning. BCT is registered to Travis.”
The room fell silent.
Daniels' expression changed.
“Why would Derek hide payments through Travis?”
Miller rubbed both hands over his face.
“I don't know.”
“Did you authorize them?”
“Yes.”
“For services you never verified?”
Miller looked at the floor.
“Yes.”
Cole asked the obvious question.
“Why?”
Miller didn't answer.
Daniels repeated it.
“Why?”
Finally Miller said, “Because Derek knew.”
“Knew what?”
“About my gambling.”
I looked at him.
Miller continued.
“Five years ago I had a problem. Sports betting. I borrowed from the business. Put it back later, but Derek found the records.”
“He blackmailed you,” I said.
Miller nodded.
“So every time you wanted to discipline him…”
“He reminded me.”
Anger rose in my chest.
“You let him hurt people because you were protecting yourself.”
“Yes.”
No excuse.
Again.
Just yes.
Miller's eyes were wet.
“I was a coward.”
Cole shook his head.
“No.”
Miller looked at him.
“You were compromised.”
“That sounds nicer.”
“It isn't.”
Cole's voice stayed level.
“A coward runs once. Being compromised means someone owns future decisions unless you expose what gives them power.”
Miller absorbed that.
“What should I have done?”
“Told the truth five years ago.”
Miller nodded.
“Yes.”
It wasn't comforting.
But it was true.
The investigation expanded.
Tax fraud.
Extortion.
Illegal surveillance.
Assault.
Witness intimidation.
Derek's carefully constructed public life began collapsing piece by piece.
Then, on the sixth day, the military review of Cole's actions concluded.
Commander Hayes came to the apartment personally.
I stayed in the kitchen while they spoke.
Hayes had reviewed Melissa's full recording.
Witness statements.
Police reports.
Audio from other phones.
Cole's conduct had been scrutinized frame by frame.
He was cleared of misconduct.
He could return to duty.
I nearly cried.
Cole just nodded.
“Understood, sir.”
Hayes looked at him.
“That's all you've got?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You've been on administrative restriction for six days while half the internet called you a psychopath.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And?”
Cole considered it.
“Internet remains operational.”
Hayes laughed so suddenly I jumped.
Before leaving, he shook my hand.
“Your brother followed the rules when it would've been easy not to.”
“I know.”
Hayes glanced at Cole.
“He usually does.”
After the door closed, I hugged my brother.
He tolerated physical affection like a man being attacked by an affectionate octopus.
“You can stop now.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“You almost lost your career because of me.”
He pulled back.
“Don't start.”
“I'm saying thank you.”
“That part's allowed.”
“Fine. Thank you.”
“You're welcome.”
Things should have improved after that.
Instead, Derek called me.
Private number.
At 11:17 that night.
Cole was asleep.
I was reading on the couch.
My phone buzzed.
I answered without thinking.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then breathing.
My entire body froze.
“Who is this?”
A familiar voice said, “Your brother made a mistake.”
Derek.
I stood.
My hands started shaking.
“What do you want?”
“To talk.”
“You can talk to the police.”
“They don't understand.”
“I don't care.”
“You should.”
I quietly moved toward Cole's bedroom.
Derek continued.
“Everyone thinks Travis worked for me.”
“He did.”
“No.”
The word came sharply.
“He worked for himself.”
“Then explain it to your lawyer.”
“Claire.”
I stopped outside Cole's door.
“You ruined my life.”
Something inside me hardened.
“No, Derek.”
I was tired of fear.
Tired of letting his version of reality occupy space inside my head.
“You ruined your life.”
Silence.
“You kept choking me after I tapped.”
“You embarrassed me.”
“You threw a punch at Cole.”
“He humiliated me.”
“You threatened Noah.”
“He betrayed me.”
I almost laughed.
Every sentence.
Every explanation.
Nothing was ever Derek's fault.
“You hear yourself?”
“What?”
“Everything happens to you.”
“Because people turned on me!”
“No. People stopped protecting you from consequences.”
Long silence.
Then his voice became quiet.
“I can fix this.”
“No.”
“I have evidence.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
I thought of the insurance archive.
“Where?”
“I'll give it to you.”
“Give it to police.”
“I don't trust police.”
“I don't trust you.”
“You want the camera recordings deleted?”
My stomach dropped.
He knew exactly which nerve to touch.
“I can delete every copy.”
“Where are they?”
“You meet me.”
“No.”
“Then maybe people online get to see what Travis recorded.”
My blood turned cold.
Cole's bedroom door opened.
He saw my face.
I mouthed one word.
Derek.
Cole reached for his phone and began texting.
Probably Daniels.
I kept Derek talking.
“You said you wanted to fix things.”
“I do.”
“Threatening me isn't fixing anything.”
“I'm giving you a choice.”
“No. You're trying to control me.”
Derek went quiet.
That had always been the real issue.
Control.
“Meet me tomorrow,” he said.
“Where?”
“Old boatyard in National City. Noon.”
“Why there?”
“Come alone.”
“I won't.”
“Then your videos go online.”
He hung up.
I lowered the phone.
Cole already had Sergeant Daniels on speaker.
The police had heard most of it.
Daniels said, “You're not going.”
I looked at Cole.
He looked at me.
For once, both men were completely wrong.
May you like
“Yes,” I said.
“I am.”
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