Chapter 5: Tyler Finally Revealed What Happened To Emily That Night
Chapter 5: Tyler Finally Revealed What Happened To Emily That Night
The room went completely dark.
For a few seconds, neither Tyler nor I moved.
I could hear my own breathing.
Then I heard the sound of the door locking.
“Tyler?”
“Don’t move.”
His voice was different.
There was no arrogance in it.
No confidence.
Only fear.
A second later, a flashlight clicked on.
Tyler stood beside the door, holding his phone.
His face looked pale.
“You need to listen to me.”
I held the USB drive tightly in my hand.
“You’ve been lying to me for six months.”
“Yes.”
“You slept with my wife.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Emily.”
“Yes.”
“And now you’re telling me you saved my life?”
Tyler looked down.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
I stepped toward him.
“You always had a choice.”
“I know.”
“Then start talking.”
He glanced toward the window.
“Not here.”
“Why?”
“Because this room isn’t empty.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
He pointed toward the ceiling.
“There are cameras.”
I looked up.
At first, I saw nothing.
Then the flashlight moved across the smoke detector.
A tiny red light blinked.
My stomach dropped.
“Who installed them?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don’t care what you believe.”
Tyler walked toward the wall.
“There are microphones too.”
He pulled a small device from his pocket.
“A signal detector.”
The screen flickered.
He pointed toward the bathroom.
“There’s one in there.”
Then toward the television.
“Another behind that.”
I felt sick.
Someone had been watching this room.
Maybe for years.
“Then why bring me here?”
“I didn’t.”
“You texted me.”
“No.”
I pulled out my phone.
The message was still there.
Tyler looked at it.
His expression changed.
“That’s not my number.”
“Then who sent it?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
I stepped closer.
“Tell me about Emily.”
Tyler took a long breath.
“Nine years ago, Emily discovered something.”
“What?”
“Money was being moved through several companies.”
“Whose money?”
“People who didn’t want anyone asking questions.”
I looked at the USB drive.
“And she put it on this?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she gave me a copy.”
My eyes narrowed.
“You knew her?”
“She was my cousin.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Emily was my cousin.”
I had never heard that name from Tyler.
Not once.
“Then why did you pretend you barely knew anything?”
“Because I was trying to protect you.”
“You’ve been sleeping with my wife to protect me?”
His jaw tightened.
“No.”
“Then what was that?”
“A mistake.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps calling betrayal a mistake.”
Tyler didn’t answer.
Instead, he said:
“Emily wasn’t supposed to meet you that night.”
“But she did.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She thought you were working with them.”
“With who?”
“The people moving the money.”
I shook my head.
“I don’t remember any of this.”
“You were drugged.”
The words stopped me.
“What?”
“Your drink.”
Tyler looked directly into my eyes.
“You were given something that night.”
My memories suddenly became fragmented.
A glass.
A hotel bar.
Emily sitting across from me.
Someone placing a hand on my shoulder.
Then darkness.
“What happened after I was drugged?”
“You started asking questions.”
“About the money?”
“Yes.”
“And Emily?”
“She tried to get you out.”
“Then what happened?”
Tyler’s voice became quieter.
“She called me.”
“When?”
“About eleven thirty.”
“What did she say?”
“She said someone was coming.”
“Who?”
“She didn’t know.”
“And then?”
Tyler looked away.
“I arrived too late.”
My heart sank.
“What did you see?”
“You were on the floor.”
“And Emily?”
“She was standing near the door.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Claire say she heard a gunshot?”
“Because there was one.”
“Who fired it?”
Tyler didn’t answer.
I grabbed his jacket.
“Who fired the gun?”
He looked at me.
“You did.”
I released him.
“No.”
“You don’t remember.”
“I would never shoot her.”
“You didn’t shoot Emily.”
“Then who?”
Tyler pointed toward the USB drive.
“You shot the man who was trying to kill you.”
I couldn’t speak.
“What?”
“He came through that door.”
Tyler pointed toward the entrance.
“He had a gun.”
“You’re saying I shot him?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“He survived.”
I stared at Tyler.
“Who was he?”
“Mark.”
My stomach twisted.
“Mark?”
“Your best friend.”
Everything suddenly made sense and nothing made sense at the same time.
Mark.
The man Claire had slept with.
The man who had supposedly been involved in the affair.
The man who knew Tyler.
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I were.”
“Why would Mark try to kill me?”
“Because he was part of the group.”
“What group?”
Tyler shook his head.
“I don’t know everyone involved.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don’t expect anything from you.”
He reached into his pocket.
Then he handed me a photograph.
It showed four people standing outside the hotel nine years ago.
Emily.
Tyler.
Mark.
And Claire.
I stared at the photograph.
Claire had been here.
All four of them had been here.
And I was nowhere in the picture.
“Why was Claire here?”
“She was helping Emily.”
“Helping her do what?”
“Get the evidence out.”
“What evidence?”
Tyler pointed at the USB drive.
“That.”
I looked down.
“Then why did Claire marry me?”
Tyler’s expression became complicated.
“Because Emily asked her to.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“Emily knew she might not survive.”
“She asked Claire to marry me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Emily believed you would eventually remember.”
I shook my head.
“This makes no sense.”
“It will.”
“When?”
“When you open that drive.”
I looked at the USB.
“What’s on it?”
“Everything.”
“Names?”
“Yes.”
“Payments?”
“Yes.”
“Videos?”
Tyler hesitated.
“One video.”
I stared at him.
“Of what?”
“Emily’s final minutes.”
My hands began shaking.
Before I could respond, footsteps sounded outside the room.
Tyler immediately turned off his flashlight.
Someone was walking down the hallway.
Slowly.
One step at a time.
Tyler whispered:
“Hide.”
The footsteps stopped outside Room 614.
The handle moved.
Once.
Twice.
Then someone spoke through the door.
“Daniel?”
I recognized the voice.
Mark.
Tyler looked at me.
His expression said everything.
Mark had found us.
The door began opening.
I closed my hand around the USB drive.
And for the first time in nine years, I realized the truth I had been avoiding:
Emily’s disappearance wasn’t the beginning of the mystery.
It was the moment someone decided I needed to forget.
And now that I was remembering, they were coming back to finish what they had started.
