Chapter 17 - What Derek told his brother
Derek’s brother Nathan eventually became important.
Not because he betrayed him instantly.
For weeks, Nathan defended Derek.
“He would never lock Rachel underground.”
Then prosecutors showed Nathan a text Derek had sent fifteen minutes before the outage.
I’m going to make her talk without Sarah in her ear.
Nathan replied:
Don’t do anything stupid.
Derek:
I’m just shutting off her escape routes for five minutes.
There.
Not a confession to locking me.
But the phrase mattered.
Escape routes.
Nathan said he thought Derek meant phones or lawyers metaphorically.
Maybe.
Then another message after the incident:
She turned it into a circus. Cops everywhere.
Nathan:
Did you touch her?
Derek:
Barely. She wouldn’t stay and listen.
Again.
Admission of physical control.
May you like
Not confession to padlock.
Enough to weaken his story that I entered voluntarily and he simply left.
