Chapter 3 - THE CAR KEYS
Eli placed the phone beside my keys.
“He went downstairs after he thought you were asleep,” he said.
“Grant told me he left his wallet in the car.”
“He lied.”
“You followed him?”
“I saw him take your keys from the kitchen.”
I looked at the silver key ring on the table.
Grant had reminded me twice that evening to drive to work in the morning. When I mentioned taking the train, he insisted that driving would be faster.
He had even offered to fill the gas tank.
I had called him thoughtful.
Eli unlocked his phone.
“Grant opened the hood. Then he crawled underneath the car with a tool.”
“No.”
“I recorded him.”
“Grant doesn’t know anything about cars.”
“He knew enough to damage the brake line.”
The room seemed to tilt.
I gripped the back of a chair.
“Why didn’t you call the police?”
“I tried. He heard me.”
Eli touched the cracked corner of his phone.
“He knocked it out of my hand. I grabbed his shirt before he could destroy it. That was when the picture was taken.”
“Who took the picture?”
“Grant did.”
“That makes no sense.”
“He had already positioned his phone against the concrete wall. He planned to photograph the confrontation.”
Grant had presented that single image as unexpected proof.
But he had created it before Eli even approached him.
“He knew you would confront him?” I asked.
“He wanted me to.”
Eli’s voice weakened.
“He wanted evidence that supported the lie he was already telling you.”
I looked at my brother’s injured arm.
“What happened after the picture?”
“He demanded my phone.”
“And when you refused?”
Eli lowered his eyes.
I no longer needed him to answer.
He opened an audio file.
“If you still believe him after hearing this, I’ll leave.”
May you like
His thumb hovered over the screen.
Then he pressed play.
