Chapter 5 - THE LIFE HE RISKED
The audio stopped.
Rain struck the windows.
Neither of us spoke.
Finally, I looked at the keys.
“How did these get here?”
“I took them after Grant went upstairs.”
“You returned to the garage?”
“I never left.”
Eli explained that Grant believed he had destroyed the recording. When Grant walked away, Eli retrieved his damaged phone and removed my keys from Grant’s coat pocket.
He replaced them with an old spare set he found in a kitchen drawer.
“The keys he has won’t start the car,” Eli said. “But these will.”
He pushed the real keys farther away from me.
“I came here because I knew he would convince you to drive.”
I stared at the red mark on his cheek.
Grant had attacked him.
Then I had done the same.
Not with the same violence, but with the same certainty that Eli’s pain did not matter.
“I’m sorry.”
Eli turned his face away.
“I didn’t come for an apology.”
“I called you—”
“I heard you.”
“I believed him.”
“That was the problem.”
His words hurt because they were true.
Grant had manipulated me, but he had not created the ugliest part of my reaction.
He had found it.
He knew I was afraid of public humiliation. He knew I had never fully defended Eli when relatives mocked his sexuality. He knew that if he presented himself as the victim of an unwanted advance, I might punish my brother before asking a single question.
Grant had counted on my prejudice.
I had rewarded him for being right.
I reached for my phone.
“What are you doing?” Eli asked.
“Calling the police.”
His gaze moved toward the front door.
“He may still be downstairs.”
“Then we lock the door.”
I gave the dispatcher my address. I explained the recording, the injuries, the insurance documents, and the suspected damage to my car.
She instructed us not to touch the vehicle.
Then she asked whether Grant had access to the apartment.
May you like
I looked toward the lock.
“Yes.”
