Chapter 7 - The Garden's Secret
I watched the video loop three times, the sickening crack of the steel rod making me nauseous.
This was not an accident, and it was not a reckless warning swing.
Tyler had deliberately targeted a nine-year-old child and enjoyed doing it.
I immediately forwarded the encrypted file to Sarah, knowing this was the silver bullet we needed.
But the video revealed something else that caught my attention on the fourth watch.
In the background of the footage, right before Tyler struck Ethan, my father was digging near the flower bed.
He was burying a small, waterproof lockbox beneath the newly planted shrubs.
Tyler swinging the rod was not just an act of cruelty, it was a desperate distraction to keep Ethan away from that exact spot.
I realized my parents were hiding something far more sinister than a simple family secret.
I knew I had to get my hands on that lockbox to completely destroy them in court.
I waited until three in the morning when the entire town was completely asleep.
I drove to my parents' massive estate and parked my car two blocks away in the shadows.
I crept through their backyard, using a small flashlight to navigate the manicured lawn.
I found the exact spot from the video and began digging frantically with my bare hands.
My fingers brushed against cold, hard plastic buried beneath the damp soil.
I pulled the waterproof lockbox out of the ground, my heart hammering violently against my ribs.
Suddenly, the motion-sensor floodlights on the back patio flared to life, illuminating the entire yard.
The heavy glass sliding door slid open, and Tyler stepped out onto the patio.
He was holding a wooden baseball bat, and his eyes locked directly onto me.
He did not look surprised to see me, he looked like a predator who had finally trapped his prey.
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Tyler slowly walked down the patio stairs, dragging the bat against the concrete with a terrifying scraping sound.
He smiled and whispered that he was going to bury me in the exact same hole.
