Chapter 127 TYLER
The second the doors shut, I turned to her.
“What was that?”
Racquel kept her hands on the wheel. “I needed to talk to you.”
“You almost hit her.”
She didn’t respond.
“You drove straight at us,” I continued. “If you’d misjudged that even a little, Harper would’ve been on the ground right now.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“It doesn’t matter what it was like.”
That got her to look at me.
“If you ever pull something like that again, I’m done,” I said. “I won’t help you. Not with this, not with anything. You don’t get to drag her into whatever this is.”
Her grip tightened slightly on the wheel. “…Okay.”
I held her gaze for a second, then leaned back. “So what the hell did you need to talk about?”
“He's been threatening me through messages,” she said quietly.
“Show me.”
She unlocked her phone and passed it over.
An unknown number displayed in the screen, along with too many messages.
I skimmed through them, my jaw tightening without me meaning it to.
“When did this start?”
“Last night.”
“You’re sure it’s him?”
“Yes.”
I handed the phone back. “Alright.”
She frowned. “That’s it?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“I don’t know. Something.”
“We’ll deal with it.”
“How?”
I hesitated, then said it anyway. “We set him up.”
Her head turned toward me. “Set him up how?”
“You said he gets worse when he thinks you’re pulling away, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“Then don’t pull away.”
She stared at me. “You want me to go back to him?”
“No. I just want him to think you are.”
She didn’t answer immediately.
“He’s already looking for you,” I added. “We use that.”
“And then what?”
“We catch him doing something he can’t talk his way out of.”
She let out a small breath. “That’s risky.”
“So is waiting.”
Another pause.
“…You’ll be there?”
“Yeah.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay.”
I almost considered skipping the rest of classes to deal with Racquel's situation first. But Peter needed to know.
If anything went wrong, at least someone else would understand what was happening.
It took more effort than I expected to walk past Harper and not sit with her. To not just tell her everything and figure it out together.
I didn’t want her worrying. Didn’t want her anywhere near this.
Not with what she’d been through.
Still, the look she gave me when I turned her down after school was over stuck.
I could’ve told her I had something to handle. That it wasn’t what it looked like.
I didn’t.
Because the truth would’ve pulled her into it. And I couldn’t risk that.
I rubbed a hand over my face as I settled back in the passenger seat of Racquel's car, trying to push her expression out of my head.
One thing at a time.
“Okay,” Racquel said after a minute. “So what do I text him?”
“Keep it simple,” I replied. “Don’t overthink it.”
“Like what?”
“Say you’re sorry. Say you want to talk.”
Her lips pressed together. “He won’t believe that.”
“He will if you give him what he wants.”
She looked down at her phone. “And what does he want?”
“Control.”
She didn’t argue with that.
Her fingers moved across the screen, slower this time.
She paused and turned to me. “Where?”
I thought about it for a second. Not somewhere public. Not somewhere he’d feel watched.
“The hotel,” I said. “He won't question it.”
She nodded and typed it in.
Her thumb hovered over the send button for a second, before she finally pressed it.
We waited.
Her phone buzzed not even thirty seconds later.
She turned it toward me:
‘Stay there.’
Her breathing shifted slightly. “That was fast.”
“He was already looking for you,” I said. “Now he knows where to go.”
She swallowed. “Okay.”
I pushed the door open. “Let’s move.”
We drove through quiet streets, neither of us saying much.
Racquel kept looking out the window, phone in hand, expecting him to text again.
He didn’t.
The hotel came up without incident. I booked the same room she’d stayed in the night before, the layout already familiar to me.
Inside, I moved first. “Stand there,” I said, pointing toward the center of the room.
She frowned. “Why?”
“I need to see what the camera catches.”
“Oh.”
I adjusted the first camera near the desk, checking the angle on my phone.
“Move a little to the left.”
She did.
“Stop.”
I set another one higher up, then one closer to the side.
“Is this enough?” she asked.
“It has to be.”
She let out a breath and sat on the edge of the bed. “I don’t like this.”
“I know.”
“What if he doesn’t do anything?”
“Then we walk away.”
“And if he does?”
I gave her a skeptical look, frowning. “Then we have proof.”
She nodded slowly, but her hands were shaking now.
“Hey,” I said. “You’re not going to be alone in here.”
She looked up at me. “You promise?”
“Yeah.”
A knock came from the door just then. She froze.
“That’s him,” she whispered.
I pointed once. “Open it.”
Then I quickly stepped into the closet, leaving just enough space to see.
The door opened.
He walked in without hesitation, like he’d been waiting for this.
“So now you want to talk.”
Racquel stepped back. “I didn’t mean to disappear like that.”
“You didn’t mean to?” he repeated, closing the door behind him. “You just thought you could ignore me?”
“I just needed space.”
He moved closer.
“You don’t get space after everything.”
“Please, just listen—”
His hand came up fast, gripping her neck.
“I’ve been calling you all day,” he said. “You think you can just vanish and I’ll let it go?”
“Let go of me,” she coughed, trying to pull his hand away.
He didn’t.
“I don’t care what you think you’re going through,” he continued. “You don’t get to walk away.”
She grabbed at his shirt, trying to push him back.
He shoved her.
She lost her footing and fell onto the bed.
“Stop,” she cried. “Please, Dylan, just leave me alone.”
He moved over her, pushing her back down when she tried to get up.
“Make me.”
She struggled under him, her hands pushing against his chest.
“Get off me—”
He grabbed her wrists, forcing them down.
“Shut the fuck up and stop making this difficult,” he snapped.
Something in my chest tightened.
“Please,” she said, her voice rising. I could hear the panic in it. “Stop—”
He hit her. Not hard enough to knock her out, but enough to shut her up for a second.
Then he pushed her back down again leaning over her, holding her in place.
That was enough.
“Get the hell off her!” I yelled.
I stepped out and grabbed him, pulling him off her and throwing him back.
He stumbled, then turned on me. “Who the hell are—You!”
“You’re done this time,” I sneered, pointing a finger at him, while I stretched out a protective hand in front of Racquel.
“Done?” he let out a short laugh. “You have no idea what you’re stepping into.”
“I saw enough.”
“You think you did.”
“I recorded it,” I said.
That made him pause.
Racquel grabbed my arm. “Tyler, let’s go.”
I glanced at her.
“Let’s go,” she repeated.
I nodded once and returned my attention back to him. “Stay. The hell. Away. From her.”
Then I grabbed Racquel and rushed out of the room. When we stepped out into the hallway, we broke into a run.
“I got everything,” I said once we were back in the car. “It’s all there.”
She nodded, wiping at her face.
I checked the rearview mirror. A car had pulled out behind us. I didn’t recognize it, but my gut screamed we were being followed.
“I think that’s him. He’s on us,” I said.
Her head snapped toward me. “What?”
“Just stay calm,” I replied, pressing the gas.
I took turns carefully, glancing back constantly. The car stayed with us, mirroring every move, until finally, I managed to shake him.
I didn’t slow down until we neared my estate.
“He’s gone,” Racquel whispered, glancing over her shoulder.
“I know,” I said, still tense, gripping the wheel a little tighter.
We pulled into the driveway, the engine’s hum fading into silence.
She looked at me. “Don’t tell your parents.”
“I have to.”
“They won’t understand.”
“They will.”
She didn’t look convinced.
I stepped out and walked around to her side.
“Come on.”
She followed, and without thinking, I rested a hand on her shoulder—a subtle offer of comfort—as we walked inside.
“Mom?” I called. “Dad?”
We stepped into the kitchen.
I froze.
Harper sat by the counter, her back to us as she spoke with my mom.
At the sound of my voice, she turned. Her eyes darted from me… to Racquel… to my hand on her shoulder.
“Harper—” I started.
She stood abruptly, grabbing her bag. “It was nice visiting, Rose,” she said to my mom. “But I really should get going.”
“Wait—”
She brushed past me without a word, head lowered.
The door shut behind her.
I stood there, staring, knowing exactly what that had looked like. And knowing I’d only made things worse