Chapter 158:Tyler's Confession

Chapter 158:Tyler's Confession
October 9th, Willowbend, Mississippi
Dean's POV
Rick leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.
"Man, at this rate, the police station's gonna have two more bodies soon." He gestured toward the holding cells where our three suspects waited. "When's the last time either of us got real sleep?"
I rubbed my temples, feeling the familiar tension headache building behind my eyes. The fluorescent lights in the station felt too bright, and the coffee had long since stopped helping. "You're right. Let's grab an hour in the break room first."
The station's rest area wasn't much more than a couple of uncomfortable couches and a vending machine, but right now it looked like paradise. I stretched out on one of the couches and closed my eyes, letting the exhaustion wash over me.
An hour later, Rick was shaking my shoulder. "Time to get back to work, partner."
I sat up slowly, my neck stiff from the awkward sleeping position.
"So who do we start with?" Rick asked, consulting his notes. "Tara was the one who called it in. Maybe we should begin with her?"
I shook my head. "Tara is too calm, too smart. We should start with Tyler." I stood up and straightened my shirt. "That spoiled rich kid is probably scared out of his mind right now. Luka's death is directly connected to him, and he knows it."
Rick nodded. "Makes sense. Let's see what the heir to the Thornwell fortune has to say for himself."
We walked down the corridor toward the holding cells. Through the small window in Tyler's door, I could see him pacing back and forth like a caged animal. Gone was the confident, arrogant playboy I'd come to know. His expensive clothes were wrinkled and stained, his usually perfect hair was disheveled, and his hands shook as he ran them through it repeatedly.
When we opened the door, Tyler looked up with desperate eyes. The cocky smirk was nowhere to be found. This was a man who knew he was in serious trouble.
I sat down across from him at the metal table. "Alright, Tyler. Tell us everything. Why did you go to the dock last night? What happened with Luka?"
Tyler swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously. He wiped his palms on his pants and took a deep breath.

Tyler's Statement:
Three nights ago, I got a call from Tara. I was surprised because Tara rarely calls me directly. She said she needed my help with something.
You all know how I feel about Tara. I've never made a secret of that. So before she even told me what kind of help she needed, I said yes.
She told me there was a man who'd been harassing her. She didn't know what to do about it. When I asked who, she said it was that foreigner, Luka.
I got angry immediately. I'd already figured out that Luka was chasing after Tara. Every night he was in town, he went to her bar. You think he was just there to drink? Of course not. I may have pursued Tara before, but I would never force myself on a woman. And I'd been watching that European guy for weeks. He acted like he was better than us Americans, more refined. But all I saw was arrogance.
I asked Tara if she wanted me to get some guys together to warn Luka off. Let him know who really runs things in Willowbend. But she just asked me to meet her at Dock 9 at nine o'clock Friday night. Last night. She said Luka had asked her to meet him there, and she wanted me there for support. She wanted to reject him once and for all.
I thought it was strange. Why would Luka ask her to meet at Dock 9? That place has been abandoned for years.
I asked Tara about it, and she said Luka told her he had some kind of surprise prepared for her at the dock. She didn't know what it was either.
I know what goes through men's minds. When a man asks a woman to meet him in some isolated place, it's usually for one reason. He wants to have her, whether she's willing or not.
Last night, I was getting ready to head to the dock when Vivian showed up at my house.
She wanted me to stay home and watch movies with her. I told her I had to check on something at the family factory. She accused me of lying, said I was really going to see Tara at the bar. When I kept insisting it was work, she threatened to call my mother and ask if there was really a problem at the factory.
We got into a huge fight. She was screaming at me, calling me a liar, demanding to know where I was really going.
Finally, I just pushed past her and drove to the dock as fast as I could.
When I got there, Luka was already there with Tara, and they were arguing. He had his hands around her throat, gripping it tight. I ran over and told him to let her go, but he wouldn't release her. He looked at Tara and said, "Looks like you brought backup."
I was sure Luka was trying to force himself on her and she was resisting. That's why he was grabbing her throat. I grabbed his wrists and tried to pry his hands away from her neck.
He told me I was being fooled by this woman. That I had no idea what kind of person Tara really was.
I already know what kind of woman Tara is.
A young woman from New York with enough money to buy a bar in a small town. She was probably some rich man's mistress, or maybe she worked as an escort. But I don't care about a woman's past like that. Shaming a woman because of her history isn't what a gentleman does.
I tried to get Tara out of there, but Luka blocked our path. He said he and Tara had unfinished business, and he warned me not to interfere. That's when we started fighting.
Tara was screaming for us to stop, but neither of us would back down. Then suddenly Vivian appeared out of nowhere. She must have followed me from the house. When she saw us fighting, she completely lost it. She went after Tara like a wild animal, screaming and attacking her. I had to let go of Luka to pull Vivian off Tara.
Everything happened so fast after that. It was complete chaos. Vivian was clawing at Tara, I was trying to separate them, and in all the confusion, I think I pushed Luka. I never meant for him to fall backward. I had no idea there was a piece of rebar sticking up behind him. I never imagined it would go straight through his chest.
Tara was the first one to realize what had happened. She's the one who called 911.
That's how the whole thing happened.