Chapter 31
I sit at my kitchen table, surrounded by a mountain of papers, spreadsheets, and folders, my laptop open to multiple tabs of public records and financial documents.
The city hums outside my window, but inside, it’s all quiet, and I’m all focused. Derek thinks he’s won. He thinks he can corner me, wear me down, and watch me crumble. I refuse. If he wants to play dirty, I’ll show him what real journalism looks like.
I take a deep breath and start with what I already know. Derek Delaunay, his last verified address, known aliases, public filings. I cross-reference court records with bankruptcy filings and criminal databases, scanning for patterns.
Each entry I find makes my stomach tighten, but I press on. He’s been careful, meticulous, hiding behind layers of deception, but he hasn’t been perfect. No one is.
The more I dig, the more pieces start to line up.
Phone numbers registered under different names, utility bills in cities I didn’t even expect, old rental agreements with slight name changes.
It’s like a breadcrumb trail spanning through three states.
I map them out on a spreadsheet, making sure they’re color-coded, connections drawn like a crime board from one of those detective shows.
I pause for a moment, realizing the sheer scope of it. Derek hasn’t just been manipulating Kai. He’s been running a whole network, exploiting people systematically. The thought makes my hands shake, but I push through the fear.
This is why I do what I do. This is why I became a journalist. Not just for the headlines and not for the fame. For moments like this, when uncovering the truth can save someone I care about.
Anger burns hot, sharpening my focus. He thinks he can hide behind his cleverness and blackmails. He seriously underestimates me.
I open another tab, this one tracking aliases in different states, comparing them with small claims court records and local police logs. Every slight discrepancy, every shadow of a past life he’s tried to erase, is another brick in the wall I’m building against him.
I’m absorbed, meticulous, relentless, ensuring that I don’t leave anything to chance.
Finally, a pattern emerges as I trace three confirmed aliases, each tied to financial irregularities and minor criminal charges, spread across three cases. It’s more than I expected, but it also means I’m closer than ever to unraveling him completely.
I lean back in my chair, eyes scanning the map of his deception, the connections painstakingly traced.
Derek thinks he’s untouchable. I smile faintly for the first time in days, because I know he isn’t.
I freeze on one file. Outstanding warrants and Identity theft. Check fraud. Seriously, what hasn’t this guy done yet?
My chest tightens, and I have to tap my forehead to keep myself from losing control.
Derek isn’t just dangerous, he’s reckless, lawless, and he’s been doing this for years. The implications are outstanding.
He could destroy anyone he targets, and now I understand just how close Kai came to losing everything.
I lean back, glancing at my phone. No missed calls, no messages. Kai hasn’t reached out or answered any of his calls since things blew off all and I know why.
After everything Derek did, he must think I was also a part of it, that I somehow let this happen. The thought twists my stomach. I want to call him, to explain, to tell him this isn’t betrayal, that I never intended to hurt him, but he won’t even let me.
Right now, stopping Derek is the only way to prove to Kai that I’m on his side.
My attention returns to the numbers. Derek owes over three hundred thousand dollars to various bookmakers, debts layered with threats and urgency.
The debt pattern is brutal, and now I know he isn’t just a gambler in trouble. He has been desperate for a long time.
The kind of desperation that doesn’t think twice before hurting anyone who stands in the way. My stomach twists as I remember that Kai has been taking the hit for his brother’s financial mess for so long.
I cross-reference those debts with court filings, and a name pops up repeatedly: a private investigator hired two years ago. A quick search on the PI company confirms my worst suspicions.
They have a reputation for illegal surveillance and blackmail schemes. They don’t ask questions, they don’t follow rules, and they have a history of taking payments to ruin lives.
Derek has been operating with professional help, targeting victims carefully, calculating each move.
I feel my pulse quicken as I realize the scope. This wasn’t a one-time scam. Kai wasn’t just unlucky. He was singled out by a man who preys on anyone he lays his eyes on. Even his own brother.
And somehow, Derek managed to make him doubt me, the one person who wanted to protect him. The thought of Kai’s face, the devastation and the feeling of betrayal, makes my fingers clench into fists. He doesn’t know yet, and I can’t let him see it until I have all the pieces.
I take a deep breath, pulling together all the files, screenshots, and notes. The breakthrough is tangible, and for the first time since Derek destroyed our lives, I allow myself to feel hopeful, a smile breaking across my face. “I’m going to get you, even if it’s the last thing I do.”
And in that moment, the fight becomes clear. This isn’t about headlines. This isn’t about a story. This is about saving Kai from a man who has destroyed everything Kai ever cared about, and I will see it through to the end, no matter the cost.