Chapter 12 - THE DEPOSITION
Kyle’s civil lawsuit moved faster than the criminal investigations.
His attorneys requested an emergency order preventing me from accessing channel accounts, communicating with sponsors, or using company funds for the ethics review.
They argued I was destroying Mile Marker Media to improve my position in the ownership dispute.
Nora responded that an independent restructuring manager controlled the accounts and that the review addressed potential liabilities.
The judge denied broad restrictions but required all owners to preserve documents and avoid public disclosure of protected evidence.
Kyle did not appear personally.
His attorneys said security concerns prevented travel.
The judge ordered a remote deposition.
Kyle joined from an undisclosed room with a blank wall.
He wore a blue shirt and no sunglasses.
For the first time since the gas station, I saw him without performance lighting.
Nora questioned him for six hours.
“Did Lena consent to being left at Desert Star Fuel?”
“She agreed generally to road challenges.”
“That was not the question.”
“No signed release existed for that specific event.”
“Did she verbally consent?”
“We discussed an abandonment concept.”
“When?”
“Months earlier.”
“Did she consent to being left without shoes or property?”
“No.”
“Did you intend Wade Harlan to approach her?”
“I believed he might.”
“Did you invite him to the location?”
“No.”
“Did anyone acting with you send him the anonymous message?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Elliot Crane arrange a hidden camera?”
“I understood Northstar was documenting the activation.”
“Activation of what?”
“The emergency-content plan.”
“Was Northstar buying the content or the company?”
“Both.”
Kyle described the operation as a promotional stunt tied to the acquisition.
Northstar denied authorization.
Elliot had operated outside formal approval.
“Did you possess Lena’s purse?”
“Yes.”
“Did Brad remove her hardware token?”
“I saw him holding it.”
“Did you permit Elliot to use it?”
“I did not stop him.”
“Did you know Lena’s signature had been placed on acquisition documents?”
“I believed Chase had authority to apply saved signatures.”
“Why?”
“We used signature templates for routine releases.”
“Was an ownership transfer routine?”
“No.”
“Did Lena authorize it?”
“Not directly.”
Each answer narrowed the space between Kyle and responsibility.
Then his attorney questioned me.
I was under oath too.
“Did you approve the night-pursuit concept involving Marnie Harlan?”
“Yes.”
“Did you review her release?”
“I signed a batch containing it.”
“Did you benefit financially from the video library created during that period?”
“Yes.”
“Did you investigate Mr. Harlan’s allegation?”
“Inadequately.”
“Did you tell employees the Northstar acquisition was likely?”
“Yes.”
“Did you encourage higher-risk content?”
“I encouraged higher emotional stakes with safety controls.”
“Did you ever use humiliation as entertainment?”
“Yes.”
The word settled into the room.
Kyle watched me from the screen.
His face changed slightly.
He had expected me to defend every part of myself.
“I helped build a system that rewarded escalation,” I continued. “That does not authorize forgery, abandonment, or evidence concealment. It does make me responsible for what I ignored.”
Nora had not instructed me to volunteer that sentence.
It might increase civil exposure.
It was still true.
Wade attended through his attorney because Kyle’s suit named him.
Kyle’s lawyers played footage of Wade attacking Brad after Marnie’s death.
Brad fell against a vehicle.
Wade struck him twice before others intervened.
The video was ugly.
Wade admitted the assault.
He had pleaded to a misdemeanor and completed probation.
“Were you tracking Mile Marker Media’s pickup?” counsel asked.
“Yes.”
“Did you intend to confront Kyle?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell Lena you had followed the truck before offering her a ride?”
“Not fully.”
“Did you tell her you possessed a weapon?”
I looked at Wade.
He answered, “No.”
“Did you possess one?”
“A handgun was locked beneath the rear cargo floor.”
My stomach tightened.
He had driven me while armed.
He had not told me.
The firearm was lawfully owned and secured. Its presence did not prove violent intent.
The concealment mattered personally.
After the deposition, I confronted him.
“You had a gun.”
“Locked.”
“You said you wanted to make them pay.”
“I never touched it.”
“You decided I didn’t need to know.”
“I knew what you would think.”
“That is not your decision.”
Wade looked exhausted.
“I was not going to hurt you.”
“Every man in this story explains what he was not going to do after removing my ability to choose.”
He nodded slowly.
“I’m sorry.”
The apology did not restore trust.
It did show change.
He surrendered the firearm to his attorney for safekeeping while investigations continued.
That night, Chase completed his proffer.
He turned over a cloud archive containing the full Marnie footage, gas station planning, forged-document sessions, and messages with Elliot.
He did not receive blanket immunity.
Prosecutors agreed only to consider cooperation when making charging and sentencing recommendations.
Chase admitted recruiting Marnie, editing the location data, forging my signatures, hiding footage, and helping build the false consent narrative.
He also identified the person inside Northstar who authorized Kyle’s flight.
Elliot’s supervisor.
Northstar’s chief content officer, Russell Dean.
Russell had publicly announced Elliot’s suspension.
Privately, he had moved Kyle before law enforcement could interview him.
Why?
Chase said Russell had invested personally in Three Mile Productions.
Northstar’s internal review confirmed an undisclosed beneficial interest.
Russell resigned.
Federal investigators expanded the financial case.
Kyle’s hiding place remained unknown.
Brad agreed to surrender the remaining drives.
One contained a planning file labeled PERMANENT EXIT.
Nora warned me before opening it.
The phrase did not describe killing me.
It described removing me permanently from the business through a combination of forged share transfer, reputational collapse, and a mental-health petition.
The file included selected private messages from therapy, obtained from screenshots Kyle took while I slept.
One message described a panic attack after my mother’s death.
Another described fear that I sometimes wanted to disappear from the channel.
Kyle planned to use them as evidence that I had voluntarily left with Wade and was mentally unstable.
He intended to petition for emergency authority over my shares.
The plan was legally weak.
It could still have delayed me.
At the bottom of the file was a contingency note.
IF LENA RETURNS BEFORE CLOSE, RELEASE APARTMENT FOOTAGE.
“What apartment footage?” I asked.
Brad looked at the floor during his recorded interview.
“Kyle installed cameras in Denver.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
“Where?”
“Bedroom. Office. Kitchen.”
My skin crawled.
“Did he record private conversations?”
“Yes.”
“Intimate images?”
Brad closed his eyes.
“Probably.”
The case expanded again.
Privacy violations.
Possible unlawful surveillance.
Extortion preparation.
The home I thought belonged to both of us had been another set.
Investigators searched the apartment.
The cameras were gone.
Small holes remained in the walls.
One transmitter was still active inside a smoke detector.
May you like
Its final upload had occurred that morning.
Kyle was still watching.
