Chapter 15 - The DealProsecutors offered Derek a plea framework.
His attorneys approached Renee through Daniel.
The proposed agreement included guilty pleas to serious offenses involving Zoey’s restraint and endangerment, evidence tampering, fraud, and theft-related conduct.
Some additional counts would be dismissed or consolidated.
Sentencing remained with the judge.
Renee asked:
“Would Zoey have to testify?”
“Probably not if the plea is accepted.”
That mattered.
“What would he admit?”
Daniel read the factual basis.
Derek restrained Zoey.
Connected her to the boulder.
Pushed the boulder into the lake.
Created a substantial risk of serious harm.
Attempted to fabricate evidence implicating Julian.
Misappropriated funds from Zoey’s accounts.
Created false documents.
Renee stopped him.
“Does it say why?”
“Some motive facts are included, but motive is not an element of every charge.”
“I want the truth on the record.”
“The factual statement includes the audit and frame-up.”
“What about trying to break my marriage?”
“His statements at the lake are evidence.”
Renee hated compromise.
She wanted every piece named.
Every manipulation.
Every lie.
The legal system did not exist to write the perfect moral biography of Derek Hayes.
It existed to establish criminal responsibility for provable conduct.
Zoey’s therapist advised Renee not to make the decision feel like Zoey’s burden.
So Renee told her simply:
“Derek might admit what he did instead of having a trial.”
Zoey’s eyes widened.
“Would I have to talk in court?”
“Probably not.”
“Do I get to choose?”
“The prosecutor decides the case, but people will listen to what we think.”
Zoey thought.
“I don’t want him to say I’m lying.”
“He would have to admit important facts.”
“The lake?”
“Yes.”
“The chain?”
“Yes.”
“The money?”
“Yes.”
Zoey nodded.
“Then okay.”
Renee did not treat that as consent to everything.
But she understood what mattered to her daughter.
Recognition.
The defense negotiations stalled over intent.
Derek refused language suggesting he expected Zoey could die.
He insisted he knew the boulder would land on the shallow shelf.
Prosecutors did not need him to admit a murder intent if the plea reflected the dangerous conduct they could prove.
Renee struggled with that.
“He pushed the boulder.”
“Yes,” Daniel said.
“He threatened that she would disappear.”
“Yes.”
“How is that not—”
Daniel interrupted gently.
“Because legal intent has specific requirements.”
She hated him for being right.
Then she remembered her own rule.
Accuracy.
Not the most emotionally satisfying label.
The plea could still result in years of imprisonment.
Restitution.
Supervision.
Contact restrictions.
A public record.
The day before the scheduled plea hearing, Derek withdrew.
Renee stared at Daniel.
“What?”
“He says he wants trial.”
“Why?”
“His attorney believes he may think the state cannot prove certain intent elements.”
Julian muttered:
“He still thinks he can control the story.”
Exactly.
Derek had watched everyone around him settle conflicts for years.
He expected pressure to create compromise.
He interpreted prosecution negotiation as weakness.
Now there would be trial preparation.
Zoey might have to testify.
Renee’s anger returned full force.
“He’s doing this to her again.”
Daniel said:
“Maybe. Or he is protecting himself.”
“Same thing.”
Not exactly.
But close enough emotionally.
Then Mara called.
The state had recovered one more deleted file from Derek’s laptop.
A private voice memo recorded the night before the lake.
Derek speaking to himself.
Planning.
The first line:
“If Zoey talks, everything collapses.”
The second:
“Julian has to be the reason.”
And the third made the room silent:
“Renee will come back to whoever makes the pain stop.”
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Derek had finally left behind the clearest map of his own thinking.
Trial suddenly looked very different.
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