The Wyld Girls

Chapter 20 - Kylie

Wyld Times, Episode 66 – unaired footage, Boat Cam, 3:51pm

The autumn sun shines brightly on the water, casting sparkles that reflect on the waves and across the deck of the Easy Catch. Bruce strides in from off-camera; he's a huge man, powerfully built, at his physical peak. He's shirtless, wearing only board shorts, and his six-pack and sculpted chest shine in the afternoon light. With the sun behind him, he looks almost angelic.

He peers around the deck, finding it empty. Everyone has left in the small tin boat to go to shore for a few hours; he's alone.

On powerful legs, he charges over to the rack against the wall. He pulls some equipment down, and with a tug of his strong hands, he rips the mouthpiece free from the regulator tube, then loosely reattaches it. Next, he reaches for the backup regulator, the octopus, which is for emergency use if the normal regulator isn't working. With a snap, he cracks the device viciously.

Grinning maliciously, he hangs all the gear back on the rack. Then he seems to notice the watching camera. Rather than look caught, he winks into the lens and says, "Let's give 'em a show and get a little wild, yeah?"

He whistles as he goes to the outdoor fridge and pulls out a beer. He sits heavily on the edge of the boat, popping the cap into the ocean. He takes a long swig, the boat rocking slightly beneath his weight. The equipment on the rack shifts in the sway and the name of the gear's owner appears:

Michelle Wyld

"I don't think he intended to actually kill me," says Michelle calmly.

The three of us have showered, dressed in fresh uniforms and are now in the ballroom overlooking the lagoon. I've watched the footage from beginning to end three times, but I'm still struggling to get my head around what I've seen. "Uh, he tampered with your regulator – and your backup!" I remind Michelle.

She leans back in the banquet chair, her long legs encased in soft navy Wyld Life Park trackpants. "Yeah, but I think he was counting on being there to rescue me. After that incident with the polar bears, he was enraged at the way I'd had to come to his rescue. He thought I'd made him look weak – and he wanted to be the hero."

She stares out over the lagoon, her face twisted in conflict. "He was chasing the ratings as well, wanting each animal encounter to be bigger and more dramatic. I'd heard him laying out ideas for our fourth season with the production crew, and some of the concepts were terrifying. Handling poisonous spiders, wrestling bears – Kylie, he was talking about having you dropped from a helicopter and left on an island populated by scorpions."

"Uh, hard pass," I say. But I can imagine it: Bruce pitching the idea to me, convincing me that I should be fun and brave like him. Honestly? I would have done it, just to win his approval.

Michelle says, "Here's what I think he was aiming for: he jumped in the water that night, descended quickly and lurked nearby. He was counting on me following him in immediately, without taking the time to check my gear properly. We both had body cams on our gear, so he would have filmed me struggling as my mouthpiece stopped working, waited for me to try the backup, then he would have swooped in for the rescue."

That's the kind version, and I love Michelle for still trying to believe in the good inside my brother. Personally, I'm not convinced that his plan wasn't a whole lot more sadistic. He might have let her actually drown before rescuing her. He'd get to be the hero and the pesky issue of his nagging wife would have disappeared, leaving him a very eligible widow and a massive public figure with significant financial clout. I shudder at how easily I can picture it; the fact that my brain works this way is a warning sign that Bruce and I are similar in a lot of ways.