Chapter 10
Oliver Ward was taken into custody for questioning.
He wasn’t arrested.
Not yet.
That distinction made me furious.
Sienna sat with detectives inside a conference room.
Madison remained beside me.
Chloe was nowhere to be found.
Neither was her father.
Dad’s legal team had discovered Victor Lane left his house before sunrise.
His phone was off.
His company claimed not to know where he was.
Richard Blake was also missing.
Three fathers.
Three daughters.
And one missing girl whose flash drive had just been damaged.
I stared at the evidence bag.
“Can they recover it?”
Daniel nodded.
“Possibly.”
“Possibly?”
“Physical damage doesn’t always destroy the memory chip.”
Madison hugged herself.
“I should have copied it.”
“You didn’t know what it was.”
“I knew enough to be scared.”
I looked at her.
“That isn’t the same thing.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You’re really going to comfort me?”
“I’m not comforting you.”
I met her eyes.
“I’m reminding you that feeling guilty doesn’t help Maya.”
She stared at me.
“You’re weird.”
“So I’ve been told.”
For the first time, something like a real smile crossed her face.
Then it disappeared.
A detective entered.
“We need Madison.”
She immediately stiffened.
I squeezed her hand once.
“Go.”
She looked at Dad.
“Can Avery come?”
The detective shook his head.
“Not for the initial interview.”
Madison’s fingers tightened around mine.
I realized she was genuinely terrified.
“You’ll be okay.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t.”
That seemed to help more than false reassurance.
She followed the detective.
Dad sat beside me.
“You don’t have to forgive her.”
“I haven’t.”
“You’re allowed to be angry.”
“I am.”
He studied me.
“You’re also worried about her.”
I looked through the glass.
“She’s awful.”
Dad waited.
“And?”
“She’s scared.”
He nodded.
Both things could be true.
That was becoming the hardest lesson of the week.
An hour later, Claire found us.
“Victor Lane used a company jet.”
Dad stood.
“Destination?”
“Phoenix.”
“Then?”
“The plane continued to Mexico.”
My stomach dropped.
“He ran.”
“Looks that way.”
“What about Chloe?”
Claire hesitated.
“She was on the passenger manifest.”
I thought of Chloe laughing while noodles slid down my face.
I thought of her lying to the teacher.
Then I imagined her being dragged into her father’s escape.
“Did she go willingly?”
“We don’t know.”
Dad’s expression was grim.
“Notify federal investigators.”
“Already done.”
I looked at them.
“When did you two become a functional team?”
Claire gave Dad a sideways glance.
“Crisis apparently does miracles.”
Dad almost smiled.
Then Daniel approached.
“Forensics recovered part of the flash drive.”
We all stood.
“What’s on it?”
“Video.”
My heartbeat jumped.
“Maya?”
“Yes.”
“Can we watch?”
Daniel hesitated.
Dad looked at me.
“No.”
I stared.
“Dad.”
“It may contain something you shouldn’t see.”
“I’m already in this.”
“That doesn’t mean you need every image burned into your memory.”
Daniel interrupted carefully.
“The recovered video is not graphic.”
Dad looked at him.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then play it.”
We entered a secure office.
Daniel connected a forensic copy.
The image flickered.
Maya appeared.
Seventeen.
Brown hair.
Westbridge uniform.
She was hiding behind scenery backstage.
Her breathing was loud.
Voices came from nearby.
Richard.
Victor.
I recognized Richard easily.
Victor I knew only from school events.
Richard said, “We can’t keep charging accounts after withdrawals. Someone will reconcile enrollment.”
Victor answered, “Mercer controls enrollment records.”
“What about Foundation audits?”
“Your division supplies the summaries.”
Richard cursed.
Then another voice entered.
Oliver.
“We have a bigger problem.”
“What?”
“The Bennett girl has been asking questions.”
My skin went cold.
Maya shifted her phone.
The men became partly visible through a gap.
Richard paced.
“Her father caused enough trouble.”
Oliver replied, “Her father is dead.”
The way he said it made my stomach turn.
Victor spoke next.
“And Claire Harrison still has copies.”
Dad froze.
Claire stared at the screen.
Richard answered.
“Ethan doesn’t listen to Claire.”
Dad closed his eyes.
The sentence hurt him.
Maya moved.
A board creaked.
All three men stopped.
“Who’s there?” Oliver called.
The camera shook.
Maya started running.
The video became chaotic.
Dark hallway.
Footsteps.
Heavy breathing.
Then Maya whispered while running.
“If anyone finds this, my dad was right.”
The image jumped.
She entered the donor corridor.
Her hand appeared.
She pushed something behind a plaque.
Then she ran again.
A man shouted behind her.
“Maya!”
Richard.
The video abruptly ended.
I stared at the black screen.
“That’s it?”
Daniel nodded.
“That file ends there.”
Dad looked at Claire.
“Maya hid the drive.”
Claire’s eyes were wet.
“She knew.”
“Can they recover more?”
“Technicians are trying.”
I replayed her words in my head.
My dad was right.
David Bennett had known.
Then something bothered me.
“Wait.”
Everyone looked at me.
“Maya hid the drive while still recording?”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then how did the video get onto the drive?”
Silence.
He stared at the computer.
Dad leaned forward.
“She would have needed to transfer it first.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Unless the device itself was connected to the phone.”
“Was it?”
“I need to inspect the hardware.”
He left quickly.
I stared at the paused final frame.
Maya’s hand.
The plaque.
Then I noticed something reflected in the polished brass.
A face.
Not one of the three fathers.
A woman.
I stepped closer.
“Can you enlarge that?”
Daniel’s technician zoomed in.
The image blurred.
But the woman’s clothing became clear.
A Westbridge blazer.
Faculty.
Claire whispered, “Who is that?”
I recognized her.
The teacher who had escorted me from the cafeteria.
Ms. Dalton.
My skin went cold.
“She was there.”
Dad stared at the reflection.
“The day Maya disappeared.”
I remembered how quickly Ms. Dalton had believed Madison.
How she had looked at my backpack.
How she had taken me away while the rich girls remained behind.
Maybe that wasn’t bias learned in one afternoon.
Maybe she had spent years participating.
My phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
I opened it.
One sentence.
ASK DALTON WHO DROVE MAYA HOME.
I showed Dad.
He became completely still.
May you like
Then another message appeared.
SHE WAS THE LAST PERSON TO SEE HER ALIVE.
