Chapter 8
I didn’t go alone.
I wasn’t stupid.
I was angry, but Dad had spent my entire childhood teaching me that anger became dangerous when it convinced you rules no longer applied.
So we answered Madison carefully.
I typed while Dad watched.
WHERE?
Her response came immediately.
OLD THEATER. WESTBRIDGE. 9 A.M.
Dad looked at Daniel.
“Police.”
Daniel nodded.
Aunt Claire folded her arms.
“She’s either terrified or setting a trap.”
“Both can be true,” Dad said.
I stared at the message.
“She’s seventeen.”
Dad looked at me.
“So are you.”
“That’s my point.”
Madison had done awful things.
She had humiliated me.
She had helped torment Elena.
But someone older had taught her that cruelty was protected.
I wanted to know who.
At eight forty-five, we arrived near Westbridge.
Police officers waited two blocks away so they wouldn’t spook Madison.
Daniel’s security team entered through another building.
Dad hated the plan.
I could tell because he repeated the rules three times.
“You stay within sight of me.”
“Yes.”
“You do not approach anything suspicious.”
“Yes.”
“If Madison tells you to go somewhere else—”
“I don’t.”
“If I say leave—”
“I leave.”
He stared at me.
“Immediately.”
“Yes, Dad.”
Claire touched his arm.
“She heard you.”
He looked at his sister.
“Not helping.”
We entered the old theater from a side hallway.
Westbridge had built a new performing arts center two years earlier.
The old one sat mostly unused.
Dust covered the framed photographs along the walls.
Names of donors appeared beneath renovated rooms.
The Blake Rehearsal Suite.
Lane Technical Booth.
Ward Costume Wing.
At the end of the corridor was a brass plaque.
HARRISON FOUNDATION COMMUNITY ARTS HALL.
I stared at it.
“Behind the names of people who paid to be remembered.”
Dad looked around.
“Maya could have meant any of these.”
A sound came from the auditorium.
I turned.
Madison stood between rows of seats.
She looked nothing like yesterday.
No makeup.
Sweatshirt.
Hair tied badly.
Her eyes were swollen.
She saw Dad and stepped back.
“I told Avery to come alone.”
Dad didn’t apologize.
“You also threatened to destroy evidence.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Then you made a poor choice of words.”
Madison looked at me.
“You told him.”
“He’s my father.”
“I thought you hated rich parents controlling everything.”
“I hate people hurting others.”
She flinched.
Good.
“You hurt Elena.”
Madison looked down.
“I know.”
The words surprised me.
“You know?”
“I didn’t think—”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“Don’t say you didn’t think it was serious. She was locked in a room for four hours.”
Madison’s eyes filled.
“I know.”
“Then why?”
She looked at her hands.
“Because my dad told me losing was for people who didn’t have leverage.”
Dad’s expression tightened.
“That is not an excuse.”
“I know!”
Her voice echoed through the theater.
She started crying.
“I know.”
I waited.
Finally she looked at me.
“When you walked into school with that backpack, Chloe made a bet.”
My stomach turned.
“What bet?”
“How long you’d last.”
I felt Dad move behind me.
I held up my hand.
I needed to hear this.
Madison continued.
“We used to do it.”
“Do what?”
“Pick scholarship students.”
My chest tightened.
“Pick them for what?”
“To see who could make them quit first.”
Dad whispered, “Jesus.”
Madison covered her face.
“It started as jokes.”
“Elena didn’t think it was funny.”
“I know.”
“How many?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“How many, Madison?”
“Seven.”
My stomach dropped.
“Seven students?”
“Maybe eight.”
Dad stepped forward.
“Were your parents aware?”
Madison looked terrified.
“They knew we messed with people.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
She looked at him.
“My dad knew.”
“Did he encourage it?”
Madison hesitated.
Then nodded.
“He said Westbridge needed to protect its culture.”
I felt disgusted.
“What culture?”
“Families who contributed.”
Dad’s face hardened.
“What happened when students complained?”
“My dad would say not to worry.”
“Why?”
“Because Mercer handled it.”
I looked at her.
“And Maya?”
Madison froze.
There it was.
“What happened to Maya?”
“I never touched her.”
“Did Chloe?”
“No.”
“Sienna?”
“No.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
Madison looked toward the stage.
“Maya caught us.”
“Doing what?”
“Talking.”
“About?”
“Elena.”
I felt cold.
“When?”
“The day before Maya disappeared.”
Dad moved closer.
“What did she hear?”
Madison’s voice dropped.
“My dad was meeting Chloe’s dad backstage.”
“You were there?”
“I was waiting for him.”
“What did they say?”
“I didn’t understand most of it.”
“Try.”
Madison rubbed her arms.
“They were arguing about invoices.”
Dad and Claire exchanged a look.
“Then Maya came through the backstage door.”
“What did she do?”
“She had her phone up.”
“Recording?”
“I think so.”
My heart raced.
“Did they see her?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“My dad shouted her name.”
Madison started crying harder.
“Maya ran.”
I stepped closer.
“Did they follow her?”
“Chloe’s dad did.”
“And your father?”
“He called someone.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Dad’s voice sharpened.
“What did he say?”
Madison looked at him.
“He said, ‘Oliver, we have a containment problem.’”
Sienna’s father.
Security.
My stomach turned.
“What happened next?”
“I went home.”
“You just left?”
“I was scared.”
I nearly shouted.
“Maya disappeared.”
“I didn’t know she would!”
Her voice cracked.
“I thought they’d scare her.”
I stared at her.
“That was enough for you?”
She looked down.
No answer.
Dad stepped beside me.
“Where is the evidence?”
Madison wiped her face.
“After Maya disappeared, I came back here.”
“Why?”
“Because I remembered seeing her near the donor plaques earlier that week.”
She walked toward the wall.
We followed.
She stopped beside the Blake plaque.
“I found something loose.”
Her fingers touched the brass plate.
Dad stopped her.
“Don’t.”
Police evidence mattered now.
Daniel photographed the plaque.
Then, wearing gloves, he carefully removed two screws.
Behind it was a narrow cavity.
Empty.
Madison went pale.
“No.”
She reached forward.
Daniel blocked her.
“It was here.”
“What was?” I asked.
“A small black flash drive.”
Dad’s eyes hardened.
“You found it eighteen months ago?”
“Yes.”
“And left it?”
Madison shook her head.
“I took it.”
My stomach dropped.
“Where is it now?”
She looked at me.
“I hid it somewhere safer.”
“Where?”
Before she could answer, the theater lights went out.
Darkness swallowed us.
Daniel shouted.
“Stay down!”
Dad grabbed me.
A crash sounded backstage.
May you like
Then Madison screamed.
When the emergency lights flickered on, she was gone.
