Chapter 7 - MAYA’S SECRET
“My mom worked here.”
Maya’s voice shook.
“She never told me she knew Adam.”
Mark stared at the frozen image.
“What was her name?”
“Rebecca Reynolds.”
Mark closed his eyes.
He knew it.
“Rebecca.”
Maya looked at him.
“You knew her?”
“She was Adam’s friend.”
Maya stepped back as if he’d hit her.
“No.”
“She came to our house after he died.”
“No.”
“She cried for three hours.”
“Stop.”
“She told my parents she didn’t know anything.”
“STOP!”
Maya slammed the laptop shut.
Nobody spoke.
Tears ran down her face.
“She died when I was nine.”
“I know.”
“She told me this school gave her everything.”
Mark looked at her carefully.
“Maybe she was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“We’re about to find out.”
Maya opened the laptop again.
The hallway footage continued.
Rebecca stood between Adam and Voss.
She was yelling.
Pointing.
Then Harlan grabbed her arm.
Adam shoved him away.
A fourth man appeared.
Older.
Gray suit.
Jake leaned closer.
“Who’s that?”
Mark’s expression went blank.
“Dr. Warren Pike.”
Dylan frowned.
“The school board president?”
“His father.”
Dr. Pike pointed toward the exit.
The group walked off-screen.
The footage ended.
Maya searched the folder.
Another clip.
QUARRY_CAM.
A distant security camera from a construction site.
The picture was dark.
A car pulled up near the quarry.
Four people got out.
Adam.
Voss.
Harlan.
Pike.
Rebecca was gone.
Mark stopped breathing.
The figures argued.
Adam tried to leave.
Pike blocked him.
Voss grabbed him.
The video glitched.
Three seconds of static.
When the picture returned, Adam was no longer standing.
Mark made a sound Jake had never heard from another human being.
Half rage.
Half grief.
He slammed his fist into the dashboard.
“They killed him.”
Dylan grabbed his shoulder.
“Dad.”
“They killed my brother.”
Maya covered her mouth.
Jake looked back at the screen.
Something moved in the corner of the footage.
“Wait.”
He rewound.
There.
Headlights.
Another car.
Someone else had been at the quarry.
The footage ended before the driver stepped out.
Maya opened a text document beside the clip.
Only one line.
WITNESS PAID. FILE CLOSED.
Dylan whispered, “Who was the witness?”
Before anyone could answer, Mark’s phone rang.
Officer Ruiz.
He picked up.
“Ruiz.”
Her voice was urgent.
“Mark, get the kids somewhere safe right now.”
“What happened?”
“We ran the plate from the vehicle parked outside your shop yesterday.”
“And?”
“It belongs to somebody you know.”
Mark’s face hardened.
“Who?”
May you like
There was a pause.
“Your ex-wife.”
