Chapter 10 - THE PRINCIPAL'S SECRET“Put the weapon down!”
Reyes stepped forward.
Mrs. Holloway smiled.
“No.”
Michael moved beside Lily.
“Let her go.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because you keep ruining everything.”
Her expression finally cracked.
“You should have stayed dead.”
Lily stared at her.
“Why do you hate me?”
Mrs. Holloway's face softened.
“I don't hate you.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Because your father left something behind.”
Michael's eyes darkened.
“The ledger.”
Holloway nodded.
“Where is it?”
Michael said nothing.
She looked at me.
“You have it.”
I didn't understand.
“What?”
“The key.”
I touched my pocket.
The key from the metal box.
Her eyes locked onto it.
Michael whispered:
“Don't give it to her.”
Holloway laughed.
“You see? Even now he thinks he's the hero.”
She looked at Reyes.
“You want the truth?”
Reyes kept his gun raised.
“Start talking.”
“Hale built the network.”
Mercer handled access.
I handled schools.
“We identified children connected to wealthy families, public officials, employees with sensitive information.”
“And then?”
“Then we made the parents cooperate.”
“By threatening their children.”
“Sometimes.”
The word landed like a stone.
“What happened to the others?”
She looked away.
“Some were returned.”
“Some?”
She didn't answer.
Michael exploded.
“You killed them.”
Holloway looked back.
“Not me.”
“Who?”
She smiled.
“The people who funded it.”
She named no one.
Reyes stepped closer.
“You're going to prison.”
She laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
She looked at Lily.
“The entire operation was never about children.”
Michael's eyes narrowed.
“Then what?”
“Your husband.”
I stared.
“My husband?”
“My husband had nothing to do with this.”
Holloway looked almost amused.
“Sarah, you married a man who spent years investigating the people behind this.”
My breath caught.
I had been divorced for three years.
My former husband had worked in corporate security.
He had never told me much.
Holloway continued.
“He discovered the financial network.”
Michael nodded slowly.
“They used him to get to me.”
Holloway shook her head.
“No. We used you to get to him.”
Everything suddenly felt upside down.
The dog.
The school.
Lily.
My classroom.
My photograph.
The list.
I wasn't collateral.
I was part of the plan.
Holloway raised the gun.
“Where is the ledger?”
I held up the key.
“I don't have it.”
“You do.”
“No.”
She pointed at Lily.
“Then she pays.”
Michael stepped forward.
I shouted:
“Wait!”
I pulled the key from my pocket.
Holloway smiled.
But I didn't hand it over.
Instead I tossed it into the shadows.
She looked away.
Reyes fired.
The gun flew from her hand.
Michael grabbed Lily.
Holloway ran.
Reyes chased her.
I dropped beside Bear.
His eyes were closed.
“Please.”
Lily knelt beside me.
“Bear.”
The dog opened one eye.
His tail moved once.
I laughed through tears.
“He's alive.”
Then Bear lifted his head.
He wasn't looking at us.
He was looking behind us.
A red light blinked on the tunnel wall.
A camera.
Someone was watching.
And a speaker crackled.
Thomas Hale's voice.
“You've recovered the child.”
May you like
A pause.
“Now bring me the dog.”
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