Chapter 2 - I nearly dropped the phone.The photograph showed Maya sleeping.
Her bedroom.
Her bed.
Her face turned toward the wall.
And what made my blood run cold was the angle.
The photograph hadn't been taken from outside the window.
It had been taken from inside the room.
Someone had been standing only a few feet from my daughter.
“How did you get that?” I whispered.
Principal Harris leaned closer.
His expression changed when he saw the screen.
“Don't delete it.”
“I wasn't going to.”
“Show me.”
I handed him the phone.
He stared at the image.
Then looked toward the hallway.
“Did anyone else have access to your house?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
He returned the phone.
“Mrs. Carter, I think you need to take Maya somewhere safe.”
The words barely registered.
“My daughter didn't hurt Sophie.”
“I didn't say she did.”
“You're treating her like a suspect.”
“Because evidence was found in her locker.”
“Someone put it there.”
His eyes shifted.
That tiny movement told me something.
“You don't believe it either.”
Principal Harris sighed.
“I don't know what to believe.”
“What happened to Sophie?”
“She left practice at approximately 10:30 last night.”
“Alone?”
“We don't know.”
“Was Maya with her?”
“We're trying to determine that.”
“You're trying?”
His jaw tightened.
“There are security cameras.”
“Then watch them.”
“We did.”
“And?”
He didn't answer.
“Principal Harris.”
“The camera outside the gym was disabled between 10:39 and 11:02.”
I stared at him.
“Disabled?”
“Yes.”
“By who?”
“We don't know.”
A police cruiser pulled into the parking lot.
Then another.
Everything suddenly became painfully real.
My daughter was sixteen.
Someone was missing.
And the evidence was sitting inside her locker.
I drove home with two detectives following behind.
Maya was sitting on the couch when we entered.
She looked at my face.
Then at the officers.
Her expression collapsed.
“No.”
“Maya,” I said gently.
“What happened?”
I sat beside her.
“Where were you last night?”
She looked at the detectives.
Then at me.
“Mom...”
“Please tell me the truth.”
She began crying.
“I didn't hurt Sophie.”
The room went silent.
I hadn't told her Sophie was missing.
I hadn't told her about the blood.
I hadn't told her about the photograph.
I looked at the detectives.
“How did she know?”
Maya covered her face.
“I knew this was coming.”
“What was coming?”
She stood.
“I have to go upstairs.”
“No.”
She froze.
“Maya, you are not leaving this room.”
She slowly turned around.
“What did you find?”
I couldn't answer.
The older detective stepped forward.
“Your locker contained a bloodstained uniform and a photograph of Sophie.”
Maya's face went completely white.
“They found it.”
“What does that mean?”
She looked at me.
“They weren't supposed to find it.”
The detective frowned.
“What weren't they supposed to find?”
Maya said nothing.
I grabbed her hands.
“Sweetheart, look at me.”
She finally did.
“Did you hurt Sophie?”
“No.”
“Did you see her last night?”
Maya's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
My heart shattered.
“What happened?”
“She asked me to meet her behind the gym.”
“Why?”
Maya shook her head.
“I can't tell you.”
“You have to.”
“No.”
“Maya, someone is missing.”
“I know!”
She screamed it.
Then she lowered her voice.
“I know, Mom.”
The detective stepped closer.
“Why can't you tell us?”
Maya looked toward the windows.
Then she whispered:
“Because Sophie told me that if I ever told anyone, my family would be next.”
Silence.
Nobody moved.
I felt cold.
“Who?” I asked.
Maya shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You know something.”
“I don't know who he is.”
“He?”
Maya squeezed her eyes shut.
“Mom, someone has been following Sophie for months.”
The detective asked, “Who?”
“Sophie said it was someone inside the school.”
My stomach twisted.
“Did you ever see this person?”
Maya nodded.
“Once.”
“Who?”
Her lips parted.
But before she could answer, the lights in our house went out.
Every light.
At exactly the same moment, my phone buzzed.
Another message.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO YOUR DAUGHTER.
Then came a sound from upstairs.
A door opening.
May you like
Maya stared toward the staircase.
“He's here,” she whispered.
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