Chapter 5 - Thirty Seconds
Andrew reached Valerie before the countdown reached twenty-five.
He lifted her from the blanket nest and carried her toward the kitchen, where the back wall had no windows. Miriam called 911 while the officer outside tried the front door.
The electronic lock would not respond.
Twenty-one.
Twenty.
Nineteen.
The house speakers crackled.
Valerie woke and screamed.
A distorted voice filled the rooms.
"Student 317. Final evaluation."
Andrew held her against his chest.
"Do not listen."
"Question one," the voice continued. "What is your father's emergency server code?"
Valerie buried her face in Andrew's shoulder.
"I don't know."
A buzzer sounded.
"Incorrect."
The alarm display reached ten.
Andrew grabbed a cast-iron pan and struck the small kitchen window until it shattered. Cold night air rushed in. He cleared the remaining glass with a towel.
Five.
Four.
Three.
The front lock clicked open.
The patrol officer entered with his weapon raised. At the same moment, a man in a dark maintenance uniform emerged from Andrew's downstairs office and ran toward the rear hall.
The officer shouted for him to stop.
The intruder fired once. The bullet struck the wall above Miriam's head.
Andrew pushed Valerie through the broken window into the arms of a second officer outside. Then he turned as the intruder crashed through the back door.
Police caught him two houses away.
His name was Caleb Rusk, a former employee of the security company Sophia had recommended. In his backpack were lock bypass tools, a small transmitter, and a syringe containing a sedative.
He claimed he had been hired to retrieve stolen property from Andrew's office. He refused to name the person who hired him.
The only object he carried that did not fit his story was a silver star engraved with the number 101.
By morning, Andrew's home was a crime scene. He and Valerie were moved to a protected hotel under police supervision. Mercer Systems suspended the merger, despite immediate pressure from the acquiring company, Northstar Global.
Northstar's chief legal officer called Andrew personally.
"Delaying now could collapse the deal," she warned.
"Then let it collapse."
"Your board may not agree."
"My daughter was used to steal documents related to that merger. Until I know why, no signature is happening."
The board called an emergency meeting.
Three directors demanded Andrew step aside temporarily, claiming his personal crisis threatened shareholder value. One of them, Victor Hale, spoke with suspicious certainty about evidence the police had not released.
"We cannot let unverified allegations about a school program derail a legitimate transaction," Hale said.
Andrew stared at him across the conference table.
"I never said it was a school program."
Silence followed.
Hale recovered quickly. "That is what the media is reporting."
No media outlet had mentioned the hidden basement.
Andrew ended the meeting and sent Hale's comment to Ortiz.
Later, Valerie met Dr. Naomi Price, a child trauma specialist with silver glasses and a voice that never hurried. Naomi did not ask about the basement. She invited Valerie to draw a safe place.
Valerie drew a small blue house surrounded by trees.
Then she covered every window in black crayon.
"What keeps the house safe?" Naomi asked.
Valerie drew a dog beside the door.
"Does the dog have a name?"
"Proof."
Andrew looked away.
During a break, Valerie asked for her backpack. Inside, beneath a torn lining, she found a memory card wrapped in tissue.
"Maya put it there," she said.
"Who is Maya?"
"Student 204. She said if they took her away, I had to give it to someone who came home early."
Andrew felt the room narrow around him.
"When did she give you this?"
"Three weeks ago."
"Where is Maya now?"
Valerie looked at Naomi.
"They said she transferred."
Detective Ortiz arrived with a card reader. The memory card contained one video file.
The image shook as though recorded from inside a pocket. Children sat in the basement rooms. Sophia stood in the corridor beside a tall man wearing gray gloves.
His face never entered the frame.
But his voice was clear.
"Maya's father refused the acquisition," he said. "Begin removal protocol."
A girl screamed off camera.
Then the video ended.
Ortiz checked school records.
May you like
Maya Lin had not transferred.
She had been missing for nineteen days.
