Chapter 11 - The Name Victoria Tried to Hide
After the satellite recording proved Jasmine had followed the approved route, Sofia opened the upload history.
Victoria rushed toward the computer.
Security Officer Grant caught her.
The crowd believed she was trying to destroy evidence.
Jasmine knew she was trying to stop the second account from appearing.
Dr. Mercer entered the hallway just as the hidden username completed itself.
Victoria Hale.
His right arm was secured in a sling beneath his coat. His face was pale from blood loss, but his voice remained firm.
“Release the full authorization chain.”
Vice Principal Bell stared at him.
“You should be in the hospital.”
“I discharged myself.”
Celeste stepped forward.
“You have no authority. The board suspended you this morning.”
Dr. Mercer removed a document from his coat.
“The suspension requires seven signatures. You have six.”
For the first time, several board members moved away from Celeste.
Dr. Mercer entered an override code.
A second line appeared beneath Victoria’s account.
REMOTE AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED.
The black Crossroad symbol followed.
Jasmine saw recognition spread across Dr. Mercer’s face.
Victoria saw Jasmine recognize the symbol.
“The person who made your father disappear,” she whispered.
Then the screens went black.
THE ROUTE HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN.
The fire alarm sounded.
Sprinklers activated, pouring water over the students.
Emergency doors closed automatically.
Teachers shouted for everyone to remain calm.
Jasmine looked toward the broken floor tile.
A blue light flashed beneath the camera Victoria had damaged.
“Now,” Victoria said.
She twisted free from Security Officer Grant and kicked the broken tile aside.
Underneath was a biometric panel.
Jasmine pressed the Crossroad key against it.
A section of lockers slid backward.
Behind them was an elevator.
The crowd screamed.
Celeste’s controlled expression shattered.
“Stop them!”
Dr. Mercer blocked the security officers.
“Anyone who follows Celeste Hale’s order will be recorded obstructing a criminal investigation.”
Most officers froze.
Celeste turned toward Victoria.
“You ungrateful little fool.”
Victoria stepped into the elevator beside Jasmine.
“You erased Evelyn.”
“I protected you.”
“You made me help you.”
“I made you useful.”
The words struck Victoria harder than any physical blow.
Daniel and Sofia entered the elevator.
Dr. Mercer followed.
Before the doors closed, Celeste smiled.
It was not the smile of someone defeated.
“You still don’t know who opened the third route,” she said.
The elevator descended.
Sofia connected her laptop to the control panel.
“Three underground levels.”
“Take us to the final junction,” Jasmine said.
“There’s no label.”
The compass needle spun.
Then it pointed downward.
They reached a chamber beneath the school.
Old railway tracks crossed beneath steel platforms. Mechanical bells hung along the tunnel walls.
The buried bells.
A transport vehicle waited on the tracks.
Its doors were open.
Inside were medical cases, identity documents, passports, and school records.
Dozens of names.
Some crossed out.
Some replaced.
Daniel lifted one file.
“These are students.”
Jasmine found her own name.
JASMINE COLE.
Status: Candidate.
Transfer readiness: Pending.
“What does candidate mean?” Daniel asked.
No one answered.
Victoria searched the vehicle.
“My mother said there would be a witness.”
Dr. Mercer examined the driver’s terminal.
“It departed six minutes ago.”
“Where?”
“The courthouse junction.”
Jasmine looked at the track map.
A red signal moved north.
Beside it was a passenger identification code.
E.HALE.
Evelyn.
Victoria touched the screen.
“She’s alive.”
Another identification code appeared beneath it.
A.COLE.
May you like
Jasmine stopped breathing.
Her father was on the same transport.
