Chapter 8 - The Substitute Teacher
Elena reached Fort Granger Elementary twelve minutes after the final bell.
The front office was empty.
A cleaning cart stood abandoned beside the hallway. Children’s artwork covered the walls. Bright paper stars and smiling planets made the silence feel more disturbing.
“Lily!” Elena shouted.
No answer.
Ruiz checked the security desk.
“The cameras are offline.”
“Since when?”
He examined the control panel.
“Twenty minutes.”
Beatrice remained in the car with two state investigators Ruiz trusted. Maya had activated the covert unit after receiving Elena’s signal from the bridge.
Elena moved toward Lily’s classroom.
The door stood open.
Inside, small chairs had been arranged in a circle.
Lily’s backpack sat beneath her desk.
Her teddy bear was gone again.
Elena found a note on the whiteboard.
CAPTAIN WARD,
YOUR DAUGHTER ASKED TO SEE THE FALLING ROOM.
COME ALONE.
Ruiz entered behind her.
“What is the falling room?”
“A training area in the old gymnasium. My father used it to teach controlled landings.”
“The building was condemned.”
“It connects to the military tunnels beneath the school.”
“How do you know?”
“My father designed them.”
Ruiz looked at the note.
“This could be Gabriel.”
“Or someone using his name.”
They crossed the courtyard toward the abandoned gym.
Elena’s phone rang.
The school principal appeared on the screen.
“Captain Ward, I just received your message. Lily was signed out twenty-five minutes ago.”
“By whom?”
“A substitute teacher. The authorization was in the system.”
“Name?”
The principal checked.
“Mr. Nolan Price.”
Elena stopped walking.
Nolan was alive.
Or someone wanted her to believe he was.
The gym door had been unlocked.
Inside, dust covered the bleachers. Old wrestling mats remained stacked against the walls. A faded mural showed soldiers climbing a mountain beneath the words COURAGE IS CONTROL.
Elena entered alone.
Ruiz waited outside as ordered.
“Lily?”
A light switched on above the center mat.
Lily sat there with her teddy bear.
A man stood behind her.
He appeared to be in his late fifties. Burns covered one side of his face. He walked with a pronounced limp and wore a substitute teacher’s identification badge.
Elena recognized him from the Operation Lantern photograph.
Major Nolan Price.
“Step away from her,” Elena said.
Nolan raised both hands.
“She’s unharmed.”
Lily ran to Elena.
Elena held her with one arm while keeping her pistol aimed at Nolan.
“Did Marcus send you?”
“No.”
“Warren?”
“No.”
“You entered the school under a dead man’s identity.”
“It is my identity.”
“You kidnapped my daughter.”
“I removed her before Marcus’s people reached the classroom.”
“You could have called me.”
“Your phone was being monitored.”
“Then explain quickly.”
Nolan slowly lowered himself onto a bench.
“Your father survived the convoy attack. So did I. We collected evidence against Warren and the military officers protecting him.”
“Where is my father?”
Nolan looked at Lily.
“Not in front of the child.”
“Where is he?”
“James returned to Hawthorne Street eight years ago. He planned to retrieve the final ledger and take you into protection.”
Elena’s voice weakened.
“What happened?”
“Someone betrayed the location.”
“Who?”
“Gabriel Ruiz.”
Elena shook her head.
“My father trusted Gabriel.”
“He trusted him too much.”
“Warren claimed the same thing.”
“Warren lies with fragments of truth.”
Nolan removed a small device from his pocket and placed it on the floor.
“It blocks nearby transmitters.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because Lily’s bear contains a tracking chip your father installed. Warren has followed it since you arrived.”
Elena looked at the teddy bear.
Nolan continued.
“James knew children lose toys. The tracker wasn’t designed to follow Lily. It was designed to find the bear if the key inside was needed.”
“Marcus removed the recorder.”
“The recorder was a decoy. The real device is inside the left button eye.”
Elena inspected it.
A faint blue pulse appeared beneath the plastic.
She ripped out the button and crushed it.
Lily began to cry.
“I’m sorry,” Elena said. “We’ll fix Teddy.”
Nolan rose.
“We have little time.”
“Tell me about my father.”
“James was shot in the garage beneath the American flag.”
Elena felt the room tilt.
“By Gabriel?”
“Yes.”
“Where is the body?”
“There was no body when I arrived.”
“Then he may have survived.”
Nolan looked away.
“That is what I hoped.”
The gym door slammed shut.
Ruiz’s voice came through the wall.
“Elena! Don’t trust him!”
Nolan drew a pistol.
Elena aimed at his chest.
Lily stood between them.
Then another voice came from the gym’s loudspeaker.
Warren Vale.
May you like
“Excellent. All the survivors in one room.”
Gas began pouring from the ventilation system.
