Chapter 14 - Project Willa
Samuel Hart finally told the truth.
Not willingly.
Willa found him at a private clinic where Coach Mercer was being treated under police protection.
She locked the consultation-room door and placed the photograph of Claire’s kidnapping on the table.
“Tell me what Project Willa was.”
Samuel looked older than he had the night he arrived.
“It was not named after you.”
“That is not an answer.”
He sat down.
“Project Willa was designed to predict student success.”
“By changing results?”
“Originally, no. We collected academic, medical, family, and psychological data. The goal was to identify talented children who might otherwise be overlooked.”
“What changed?”
“Richard Vale realized predictions could influence donations. Eleanor realized they could influence admissions. Sloan realized they could control the school.”
“And you?”
“I built the program.”
Willa felt anger rising through her.
“You turned children into numbers.”
“I thought numbers could remove prejudice.”
“Instead, powerful families used them to remove competition.”
Samuel did not deny it.
“Why am I the second file?”
“Because your mother discovered that the program was being manipulated. She created a hidden verification system.”
“What kind of system?”
“A living key.”
Willa stepped back.
“No.”
“Claire was pregnant. She embedded part of the encryption sequence into medical data associated with your birth record.”
“You used my identity as a password?”
“Your mother did.”
“Without my permission.”
“You were not born.”
“That does not make it better.”
Samuel looked toward the clinic window.
“The program’s complete archive can only be opened by combining three elements: the original founder code, Claire’s private sequence, and biometric confirmation connected to you.”
“So they kidnapped her because they need her sequence.”
“Yes.”
“And they need me.”
“Yes.”
Willa thought of the message in Room 214.
The second file is Willa.
“What is inside the complete archive?”
“Every altered result. Every payment. Every threat. Every student removed from consideration. Every official who participated.”
“Where is it?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Beneath Westbridge.”
“We searched beneath the school.”
“Not the current school. The original building.”
Willa remembered the abandoned stadium, the old tunnels, and the sealed wings.
Samuel drew a rough map.
A chamber existed beneath the academy’s first administration hall. Room 214 was only one access point.
“The archive was supposed to be destroyed sixteen years ago,” he said. “Claire convinced me to preserve it.”
“Why did you disappear?”
“Richard Vale tried to kill me.”
“And my mother?”
“She helped me escape.”
Willa studied him.
“Then why did she tell me you were dead?”
“Because after I escaped, I learned someone close to us had betrayed the plan.”
“Who?”
“I never discovered the name.”
Willa’s phone rang.
It was Claire.
She answered immediately.
“Mom?”
Claire’s breathing was unsteady.
“Willa, listen carefully. I escaped the room, but they are still inside the building.”
“Where are you?”
“The Vale research center.”
“We are coming.”
“No. Go to the archive.”
“What?”
“They already have my sequence.”
Willa’s blood turned cold.
“How?”
“I gave it to someone years ago for safekeeping.”
“Who?”
The line crackled.
Claire whispered a name.
Before Willa could understand it, a loud noise sounded.
The call ended.
Samuel stood.
“What did she say?”
Willa replayed the final seconds.
May you like
The name was faint, but audible.
Margaret Sloan.
