Chapter 4 - THE NAME ON THE VIDEO
The name was "Landon."
Rafael replayed the last five seconds twice.
Kendrick's voice was faint beneath the hum of the classroom air vent.
"Do you want what happened to Landon to happen to you?"
Maisie's crying stopped the instant she heard it.
That was what chilled Rafael most.
She knew exactly what Kendrick meant.
Sofia called him.
"Dad, who's Landon?"
"I don't know."
"Find out before anyone knows we heard it."
Rafael sat in his truck and called Leah Carter, whose number he still had from a school garden project.
She answered on the first ring.
"Mr. Ortiz?"
"Is Maisie with you?"
"Yes."
"Ask her who Landon is."
Silence.
Then Leah said, "Why?"
"Because Ms. Kendrick mentioned him in the recording."
A chair scraped in the background.
Leah put him on speaker.
"Maisie, honey. Who is Landon?"
For several seconds, the child said nothing.
Then: "He used to sit behind me."
"Used to?"
"He changed schools."
"Why?"
Maisie's voice dropped.
"Because he told his dad Ms. Kendrick locked him in the supply room."
Rafael closed his eyes.
"Did she?"
"Sometimes."
Leah's breathing changed.
"Sometimes?"
Maisie began crying again.
"She called it Reset. If you cried or talked back, you had to sit in there until you could come out normal."
Leah said, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I tried."
"When?"
"The day you said I had to stop making excuses about school."
The words landed hard.
Leah covered her mouth.
Rafael stared through his windshield at nothing.
Then Maisie whispered one more thing.
"Landon didn't change schools because his dad wanted him to."
"What do you mean?"
"Ms. Kendrick said the principal made sure he couldn't come back."
Rafael looked down at the school badge still clipped to his belt.
May you like
Principal Bell had not just defended Kendrick.
He might already know everything.
