Chapter 5 - THE ENVELOPE
Connor stopped three feet from Maya.
“You got the picture?”
That wasn’t the question she expected.
“You know about it?”
“I know someone’s trying to blow this place up.”
Tessa stepped beside Maya. “What was in the envelope?”
Connor looked around the parking lot.
“Not money.”
“Then what?” Maya asked.
Connor rubbed the back of his neck.
“My brother’s medical paperwork. Rourke helped get him into a specialty clinic through a veterans’ charity.”
Maya’s anger shifted.
“So you owe him.”
Connor gave a bitter laugh. “That’s what he thinks.”
“Did he tell you to hurt me?”
Connor’s silence answered before his mouth did.
“He told me you were dangerous,” he said. “Said you ruin careers, make accusations, twist things.”
“And before the match?”
Connor looked away.
“He said if I made you quit, my course slot was guaranteed.”
Tessa swore under her breath.
Maya asked, “Why are you telling me?”
“Because you had my wrist. You could’ve wrecked it. You let go.”
Connor’s jaw tightened.
“I’m not saying I’m the good guy here. I took the deal.”
Maya studied him.
“Will you put that in writing?”
“No.”
“Then this conversation means nothing.”
Connor’s face closed again. “I’ve got a family. I’m not burning my career for you.”
He walked away.
That night Maya returned to the barracks and found her locker open.
Nothing valuable was missing.
Her laptop was there.
Her wallet was there.
But the paper copy of the Ruiz report she had kept for three years was gone.
On the inside of the locker door, someone had taped a blank evaluation form.
At the bottom, in black marker, were four words:
YOU NEVER LEARN, BENNETT.
Maya took a slow breath.
Then her phone buzzed again.
Another anonymous message.
CHECK THE GYM CAMERA BEFORE THEY ERASE IT.
She looked at the time.
23:17.
May you like
The security office closed at midnight.
She grabbed her jacket and ran.
