Chapter 6 - Before the First Scream
Hazel showed me seven seconds of shaky video. It began with Lily walking toward the service gate and ended just as she vanished from view. In the middle, Vivian's yellow scarf flashed in the sunlight.
"There's more," Hazel said. "Owen was filming for almost a minute."
"Where is the rest?"
"Mason made him erase it. He told my mom Owen could lose his swim scholarship if it got posted."
"Did Owen send you a longer copy?"
"Only this. The connection dropped."
I asked Hazel for her mother's number and promised not to use her name without permission. She was seventeen, balancing school, a job and people who could make either one disappear. Her fingers wouldn't stop twisting her whistle.
"There was another thing," she said. "Mason disconnected the gate chime before the fundraiser. He said Vivian didn't want it going off during speeches."
"Did you tell anyone?"
"Nora did. That's why she got fired."
At the hospital, Lily was cleared to go home with instructions to seek immediate care if breathing problems appeared. Grace took her to our house. I sat in the parking lot and called Nora again.
"I looked at the gate," I said. "I found my approval on the work order."
"Then you'll have to own your part, too."
"I know."
"Do you? Because I don't have a rich family to fix what happened to my name. I teach swimming so kids don't drown. Parents are calling me dangerous."
"I'll make a statement tomorrow."
"Make it today."
She was right. I recorded a video in the car, telling the truth about what I had seen, what I hadn't, and how Nora had saved Lily.
I had barely posted it when Mason called. "Mr. Hart, I found out who edited the video. You should come alone."
May you like
"Why alone?"
"Because someone here doesn't want you to see it."
