Chapter 4 - Deleted
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Officer Reed leaned closer to the monitor.
“Who deleted this?”
The security technician, Mr. Ellis, shook his head.
“I didn’t.”
Ms. Crane folded her arms. “Systems fail.”
Officer Reed looked at the timestamp.
“The incident happened at 12:41.”
Grace felt cold.
The file had been deleted six minutes later.
Not corrupted.
Deleted.
Brittany’s confidence returned by the second.
“So there’s no proof,” she said.
Officer Reed turned slowly.
“There are still witnesses.”
Kayla scoffed. “Everyone saw Grace attack us.”
Grace looked through the glass wall at the students clustered in the hall.
Half of them had been filming.
But when Officer Reed asked for videos, nobody moved.
Not one person.
Grace understood why.
Brittany’s father, Charles Vale, owned three car dealerships, funded the new athletic center, and had his name on a brass plaque near the front office.
Kayla’s mother chaired the parent foundation.
People did not fear Brittany because she was tough.
They feared the adults standing behind her.
Then Grace saw a freshman girl at the back of the hall.
Maya Torres.
Maya had been sitting near the vending machines during lunch.
She clutched her phone with both hands.
Their eyes met.
Maya looked terrified.
Then she gave the smallest possible nod.
Grace’s heartbeat changed.
Ms. Crane noticed.
“Maya,” she called sharply. “Do you need something?”
Maya jumped.
“No, ma’am.”
“Then get to class.”
Maya disappeared.
Grace said nothing until Ms. Crane sent Brittany and Kayla back to class.
Then Officer Reed quietly handed Grace her backpack.
“Go home,” he said. “Don’t post anything. Don’t contact them.”
“Am I suspended?”
“Not by me.”
Grace looked at the black monitor.
“What if the video’s gone?”
Officer Reed lowered his voice.
“School cameras have a cloud backup.”
Grace stared at him.
“Then why didn’t you open it?”
May you like
His eyes shifted toward Ms. Crane’s office.
“Because somebody changed the password this morning.”
