Chapter 6 - The Second Victim
David read the message twice.
Then he locked the front door.
“Call Officer Reed.”
Grace did.
He answered on the first ring.
When she told him about Maya, his voice changed.
“Do not delete anything. Screenshot the messages. Email copies to yourself and your dad.”
“What about Maya?”
“I’m going to her house.”
Grace heard movement on his end.
“Officer Reed?”
“Yeah?”
“Be careful.”
He paused.
“So should you.”
The next morning, Grace returned to school with her father.
Ms. Crane met them in the lobby.
“Grace was instructed to remain home.”
David handed her a printed copy of the suspension policy.
“No signed suspension notice. No hearing. No evidence. She attends class.”
Ms. Crane glanced at the paper.
“You’re creating a difficult situation, Mr. Morgan.”
“No,” David said. “Someone else already did that.”
Grace saw Officer Reed near the office.
His expression told her everything.
Maya was absent.
At second period, rumors spread that Maya had transferred overnight.
At lunch, Brittany entered the cafeteria surrounded by friends.
She stopped when she saw Grace at the same table.
“Still here?”
Grace kept eating.
Brittany leaned close.
“You should’ve stayed home.”
Grace looked up.
“Where’s Maya?”
Brittany smiled.
“Who?”
Grace’s pulse kicked.
Brittany walked away.
Five minutes later, the fire alarm sounded.
Teachers moved students outside.
Grace followed the crowd toward the football field when someone brushed past her and slipped a folded note into her hand.
She waited until nobody was looking.
The handwriting was shaky.
CHECK LOCKER 318 BEFORE CRANE DOES.
Grace knew that locker.
It belonged to Maya.
May you like
She turned back toward the school.
And saw Ms. Crane already walking toward the same hallway.
