He lunged forward to grab my arm.
I didn't freeze this time. I grabbed the heavy, metal tape dispenser off the desk and swung it as hard as I could.
The heavy base smashed into Miller’s forearm. He shouted in pain, stumbling back and dropping whatever he had been reaching for in his pocket. A ring of keys clattered to the floor.
I didn't wait for him to recover. I shoved the heavy swivel chair directly into his knees. As he collapsed forward, cursing loudly, I bolted for the door.
I threw it open and sprinted down the dark hallway, my heart pounding in my ears. I could hear Miller scrambling to his feet behind me, his heavy boots pounding on the linoleum.
“Lin! Get back here!” he roared.
I didn't look back. I reached the stairwell, threw the door open, and flew down the steps two at a time. I had to get to Vance Industries before they destroyed the notebook.
CHAPTER 3
I burst out of the school’s back exit, hitting the cold night air at a dead sprint.
I didn't stop running until I was three blocks away, hiding in the shadows of a residential street, gasping for air. My lungs burned, and my legs felt like lead. I leaned against a cold brick wall, pulling my phone from my pocket. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely type.
Coach Miller said Mr. Vance had the notebook. He said it was being destroyed tonight.
Vance Industries was located on the far edge of town, a sprawling industrial complex surrounded by chain-link fences. It was where they processed the water from the reservoir before piping it into the county grid. It was also where Mr. Vance kept his private corporate office.
If I went to the police now, I had nothing. No proof. The security footage would be deleted by Miller before a squad car even arrived at the school. I had to get the notebook back.
I started moving, sticking to the alleys and side streets. The walk took thirty agonizing minutes. When the massive steel gates of the Vance Industries compound finally came into view, the area was eerily quiet. There were no security guards at the front booth. The parking lot was empty except for a sleek black SUV parked near the main administrative building.
I crept along the fence line until I found a section where the chain-link had bowed outward near a large oak tree. I squeezed through the gap, my hoodie catching and tearing slightly on the metal wire.
I approached the glass doors of the main building. They were locked, but the side door near the loading bays was slightly ajar, propped open by a folded piece of cardboard. Someone was inside, and they didn't want to be locked out.
I slipped through the door into a dimly lit concrete corridor. The air smelled of ozone and industrial cleaner. I moved silently, following the low hum of voices coming from the second floor.
I climbed the metal staircase, my sneakers making no sound. At the top of the stairs, a plush carpeted hallway led to a set of heavy mahogany double doors. Light spilled out from underneath them.
I crept closer, pressing my back against the wall next to the doorframe. I held my breath, listening.
“...can't keep doing this, Dad!” a voice cried out.
It was Chloe. Her voice was cracked, raw, completely stripped of the arrogant cruelty she used at school. She sounded terrified.
“Keep your voice down,” Marcus Vance replied. His voice was smooth, deep, and chillingly calm. “You will do exactly what I tell you to do, Chloe. You will go to school, you will keep that girl distracted, and you will not say a word.”
“She knows!” Chloe sobbed. “She fought back today, Dad. She looked at me like she knows exactly what I did. I can't look at her anymore. Every time I close my eyes, I see his car going off the bridge!”
I froze, the blood draining from my face.
What she did.
“He was going to ruin everything,” Mr. Vance said, his tone turning sharp and dangerous. “Leo Lin had the water reports. He was going to publish the heavy metal contamination data. He was going to cost this family millions. You did us a favor.”
“It was an accident!” Chloe screamed, the sound tearing through the quiet office. “I was drunk! I was just driving home from the party! I didn't mean to run him off the road! You told me you fixed it! You told me no one would ever know!”
My knees went weak. I pressed my hand flat against the wall to keep from collapsing.
It wasn't Vance’s thugs who ran Leo off the road. It wasn't a corporate hit.
It was Chloe.
She was drunk. She hit his car. And her father, realizing Leo had the notebook containing the evidence that could destroy his company, used the crash to silence him, covering up his daughter's crime in the process. He had forced Chloe to bully me at school to monitor me, to keep me broken and distracted so I wouldn't investigate my brother's files.