Chapter 13 - The Blackout
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I stared at the four words on the whiteboard.
“You don't know?” I repeated softly, careful not to let any frustration leak into my voice.
Her breathing became uneven, the heart monitor chirping a frantic rhythm. I immediately softened my posture, resting my hand over hers.
“It's okay, sweetheart. Take your time. Just tell me what you remember.”
She took a shaky breath through her nose, wiped her eyes, and began to write in frantic, jagged bursts.
Argument. Loud screaming between Preston and Chad. Preston tried to hand me a manila folder.
She paused, swallowing hard.
Then the overhead lights went out. Completely dark.
I frowned. The parking garage lights were on a hardwired emergency grid. Someone had intentionally cut the breakers. Martin Vale.
Nora continued writing.
Someone grabbed my bag. Ripped it off my shoulder. I fought back. Someone hit me. Hard.
She stopped, her hand trembling so violently she dropped the marker. I picked it up and placed it gently back in her fingers.
Fell to the concrete. So confused. Tasted blood.
She stopped again, looking up at me with haunted eyes. Then she added the final, most confusing piece of the puzzle.
Remember Wyatt yelling stop. Begging them to stop.
I sat frozen in the chair. Maya gasped behind me, covering her mouth with her hands.
Wyatt Holbrook had begged them to stop? If Wyatt was trying to stop the assault, and Preston was the whistle-blower trying to help her, who actually threw the punches? Chad Kensington and Brantley Sterling? Or someone else entirely? Someone waiting in the dark?
Before any of us could process the revelation, Detective Bell suddenly appeared at the doorway. He was out of breath, his tie loosened, holding his buzzing cell phone.
His expression told me the entire game had just changed.
“Mr. Miller,” Bell said, panting slightly. “We found the maintenance worker. We found Samuel Ortiz.”
I stood up instantly. “Is he safe?”
“He's fine. Sitting in my unmarked car downstairs right now.”
Relief passed through me. “And?”
“And he wasn't pressured into silence by the families,” Bell revealed, stepping into the room.
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“Then why did his statement magically disappear from the police servers?”
Bell looked grim. “Because his statement didn't support the story the university wanted the police to believe.”
