Chapter 14 - Mateo's Side of the Story
The alarm screamed. Adrian shoved the donation box into the closing security gate, jamming it halfway down. I slid under it toward Mateo. The receptionist yelled for guards.
Mateo caught my wrist. "There's a side exit. Hurry."
We ran past a row of rooms painted cheerful yellow. In one, four children sat around an empty table while a television played cartoons at full volume. Another door had a lock on the outside. I wanted to stop and open every one.
"We can't leave them," I said.
"We won't. I've already sent their names to child protection and two reporters. We have to get out with proof."
He pulled a thumb drive from his sock. A guard rounded the corner. Mateo pushed me through a fire door, then went back to hold it against the man's shoulder. Adrian grabbed the edge with both hands. Together they shoved it closed and ran after me.
Eli swung the van into the alley. We piled inside. Jo accelerated so hard a box of water bottles slid across the floor.
I stared at the man beside me. "Mateo?"
He gave a tiny, crooked smile. "You still bite your lip when you're scared."
I couldn't speak. He reached into his coat and took out a red mitten. The mate to the one in Box Fourteen.
"I kept it," he said. "It was the only thing I had that proved you were real."
I hugged him before I could decide whether to trust him. He hugged back like somebody who hadn't been held in years. When I finally let go, his eyes were wet.
"Why were you listed as manager?" I asked.
"Conrad needed a Reyes name attached to the newest operation. I was hired through a fake charity. When I realized what they were doing, I stayed to copy the files. They caught me Friday. I've been locked in an office since."
"What are they doing?"
"Billing the foundation for foster placements that don't exist. Some children were moved under false emergency orders. Others are real kids trapped in a broken system while the money disappears. The accounting trail goes straight to the Bellwether trust."
Jo looked at him in the mirror. "And the warehouse?"
"That's where they keep the paper originals. The transfer at eight this morning wasn't the end. It was a test. The rest moves tomorrow."
"We thought eight was the deadline," Adrian said.
May you like
Mateo shook his head. "No. They wanted you focused on the wrong wire."
He pointed at the audit drive in my hand. "The ledger isn't a book, Mara. It's a person. And she's supposed to testify at noon."
