Chapter 4 - Somebody Was Watching
Elena called the police anyway.
Officer Carla Bennett arrived thirty minutes later, watched both videos, photographed the threat, and became noticeably more serious when Maya mentioned Gordon Mercer.
"I'm going to be careful with how I say this," Bennett told them. "Keep copies somewhere outside this house. Don't post anything yet. Don't confront anyone alone."
"You think Mercer will come after us?" Elena asked.
"I think people who feel protected make stupid choices when protection starts cracking."
Maya liked her immediately.
Bennett asked Chloe to call her parents and arranged to speak with them separately. Before leaving, she gave Maya a direct number.
"If someone follows you, calls you, waits outside, anything--use this."
That evening, Maya's older brother Luis drove in from community college.
"You fought Ryan Mercer?"
Maya glared at him.
Luis held up both hands. "I'm not judging. I just wish somebody filmed his face when he hit the floor."
"They did."
"Then today is a beautiful day."
Elena told him about Tyler.
His smile vanished.
The next morning, a black SUV sat across the street for twenty minutes.
Luis walked outside with his phone raised.
The SUV drove away.
At noon, Maya's suspension email changed. The school now listed the reason as "unprovoked assault resulting in injury."
"Unprovoked?" Maya said. "They watched the video."
Elena printed the page.
At 2:17 p.m., the hospital called Elena and removed her from the weekend trauma schedule because of an "anonymous conduct complaint."
At 3:02, Luis discovered both rear tires on his car had been slashed.
At 4:30, Chloe texted that Ryan had posted a photo of himself wearing a wrist brace with the caption: SOME PEOPLE ONLY UNDERSTAND CONSEQUENCES.
By sunset, Maya was done being afraid quietly.
"Post the gym video," Luis said.
Elena shook her head. "Officer Bennett said not yet."
"And while we wait, Mercer gets to rewrite the story?"
Maya paced the kitchen.
The video would clear her name. It would also warn Ryan that Chloe had evidence.
"We post only the first video," Maya said. "Not Tyler's."
Elena studied her. "You sure?"
"If they think the gym is all we have, they might get careless."
Luis gave her a surprised look. "Since when are you scary?"
Maya didn't smile. "Since they took my silence as permission."
At 7:00 p.m., Chloe uploaded the gym video from an anonymous account.
By 7:20, it had six hundred views.
By 8:00, two thousand.
By 8:30, students were posting their own stories about Ryan.
A freshman said Ryan locked him in an equipment cage.
A cheerleader said he stole her phone and sent private messages from it.
A former player said Coach Danner made him run until he vomited after refusing to lie about team expenses.
Then a new account posted a comment under the video.
Maya read it twice.
I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO TYLER BROOKS.
Underneath was a name she had not expected.
May you like
Seth Danner.
Coach Danner's son.
