Chapter 14 - Seventeen Minutes
Police took the threat seriously.
The walkout was canceled publicly.
Privately, students were furious.
"That's what they want," Caleb said at lunch. "They scare us and everybody shuts up."
Emma shook her head. "A floor plan isn't a joke."
Malik sat between them, silent.
"What do you think?" Caleb asked.
Malik looked around the cafeteria.
"I think I don't want anybody hurt because of me."
"It wouldn't be because of you."
"It would feel like it."
At 10:13 Monday morning, nobody walked outside.
Instead, something else happened.
Students stood beside their desks.
Everywhere.
Math class. Science. Gym. Choir.
They stood silently for seventeen minutes.
Teachers had not organized it. Parents had not organized it. No one gave a speech.
They simply stood.
Some wore black.
Some held blank sheets of paper with the number 17 written in the center.
Malik stood too.
His substitute teacher looked around the room, then quietly stood with them.
At minute twelve, the intercom clicked on.
Dr. Porter spoke.
"Students, please return to your normal instructional activities."
No one moved.
At minute seventeen, everyone sat down.
That afternoon, the district announced an independent investigation led by retired judge Helena Ward.
Thomas Baxter temporarily stepped aside as board chairman.
Mrs. Baxter's leave became unpaid pending the outcome.
For the first time, Nia allowed herself to believe the system might actually move.
Then Rachel received the forensic report on the anonymous threats.
The first message to Malik had been routed through a prepaid device.
The second - the floor plan - had come through the school's internal Wi-Fi.
Investigators identified the device.
It belonged to a district-issued tablet assigned to Thomas Baxter's executive assistant, Greg Nolan.
Police interviewed Nolan that evening.
He denied sending anything.
"I left the tablet in the board office all weekend," he said.
"Who had access?"
Nolan named four people.
One was Thomas Baxter.
One was Martin Cole.
One was the superintendent's secretary.
And the fourth name shocked everyone.
Eleanor Baxter.
Mrs. Baxter had entered the district office twice while on administrative leave.
Security logs showed her badge had still worked.
At 8:06 p.m., detectives drove to the Baxter home.
The front door was open.
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The house was empty.
And on the kitchen counter sat a shredded pile of school records.
