Chapter 11 - The Walls Close In
By sunrise, Sarah had constructed a plan.
Going through her precinct was impossible.
Marcus had already reached the commissioner.
Going through the school was worse.
The principal was compromised.
A normal prosecutor might hesitate once Thorne's attorneys began applying pressure.
Sarah needed someone whose self-interest outweighed Marcus's influence.
Mayor Thomas Sterling fit perfectly.
Sterling had built his reelection campaign around public safety.
His posters showed him visiting schools.
His commercials promised to protect children.
A video showing his administration ignoring an attack on a seven-year-old could destroy him.
Which meant the same video could make him act.
Sarah waited outside City Hall.
At 8:13 a.m., Sterling's motorcade arrived.
She entered through a side entrance among a group of staffers.
Security recognized her from police events.
Nobody had heard about her suspension yet.
Sarah reached the private elevator.
Sterling entered with two aides.
Sarah followed.
"Detective."
"Mayor."
He smiled automatically.
Then he noticed her expression.
"Is something wrong?"
"Everything."
She held up a USB drive.
"This contains footage of Marcus Thorne's son deliberately pushing my daughter off the school playground."
The aides exchanged glances.
Sterling's smile disappeared.
"You should take that to the district attorney."
"I would."
"But I'm not convinced Marcus doesn't already know which desk it will land on."
Sterling's eyes narrowed.
"Careful."
Sarah stepped closer.
"I also have records involving other children."
"Settlements."
"Changed witness statements."
"Evidence that Thorne's people were preparing to erase school surveillance."
The elevator continued upward.
Sterling stared at the drive.
Sarah delivered the part that mattered.
"If the media receives this before your office acts, every reporter in America will ask why your administration protected Marcus Thorne."
Sterling went pale.
Sarah continued.
"But if you act first, you become the mayor who stood up to him."
The elevator doors opened.
Nobody moved.
Sterling held out his hand.
"Give me the drive."
Sarah did not.
"You watch it with me."
He looked irritated.
Then another voice entered the lobby.
"I'd love to watch too."
Sarah turned.
Marcus Thorne stood twenty feet away.
May you like
Three attorneys surrounded him.
And he was smiling.
