Chapter 2 - The Price of Silence
Marcus seized Leo by the wrist and headed for the door.
"We're finished here."
Sarah did not move aside.
Marcus stopped inches from her.
His voice became dangerously low.
"I know the commissioner."
"Congratulations."
"I know the mayor."
"Even better."
"I know people who can end your career before lunch tomorrow."
Sarah held his stare.
"My daughter is lying in a hospital bed."
"You think I care about my career tonight?"
Marcus's arrogance flickered for only a second.
Then he pushed past her.
Leo followed.
As he crossed the doorway, the boy glanced over his shoulder.
That tiny smile had returned.
Sarah watched until they disappeared.
The principal finally exhaled.
"Detective Vance."
Sarah turned.
The man looked as though he had aged ten years in twenty minutes.
"You need to understand something."
"I understand perfectly."
"Mr. Thorne has donated millions to this school."
Sarah stared at him.
"A seven-year-old girl has a broken arm and a severe concussion."
"I know."
"No."
Sarah stepped toward his desk.
"You know who writes your checks."
"That's different."
The principal's face reddened.
"There weren't any faculty members close enough to see exactly what happened."
Sarah immediately noticed the wording.
"Close enough?"
He froze.
"That's not what you told the paramedics."
"I may have misspoken."
Sarah felt every instinct she had developed during twelve years in Major Crimes come alive.
This was no longer just a frightened administrator.
This was the beginning of a cover-up.
"Where are the playground cameras?"
"They've been broken for months."
"All of them?"
"Yes."
Sarah watched the small muscle near his jaw twitch.
He was lying.
She could feel it.
She said nothing more.
Sometimes frightened people revealed more when they believed a conversation was over.
Sarah walked into the hallway.
Behind her, she heard the principal immediately pick up his phone.
She continued walking.
At the far end of the corridor, she stopped beside a trophy case.
She could faintly hear his voice through the closed office door.
"Mr. Thorne."
Sarah's eyes hardened.
"She knows something."
Sarah walked outside.
The autumn wind struck her face.
Her hands began trembling the moment she reached her car.
She had interviewed killers without blinking.
She had walked into armed standoffs.
She had once negotiated with a man holding a shotgun against his wife's throat.
None of it had frightened her like this.
Because Lily was not a case.
Lily was everything.
Sarah pulled out her phone.
She called Detective Miguel Ramirez.
"I need every complaint connected to Marcus Thorne."
Ramirez went silent.
"Sarah."
"Everything, Miguel."
"You're emotionally involved."
"That's why I know when someone's trying to bury the truth."
"Captain Miller is going to lose his mind."
May you like
Sarah started the engine.
"Then don't tell him."
