Chapter 15 - Locked Beneath the Field
Keene escorted Avery through a private stairwell.
Voss followed.
No one raised their voice.
That made it worse.
They entered a maintenance corridor beneath the stadium.
Avery realized where they were going.
The equipment tunnel.
The same place where she had overheard Brooke and Vale.
Keene opened a steel door.
Inside was an old storage room.
“Stay here,” he said.
Avery stared at Voss.
“You can't keep me locked here.”
Voss adjusted her gown.
“Only until the gala ends.”
“Then what?”
“That depends on whether you decide to be reasonable.”
The door slammed.
A lock clicked.
Avery stood in darkness.
Her earpiece no longer worked.
Her phone was gone.
She searched the room.
Old uniforms.
Broken training equipment.
Plastic bins.
Then she saw a red light.
A camera.
The stadium tunnel camera.
The one Brooke and Vale had feared.
Avery climbed onto a crate.
The camera was connected to a local storage unit mounted above the wall.
She pulled the drive.
It was small.
Black.
And still warm.
The camera had been recording.
Everything.
Possibly for months.
Avery slipped the drive into her shoe.
Then footsteps approached.
The door opened.
Brooke entered.
Avery raised her hands defensively.
Brooke locked the door behind herself.
“We don't have much time.”
Avery stared.
“You're helping me?”
“I've been helping you.”
Avery suddenly understood.
“The memory card at the cabin.”
Brooke nodded.
“You sent it.”
“I copied the tunnel footage before Keene erased it.”
“Why?”
Brooke's face twisted.
“Because my father is one of them.”
“And I've spent three years pretending I didn't know.”
Avery's anger returned.
“You lied about me.”
“Yes.”
“You helped destroy me.”
“Yes.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn't.”
Brooke handed her a security badge.
“But you should trust that I want them finished.”
Brooke explained that Voss intended to release a statement before midnight.
Vale would be arrested.
Avery would remain under investigation.
Lila would be called an emotionally unstable accomplice.
Mercer would be blamed for falsifying records.
The conspiracy would disappear behind four convenient villains.
Avery asked one question.
“Where's Hannah?”
May you like
Brooke went pale.
“Keene found the van.”
