Chapter 6 - The Missing Grants
The heavy oak doors of the administration office were propped open with a rubber wedge, letting in the cool autumn breeze that smelled of damp asphalt and fallen leaves. Inside, the hum of the old mainframe server filled the cramped room with a steady, mechanical drone. Principal Vance sat heavily in his leather desk chair, his fingers hovering over the glowing keys of his terminal while Coach Miller stood guard by the door.
Leo maneuvered his crutches through the narrow entrance, easing himself into the plastic visitor’s chair opposite the desk. He set his left leg out straight, the heavy brace resting against the metal leg of the desk with a dull thud.
“The logs have been scrubbed for the 10:00 AM slot,” Principal Vance muttered, his voice strained as he typed a rapid sequence of administrative commands. “There’s no record of the district audit request in the local system.”
“Because the local system isn’t where the district stores its immutable ledgers,” Leo said, sliding a small USB-C adapter across the mahogany surface. “Plug that into the diagnostic port under your console. It bypasses the local router.”
Principal Vance looked up from the screen, his eyes bloodshot and desperate. For a moment, he looked less like an administrator and more like a man watching his entire life’s work dissolve into smoke. He glanced at Coach Miller, who gave a slow, imperceptible nod. With trembling fingers, the principal picked up the adapter and slotted it into the hidden port beneath the desk.
The terminal screen flickered, shifting from the school’s green-and-gold interface to a stark, command-line interface with scrolling white text on a black background.
“That’s…” Principal Vance whispered, his voice catching in his throat. “That’s the regional treasury database.”
“Look at line four hundred and twelve,” Leo instructed, leaning forward slightly, his forearms resting on his knees. “The equipment grants for the state athletic championship. Forty-two thousand dollars allocated for safety gear and training facilities.”
Coach Miller stepped closer, squinting at the glowing amber text. “That money never hit the athletic department account. We had to buy the new tackling dummies out of the booster club bake sale revenue last month.”
Principal Vance’s fingers flew across the keyboard, bringing up the disbursement authorization forms. At the bottom of each digital signature block was a single, unmistakable authorization code—the master override belonging exclusively to the principal’s office, used only twice a semester.
“Marcus didn’t just steal my software project,” Leo said quietly, the fluorescent light catching the sharp lines of his jaw. “He used your credentials while you were grading papers in the teachers' lounge to clear the purchase orders for his own private training facility off-campus.”
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The office door swung open with a sharp click, and a tall man in a charcoal suit stood in the doorway, holding a leather briefcase and an official badge from the state department of education.
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