Chapter 7 - The Flash Drive on the Floor
The amber emergency lights cast a sickly glow over Coach Miller’s face, freezing his expression somewhere between disbelief and suppressed fury. He stared at the small black USB drive in Leo’s hand as if it were a live grenade. For three full seconds, nobody moved, the silence in the gymnasium broken only by the low hum of the distant ventilation unit.
"You’re bluffing," Coach Miller said, though his voice lacked the absolute authority it had carried a moment before. He took another half-step down the bleacher stairs, his shoes squeaking softly against the wood. "There are no cameras in the AV storage closet. That’s a blind spot by district design."
"True," Leo replied, his tone infuriatingly level. He didn't flinch as the coach closed the distance between them. "There are no cameras inside the closet. But there is a wide-angle security lens directly outside the door in the second-floor corridor. And it clearly records who enters that room with a master key at 11:42 PM on a Tuesday night."
Maya watched the exchange with mounting terror. She realized with sudden clarity that Leo hadn't just reacted to the bullying; he had systematically hunted down every digital vulnerability tied to the athletic department’s corruption, turning himself into a one-man investigative unit.
"Hand it over, Leo," Coach Miller said, his voice dropping an octave into a low, threatening murmur. He reached toward his belt loop, his hand lingering near a heavy multi-tool sheath. "You don't want to ruin your future over a personal grudge. Give me the drive, and I’ll make sure your disciplinary record stays clean for the rest of the semester. No more harassment, no more targets on your back."
"My record is already clean, Coach," Leo fired back, refusing to yield an inch of ground despite his physical disadvantage. "And the district already has a cloud-synced copy of that footage. Even if you break this drive into dust right now, the investigation is already out of your hands."
Coach Miller lunged forward with surprising speed, his hand shooting out to grab Leo by the collar of his hoodie. But Maya reacted instantly, shoving her heavy binder directly into the coach’s chest, throwing him off balance just enough to break his momentum.
"Run, Leo!" Maya screamed, her voice cracking as she grabbed his jacket sleeve to help propel him toward the side exit doors near the indoor track.
Leo swung his crutches forward with practiced rhythm, moving faster than anyone expected given his injury. But Coach Miller recovered his footing with a brutal snarl, sweeping his arm out and catching the aluminum shaft of Leo’s left crutch, sending the metal clattering hard against the hardwood floor.
Leo lost his balance instantly, crashing down onto his bad knee with a sharp cry of pain that echoed off the gymnasium walls. The small black USB drive flew from his hand, skittering across the polished floor and coming to a stop near the center logo.
Coach Miller ignored Maya, turning his attention entirely to Leo, who was struggling to push himself up from the floor. The coach stalked toward the center circle, his boots closing in on the fallen flash drive like a predator locking onto its prey.
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"Game over, kid," Coach Miller muttered, reaching down to scoop up the drive just as the heavy metal gym doors at the opposite end of the hallway suddenly swung wide open, flooding the dark floor with blinding white hallway light.
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