Chapter 6
Shards of thick safety glass glistened under the warm amber glow of the executive desk lamps. Principal Alvarez instinctively recoiled, her manicured hands flying up to shield her face as dust motes and tiny fragments rained down upon the polished mahogany. Maya didn't flinch. Her thin-rimmed glasses caught the reflection of the smoking, jagged brick resting heavily on top of the manila folder. Wrapped securely around the red clay was a piece of cheap lined notebook paper, secured with a thick rubber band.
Alvarez stared at the projectile, her chest heaving as adrenaline flooded her system. "What... what is that?" she whispered, her voice losing its previous authoritative edge.
Maya stepped forward, ignoring the crunch of glass beneath her sneakers. She reached across the desk, her fingers deftly untying the rubber band without touching the brick itself. She unrolled the folded paper, her eyes scanning the jagged, hastily scribbled block letters scrawled in black marker.
"Drop the investigation," Maya read aloud, her voice eerily calm in the chaotic room. "Or the next thing through your window won't be a brick. It will be a message you can't sweep under the rug."
Alvarez dropped heavily back into her leather chair, her fingers trembling as she gripped the armrests. "This is insane. This has gone too far. I am calling the police immediately."
"The local police department’s chief of internal affairs sits on the same country club committee as your husband, Principal Alvarez," Maya pointed out smoothly, dropping the note onto the glass-strewn desk. "Calling them will only alert the people who authorized the land sale in the first place."
Alvarez looked up, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and growing desperation. "You act like you know everything, Maya. But you don't understand how deep this corruption goes. These aren't just school board bureaucrats. These are powerful men who control this entire county. If they realize you have the digital ledger, they won't just try to intimidate you. They will destroy your life."
"They can try," Maya replied softly, her silver cross catching the light as she adjusted the collar of her dark zip-up hoodie. "My life was already taken from me six months ago in Chicago. Rebuilding it starts with tearing down every single brick of their foundation."
May you like
Alvarez froze, her breath catching in her throat. "Chicago? Wait... the Lin case? You're Arthur Lin's daughter?"
Maya’s expression darkened instantly, a dangerous chill freezing the air between them. Before Alvarez could utter another word, the heavy office door burst open, and a terrified-looking janitor rushed in, shouting about a massive data breach locking every computer screen in the entire school district simultaneously.
