Maya and Brielle hid behind a row of filing cabinets.
Daniel Hart entered.
He didn't look surprised.
That frightened Maya.
He closed the door behind him.
“You shouldn't be here.”
Brielle stepped out.
“You knew.”
Daniel looked at his daughter.
“Knew what?”
“That Mom was investigating you.”
Silence.
Maya watched his face.
He didn't deny it.
Instead, he said, “Your mother was frightened near the end.”
“My mother?” Maya asked.
Daniel turned toward her.
“Evelyn.”
“You knew her.”
“Yes.”
“Why did she never tell me?”
“Because she was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
Daniel's voice became quieter.
“From this.”
He gestured toward the boxes.
“You think these documents tell the whole story. They don't.”
Maya stepped forward.
“Then tell me the whole story.”
“I can't.”
“Can't or won't?”
Brielle looked at her father.
“Where is the ledger?”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“There is no ledger.”
Maya pulled the document from her pocket.
“Your mother wrote about it.”
For the first time, Daniel looked genuinely alarmed.
He crossed the room.
Maya stepped back.
“Don't.”
He stopped.
“I am not going to hurt you.”
“Then answer me.”
Daniel looked at the paper.
“My mother believed I had stolen from the foundation.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Maya blinked.
That wasn't the answer she expected.
“Then who did?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Brielle whispered, “Dad.”
He looked at his daughter.
Then at Maya.
“The money was taken by someone inside the foundation.”
“Who?”
“I never found out.”
“But you were blamed.”
“I was accused.”
“And my mother?”
“She discovered the same thing.”
Maya's anger shifted.
“You said she was trying to protect me.”
“She was.”
“From the person who stole the money?”
Daniel nodded.
“Because that person knew Evelyn had found out.”
Maya felt cold.
“Who?”
Daniel looked at the door.
Then he said something that made both girls go silent.
“The person you're looking for is still working at this school.”
Before Maya could ask another question, the lights in the hallway went out.
The room went dark.
A second later, Maya heard the door slam shut.
Locked.
Brielle grabbed her phone.
“No signal.”
Maya pushed against the door.
Nothing.
Then something slid underneath it.
A white envelope.
Maya picked it up.
Her mother's handwriting was on the front.
Maya.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed Evelyn Carter standing beside Daniel Hart.
But someone else was in the background.
Someone Maya recognized immediately.
Westbridge's principal.