Chapter 11: The Hideout

POV: Riley Chen

The rope burned my wrists as I squeezed through the tiny window.

I dropped to the ground outside Eleanor's building and ran as fast as I could. My heart was beating so loud I was sure everyone in town could hear it.

Behind me, I heard men yelling. "She's gone! The girl escaped!"

I didn't look back. I just ran through the dark streets toward the one place I knew they'd never think to look.

The old lighthouse.

Tommy and I used to meet there every week. It was our secret place where we could talk about grown-up things without anyone hearing. Now Tommy was dead, and I was running for my life.

My legs felt like rubber, but I kept running. Past the closed shops, past the empty park, past the pier where Tommy used to work. Every darkness looked like it might be one of Eleanor's men waiting to grab me.

Finally, I reached the tower. The door was locked, but Tommy had showed me how to get in through the loose board on the side. I squeezed through and climbed the circular stairs to the top room.

This was where Tommy and I used to sit and watch the boats. This was where he told me about the strange things he'd seen at night.

I fell on the floor, breathing hard. My wrists were bleeding from the ropes, and my whole body hurt from being tied up in that cold building for hours.

But I was living. I was free.

For now.

I pulled out my phone to call Maya, but there was no connection. The lighthouse was too far from the cell towers. I was completely alone.

That's when I remembered what Tommy had told me the last time we met here.

"Riley, if something happens to me, there's something hidden in this room. Something important. Promise me you'll find it."

I'd thought he was just being emotional. Tommy always liked to pretend he was a spy or a detective. But now that he was dead, maybe he really had found something dangerous.

I started searching the small room. Behind the old furniture, under the dusty floors, inside the broken lamp. Nothing.

Then I remembered Tommy's favorite hiding spot from when we were kids. He always hid things in places that looked broken but weren't really broken.

I walked to the window that faced the water. One of the wooden pieces looked cracked, but when I pressed on it, it moved. Behind it was a small room with a plastic bag inside.

My hands shook as I opened the bag. Inside was a small camera and a notebook.

I turned on the camera and looked at the pictures Tommy had taken. At first, they just showed fishing boats and workers loading goods. Normal stuff.

But then I saw photos that made my blood turn cold.

Boats coming at night with people instead of fish. Scared families being pushed into trucks. Money being passed between Eleanor's guys and strangers in expensive suits.

Tommy had been right. Eleanor wasn't just running a fishing business. She was moving people.

I flipped through Tommy's diary. His handwriting was messy because he'd been writing fast, but I could read enough to understand.

"July 15 - Saw three boats arrive after midnight. At least 20 people on each boat. They looked sick and scared." " July 22 - Eleanor paid Captain Rodriguez $50,000 in cash. Told him to keep his mouth shut about the special cargo."

"August 3 - Heard crying from the building basement. Eleanor's men said it was just seagulls, but seagulls don't cry in Spanish."

" August 10 - Found papers in Eleanor's office. She's been doing this for five years. Made millions of dollars."

The last entry was written just three days before Tommy died.

"August 15 - I have to tell someone. These people are being hurt. Some of them disappear after they arrive. I think Eleanor is selling them to other bad people. I'm going to call the FBI tomorrow."

But Tommy never got to call the FBI. Eleanor killed him first.

I felt sick to my stomach. All those people Tommy wrote about - where were they now? Were they safe, or had Eleanor hurt them too?

I looked at the pictures again. In one shot, I could see a young girl about my age standing next to a woman who might have been her mother. They both looked scared.

That girl could have been me. If I'd been born in a different place, if my family had been desperate enough to pay everything they owned for a chance at a better life, I could have been one of those scared people on Eleanor's boats.

Tommy died trying to save them. And now Eleanor wants to kill me for the same reason.

I heard car engines outside and looked out the tower window. Three black SUVs were driving slowly through the streets below, looking for me with bright spotlights.

I had to get Tommy's proof to Maya. She was the only person who could stop Eleanor and save all those people.

But how could I get to Maya when Eleanor's men were everywhere?

I was thinking about my choices when I heard footsteps on the lighthouse stairs.

Heavy boots. Adult footsteps.

Someone had found me.

I grabbed Tommy's camera and notebook and looked around for another way out. But there was only one door, and whoever was climbing the stairs was blocking it.

The footsteps got closer. I could hear someone breathing hard from the climb.

I pressed myself against the wall next to the door and held Tommy's camera like a weapon. It wasn't much, but it was all I had.

The footsteps stopped right outside the door.

"Riley?" a voice called softly. "Riley, are you in there?"

I almost cried with relief. It was Maya's voice.

"Maya!" I called back. "I'm here!"

The door opened, and Maya rushed in. But something was wrong. She looked scared and hurt. Blood was running down her arms.

"Riley, thank god you're okay," she said, hugging me tight. "We have to get out of here right now."

"Maya, I found Tommy's camera! I have proof about Eleanor's—"

"I know," Maya said quickly. "But we're in terrible danger. Eleanor's men are coming, and someone we trusted has been working for her."

"Who?"

Maya looked at me with sad, scared eyes. "Dr. Martinez. He's been telling Eleanor everything."

Before I could ask any more questions, we heard more car engines outside. Lots of them.

Maya looked out the window and went white. "They found us."

I looked too and saw at least ten cars surrounding the tower. Eleanor's men were getting out with guns and flashlights.

"Is there another way out?" Maya asked.

I shook my head. "Just the door and the window, but it's too high to jump."

Maya grabbed my hand. "Then we make our last stand here."

She pulled out a gun I didn't know she had.

"Maya," I whispered, "are we going to die?"

Before she could answer, a voice called from outside. A voice that made my blood freeze.

"Maya Chen!" Eleanor Blackwood shouted. "I have Sheriff Morrison! If you want him to live, you'll come down here right now!"

Maya and I looked at each other in fear.

Through the window, we could see Jake on his knees with a gun pointed at his head.