Chapter 30 Knock Knock
The house was so quiet it made my ears ring. I was sitting on the edge of the sofa in the living room, staring at my medical textbooks, but the words were blurring together.
Upstairs, Leo was pacing his room like a caged animal. Every time a floorboard creaked, I jumped.
A sudden, sharp knock at the front door made me gasp. My highlighter rolled off the table and clattered onto the hardwood floor.
"Leo!" I hissed, running to the bottom of the stairs.
Leo appeared at the top of the landing instantly. He didn't have his jersey on anymore; he just looked tired. He put a finger to his lips and crept down the stairs. He looked through the peephole, his shoulders relaxing just an inch.
"It’s not the police," he whispered. "It’s a girl. Looks like a student."
He opened the door just a few inches. Standing on the porch was Macy, my neighbor from the dorms. She was shivering in the cold air, holding a small cardboard box.
"Elena?" she called out, spotting me behind Leo. "Oh, thank god. I’ve been trying to find where you guys moved to. I had to ask the registrar’s office for your emergency address."
I walked forward, feeling a wave of guilt. I had completely forgotten about the flood at the dorms that started all of this. "Macy? What are you doing here?"
"I have good news!" she said, giving me a small, tired smile. "The maintenance crew finished the repairs today. The floors are dry, the mold is gone, and the power is back on. They said we can move back in tomorrow morning."
What!
She held out the box. "I found your anatomy lab notes under your bed while I was packing my stuff. I knew you’d need them for the midterm."
I took the box, my hands trembling. Moving back to the dorms should have been a relief. It meant I wouldn't be living under the same roof as Jaxson. It meant I could have a normal life again.
But if I moved back to the dorms, I couldn't protect Jaxson. I couldn't hide him. I’d be miles away while my father and the team hunted him down.
"Thanks, Macy," I said, my voice sounding hollow. "That’s... that’s great news."
"Are you okay?" she asked, looking past me at the dark, silent hockey house. "You look like you've seen a ghost. And your brother... he’s all over the campus news."
"We’re fine," Leo said, stepping forward to close the door. "She’s just tired from studying. Thanks for the notes."
He shut the door and locked it. The click of the deadbolt felt like a final sentence.
"You heard her," Leo said, turning to me. "The dorm is fixed. If you stay here now, Dad will know it’s because of Jaxson. He expects you to move back the second the repairs are done. If you don't, he'll send security to find out why."
"I can't leave him here alone, Leo!" I whispered.
"You might have to," Leo said, his voice hard. "Because I have to go back to the rink. Coach just sent a blast. The 'guest' login that leaked the plays? It wasn't just an IP address. They found a physical device hidden in the locker room. A thumb drive."
The locker room was even more tense than before. When Leo and I arrived, I insisted on going, telling him I needed to pick up my bag from the student center, the air felt like it was made of glass.
Coach Reed was standing in the center of the room, holding a small silver USB drive in a plastic bag.
"This was taped to the back of the vending machine," Coach said. His eyes were red. "It’s the hardware used to bypass the firewall. And do you know what’s engraved on the side of it?"
He held it up. In small, neat letters, the word MILLER was scratched into the metal.
"That's his!" Marcus shouted, standing up from his bench. "I saw him using that drive to save his highlight reels last month. It's his, Vance! Your protege didn't just leak the plays, he left his signature on the crime scene!"
Leo walked over to the drive, looking at it closely. "Anyone could have scratched that name into the metal, Marcus. It's too obvious. Jaxson isn't stupid."
"Maybe he wanted us to know," another player muttered. "Maybe he's mad he didn't get the starting spot."
"I'm calling the board," Coach Reed said, his voice shaking with disappointment. "Leo, if you know where he is, tell him to turn himself in. If the police find him first, I can't help him."
I stood by the door, my heart sinking. The thumb drive was the smoking gun. It didn't matter if it was fake; it looked real enough to end everything.
As the players started to leave, Marcus walked past Leo, bumping his shoulder hard.
"The dorms are open again, aren't they, Captain?" Marcus sneered. "I wonder if Elena is moving back tonight. Or if she's staying at the house to keep your thief company."
Leo grabbed Marcus by the collar, slamming him against the lockers. "Watch your mouth."
"Or what?" Marcus laughed. "You're going down with him, Captain. Everyone knows it. Check your locker. Someone left you a present."
Leo let him go and walked to his locker. He pulled it open.
Inside, taped to the back of the door, was a printed photo.