Chapter 3 - The Broken Door
Caleb explained to Malik that his phone automatically synced all photos to a secure cloud server.
He had set up the auto-sync using his older sister's corporate account months ago.
Maya was a junior investigative journalist at the local college, and her servers were highly encrypted.
The boys rushed to Maya's apartment near the college campus as fast as they could pedal their bikes.
They found Maya sitting at her kitchen island, staring intently at her laptop screen.
"I got the photo, Caleb," Maya said without looking up.
She turned the laptop around so the boys could see the high-resolution image.
The photograph perfectly captured Mrs. Baxter holding the ruler aggressively while yelling at Malik.
"This is undeniable proof of a hostile, racist environment," Maya declared confidently.
She promised to publish the photo on the front page of the college newspaper the next morning.
Caleb and Malik finally felt a massive wave of relief wash over them.
They thanked Maya and promised to meet her before school the following day to read the article.
Caleb rode his bike back to his own house as the sun began to set.
He expected to find his parents cooking dinner in the kitchen.
Instead, he found the front door of his house violently kicked open.
The wood was splintered, and the heavy deadbolt was completely shattered.
Caleb dropped his bike on the lawn and slowly walked into the dark hallway.
The entire house had been ransacked, with drawers pulled out and furniture flipped over.
Caleb heard heavy footsteps coming from his parents' bedroom upstairs.
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Someone was still inside the house.
A tall man wearing a dark ski mask suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs holding a baseball bat.
