Chapter 9 - The Decoy's Secret
The masked man hauled Caleb to his feet with a brutal, unforgiving grip.
Malik tried to intervene, but the man easily shoved the teenager to the muddy ground.
"You boys caused a lot of trouble for some very important people," the man sneered.
Before the man could drag them back to the highway, the sound of barking dogs echoed through the trees.
A blinding spotlight cut through the dark forest, illuminating the entire riverbank.
"State Highway Patrol, drop your weapons and get on the ground!" a voice boomed over a megaphone.
The masked man froze, realizing he was completely surrounded by state troopers.
He slowly released Caleb and dropped to his knees, placing his hands behind his head.
Maya ran through the trees, flanked by three heavily armed state police officers.
She wrapped her arms around Caleb and Malik, crying tears of profound relief.
The state troopers removed the mask from the attacker, revealing an off-duty local deputy loyal to Chief Baxter.
"The local corruption ends tonight," the lead state trooper declared firmly.
They escorted the boys back to the highway, where multiple state police cruisers were securing the scene.
Caleb sat in the back of an ambulance, staring blankly at the floor.
"We are safe, but we lost everything," Caleb whispered, tears of defeat streaming down his face.
"The laptop and the MP3 player washed away in the river."
Malik buried his face in his hands, feeling the crushing weight of their final failure.
Mrs. Baxter would get away with her horrific racism, and the corrupt officials would remain in power.
Maya walked over to the back of the ambulance and offered the boys a gentle, reassuring smile.
She reached into the pocket of her ruined jacket and pulled out a tiny, silver flash drive.
"You really think an investigative journalist would keep only one copy of the most important file of her career?" Maya asked softly.
May you like
She had copied the audio file to the flash drive before they even left the apartment.
The bag Caleb dropped into the river was nothing but a brilliant, heavy decoy.
