Chapter 4 - The Ventilation Shaft
The brass handle of the closet door began to slowly turn.
Caleb pointed upward, gesturing frantically toward the drop ceiling panels.
Malik nodded, quickly stepping onto a metal utility sink to gain some height.
He pushed the foam ceiling tile up and hoisted himself into the dark crawlspace.
Caleb scrambled up right behind him just as the closet door was violently kicked open.
Two men dressed in black tactical gear stormed into the tiny room, sweeping it with laser sights.
Caleb held his breath, lying perfectly flat on the fragile aluminum framing above them.
The men cursed, slamming the door shut and moving on to the next classroom.
"We need to get to the main server room," Caleb whispered in the darkness.
"If I can bypass the signal jammer, I can get a message out to the real police."
They began crawling on their stomachs through the dusty, narrow ventilation shafts.
The metal groaned slightly under their weight, echoing dangerously in the quiet shafts.
Malik looked back at Caleb with a suspicious expression on his face.
"How do you know the exact layout of the school's security system?" Malik asked quietly.
Caleb swallowed hard, feeling a wave of guilt wash over him.
"My dad is the chief architect who designed this entire building."
They finally reached a metal grate that looked directly down into the school's server room.
Rows of glowing server racks hummed loudly below them.
Standing in the center of the room was Mrs. Baxter, holding a tablet and a two-way radio.
She was speaking softly into her cell phone, pacing back and forth with a confident smirk.
Caleb pressed his ear against the metal grate to hear her conversation.
"Don't worry about the ledger, the tactical team will eliminate the Malik boy soon," she said.
May you like
She paused, listening to the person on the other end of the line.
"And yes, honey, I will make sure your son doesn't make it out either."
