Chapter 6
The police arrested the two men Victor brought to the gym.
They refused to speak.
Victor was gone before officers arrived.
Mom gave statements while Dad boarded the broken door.
Owen sat with an ice pack against his shoulder.
I watched the clock.
It was nearly midnight.
“Where is the safe-deposit key?” Dad asked.
“It was inside the envelope.”
“But the box is under your name.”
“And my mother’s.”
“Could Victor access it without either of you?”
“Not legally.”
Mom gave a tired laugh.
“Victor doesn’t seem concerned about legality.”
Owen looked at her.
“My mother lives in Milwaukee now. Victor knows that.”
Dad grabbed his phone.
“Call her.”
Owen tried three times.
No answer.
On the fourth call, a man answered.
Victor.
“Looking for someone?” he asked through the speaker.
Owen stood so quickly that the chair fell.
“Where is my mother?”
“She’s perfectly safe.”
“Let me speak to her.”
“You’ll see her at nine tomorrow morning.”
Dad stepped closer to the phone.
“What do you want?”
“Bring Lily’s championship patch.”
I stared at him.
Dad frowned.
“Why?”
“Because it contains something that belongs to me.”
I touched the patch in my pocket.
“It’s mine.”
Victor heard me.
“That tiger design belongs to Carter Academy.”
Dad’s expression changed.
“It belonged to my father before you stole the academy.”
“Bring it to First Northern Bank at nine. Owen comes alone to the desk. Daniel waits outside.”
“And Lily?”
“Lily brings me the patch.”
“No,” Dad said.
Victor laughed.
“Then Owen’s mother spends the night with people who dislike waiting.”
The call ended.
Mom immediately contacted the police.
The officer said they would trace the call and send units to Owen’s mother’s address.
But Victor knew we would call them.
He was planning something else.
I took out the patch.
“What could be inside it?”
Dad examined the stitching.
“It looks ordinary.”
Owen suddenly leaned closer.
“Your grandfather used patches to identify private lockers at tournaments.”
Dad turned it over.
A tiny number had been sewn into the tiger’s eye.
317.
“I thought it was part of the design,” I said.
Dad went to a cabinet and removed an old wooden box.
Inside were photographs, tournament programs, and one of Grandpa’s original black belts.
He found another tiger patch.
The eye contained the number 204.
“This isn’t a safe-deposit box number,” Dad said.
“It might be a locker,” Owen replied.
“At Carter Academy?”
Owen nodded.
“The basement has hundreds of equipment lockers.”
Mom looked toward the clock.
“Victor thinks Lily’s patch opens locker 317.”
“How would a patch open anything?” Emma asked.
Dad pressed the embroidered tiger.
Something clicked.
A thin metal strip slid from the edge.
It looked like part of the backing, but one end had been cut into the shape of a key.
Grandpa had hidden a key inside the patch.
“How did Lily get it?” Mom asked.
Dad stared at me.
“The championship committee gave it to her.”
Owen whispered, “Mr. Carter planned this.”
“My grandfather died before I was born.”
“He planned for the next Carter champion,” Dad said. “He must have known Victor was stealing from the academy.”
Owen grabbed his jacket.
“We have to reach locker 317.”
“The police will go,” Mom said.
“And Victor will destroy whatever is inside before they get a warrant.”
Dad looked at her.
She knew what he wanted to do.
“No.”
“Sarah—”
“You have already run into one burning building tonight.”
“If that locker contains evidence—”
“You have a daughter.”
Dad looked at me.
“I know.”
“Then stop acting like you’re alone.”
I held out my hand.
“Give me the patch.”
“No.”
“It belongs to me.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“So is letting Victor keep hurting everyone.”
Dad crouched in front of me.
“Being brave doesn’t mean entering every fight.”
“And protecting people doesn’t mean hiding every truth.”
He went silent.
Those were his own lessons coming back to him.
Mom knelt beside us.
“We go to the police first. We tell them everything. No one enters that building alone.”
An hour later, two detectives met us outside Carter Academy.
The building stood on the north side of Chicago beneath a glowing red sign.
CARTER ACADEMY was still written above the doors.
Victor’s name had been added underneath.
Seeing that made Dad look sick.
Detective Ramos obtained permission from a judge to secure the locker area while another team searched for Owen’s mother.
The front door was unlocked.
That worried everyone.
Inside, trophy cases covered the walls.
Photos of Victor appeared everywhere.
There was only one picture of Grandpa, placed in a dark corner near the restrooms.
Dad touched its frame.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
We reached the basement.
Locker 317 stood at the end of a narrow row.
The hidden key fit.
Dad opened the door.
It was empty.
Owen punched the metal wall.
“He beat us here.”
Detective Ramos shined her flashlight inside.
“Wait.”
Scratches marked the back panel.
Dad pressed it.
The panel opened.
Behind it was a small digital recorder and a sealed envelope addressed to Daniel and Rebecca Carter.
Dad’s hands shook as he opened it.
The letter was from Grandpa.
Daniel,
If you are reading this, Victor has likely made his move. I discovered that he has been using the academy to arrange illegal bets and hide money. I confronted Rebecca, but she begged me not to report him because she fears what he will do.
The recorder contains a conversation with Victor. Protect your sister, but do not protect her by surrendering the truth.
Dad stopped reading.
Footsteps sounded above us.
The basement lights went out.
Detective Ramos drew her weapon.
“Police! Identify yourself!”
A metal door slammed at the top of the stairs.
Then we smelled gasoline.
Victor’s voice came through the building’s speaker system.
“You should have brought the patch to the bank, Daniel.”
Dad pushed the recorder into Mom’s hand.
“Get Lily behind the lockers.”
Victor continued.
“You always choose the building over your family.”
May you like
Smoke drifted beneath the basement door.
This time, the fire was not small.
