Chapter 4: The Second Server
Ruiz wanted to move us to a hotel, but Marcy refused to be hidden under Conrad’s cameras.
“We go to the gym,” she said.
“You have bruised ribs,” my wife replied.
“And the footage is about me.”
I shook my head.
“You stay with your mother.”
Marcy faced me.
“You just apologized for making decisions without me.”
My hand dropped from the doorknob.
“She goes,” Ruiz said.
“But she stays beside me.”
The gym was dark when we arrived.
A strip of police tape hung loose across the entrance.
A figure moved behind the cage.
“Show your hands,” Ruiz called.
The coach stepped into the light.
His gray beard looked silver under the emergency lamp.
“If Conrad learns I called you, I lose this place.”
“You sent the photograph?” I asked.
“Yes.”
Marcy stood behind Ruiz.
“Why help us now?”
The coach looked at the floor.
“My name is Graham Bell.
I opened this gym to keep angry young men from becoming cruel older ones.”
“You laughed at my father,” Marcy said.
“I did.”
“You blocked the door.”
“I did that too.”
Graham reached into his jacket slowly and placed a key on the mat.
“I told myself Dustin was loud, not dangerous.
Then I watched that recording.”
“That didn’t stop you from letting him train here.”
“No.” Graham’s voice cracked.
“Cowardice can wear the same clothes as loyalty.”
He led us into a storage room and moved a cabinet.
A small black server box blinked behind it.
“Conrad paid me to keep a mirror of every camera feed,” Graham said.
“He said it was for insurance.”
Ruiz crouched beside the box.
“This could hold years of footage.”
“It does.”
A car door slammed outside.
Graham switched off the light.
“He found us.”
Dustin’s voice came through the gym.
“Coach?
I know you’re in here.”
Marcy stopped breathing for a second.
I placed myself between her and the door.
Dustin kicked aside the loose police tape.
“Uncle Conrad said you might do something stupid.”
Graham stepped from the storage room.
“Leave.”
“You work for us.”
“I never worked for you.”
Dustin’s smile returned.
“Then why did Conrad pay your mortgage?”
Graham’s face changed.
Ruiz whispered, “Is that true?”
“My wife had cancer,” Graham said.
“The bank was taking the building.”
Dustin pointed toward the hidden server.
“There it is.
Hand it over, and my uncle forgets your debt.”
“No.”
“He’ll take the gym.”
“Then he takes it.”
Dustin’s eyes moved to Marcy.
“You caused all this.”
Marcy stepped beside me before I could stop her.
“No, Dustin.
You did.”
“You lied to the police.”
“I finally stopped lying for you.”
Dustin reached inside his jacket.
Ruiz’s hand moved to her holster.
“Keep your hand where I can see it.”
He slowly withdrew a phone and held up the screen.
My wife was leaving our house.
A dark sedan waited across the street.
“Midnight,” Dustin said.
“Bring the server, or she gets into the wrong car.”
I moved toward him.
“Dad,” Marcy said sharply.
I stopped.
Dustin smirked.
“Still obedient when your daughter gives an order.”
Graham lifted the server from behind the cabinet.
“Take it.”
“No,” Ruiz said.
Graham carried it toward Dustin.
“Your uncle wants this box.
Let the woman go.”
Dustin took it with both hands.
Then Graham pressed a switch beneath the casing.
A shrill alarm filled the gym.
“What did you do?” Dustin shouted.
“Uploaded everything.”
Dustin threw the server down and crushed it beneath his boot.
Graham watched the lights go dark.
“You’re too late.”
My phone rang.
My wife’s name appeared on the screen, but when I answered, Conrad spoke.
“Your wife is safe for now, Mercer.”
“Let me speak to her.”
“You taught me never to surrender leverage.”
A woman cried out in the background.
My grip tightened around the phone.
Conrad lowered his voice.
“Come to the old courthouse parking garage.
And this time, leave your daughter behind.”
The line went silent.
Marcy looked at Ruiz.
“That wasn’t my mother’s voice.”
Ruiz’s phone lit up with an incoming video call.
My wife appeared on the screen, standing safely beside two patrol officers.
Behind her, however, someone was pounding against the window of Conrad’s sedan.
May you like
Graham stared at the image.
“That’s my wife.”
