ETHAN
Maren didn't send the invitation like a plea.
She sent it like a summons.
Ethan watched her type on her desktop with the same calm violence Nora used when she wrote a statement.
No extra words.
No warmth.
No opening for a narrative.
To: Director Vasquez.
Cc: Campus Safety Lead.
Cc: Scholarship Office Director.
Subject: DOCUMENTED MEETING REQUEST — EXTORTION INCIDENT — ALDRIDGE PRIZE FINALISTS.
Body:
Professor Aldridge has been instructed to cease contact with student finalists. He has refused to relinquish moderation access. He has admitted editing a Writing Club draft connected to extortion. A staged "second finalist statement" was discovered. Request your immediate presence.
Location: Whitmore Hall, Office 2B.
Time: 5:55 PM.
Ethan's jaw tightened.
She wasn't inviting.
She was pinning him to a wall.
Maren hit send.
The email left with a quiet whoosh.
Procedure as a weapon.
Priya bounced on her heels like she wanted to sprint into a fight.
Hannah sat rigid, hands in her lap, breathing like she was trying not to vanish.
Daniel stared at the carpet and whispered numbers to himself.
Nora stood by the window, face blank, eyes fixed on the courtyard like she was practicing being a statue.
Ethan stayed near her.
Not touching.
Touching was a story.
Maren looked at the officer.
"Units stationed," she asked.
He nodded.
"North stairwell, south stairwell, corridor outside 214," he said.
Maren's eyes narrowed.
"And Aldridge," she asked.
The officer hesitated.
"Still in his office," he said. "Room 214."
Ethan's stomach turned.
Still.
Like a spider that didn't move because it knew the web was working.
Maren's desktop pinged.
A reply.
Not from Vasquez.
From Aldridge.
Subject: Re: Documented Meeting Request.
Ethan's pulse jumped.
Maren didn't open it immediately.
She looked at Nora.
"Do you want to leave," Maren asked.
Nora's voice came out flat.
"No," she said.
Ethan's jaw tightened.
Maren nodded.
"Okay," she said. "Then you do not speak unless asked. You do not argue. You do not give him anything he can quote."
Nora nodded once.
Boring.
Clean.
Maren clicked Aldridge's email.
She read.
Her face didn't change.
But Ethan saw her fingers tighten on the mouse.
"He's declining," Maren said.
Priya barked a laugh.
"Of course," she said.
Maren kept reading.
"And he's requesting a private meeting with Nora," Maren added.
Nora didn't blink.
Ethan felt heat rise.
Maren's voice stayed flat.
"He says," Maren continued, "that he will 'resolve the public narrative' if Nora provides the pages voluntarily."
Priya's eyes flashed.
"That's a trade," she said.
Maren nodded.
"It's leverage," she corrected.
Ethan's voice was low.
"He's using the leak as pressure," he said.
Maren's gaze stayed steady.
"Yes," she said. "And he wants it off record."
Hannah whispered, "He can't do that."
Maren looked at her.
"He can try," Maren said.
The officer's radio crackled.
"Unit two to Ellis," a voice said. "We have movement. Subject in hoodie entering room 214."
Ethan's stomach dropped.
Entering.
Not leaving.
Cal.
Maren went still.
"What," she said.
The radio repeated.
"Hoodie entering Aldridge's office. Door shut."
Silence.
Priya's mouth opened.
Then closed.
Nora's eyes finally moved from the window.
To Ethan.
A question.
Ethan's mind went cold.
If Cal was in Aldridge's office, it meant two things.
Either Aldridge was being played.
Or Aldridge was playing with him.
Maren spoke, voice calm.
"Officer," she said, "hold that door. Do not let anyone leave that room without being seen."
The officer nodded.
He spoke into the radio.
"Unit two, hold the perimeter. No exit."
Priya whispered, "We can catch him."
Maren's eyes were hard.
"We can document him," she said.
Ethan's phone buzzed.
A new email.
From Director Vasquez.
Subject: On my way.
Body: Do not engage Aldridge alone. I want eyes on every interaction.
Ethan exhaled.
Maren nodded once.
"Good," she said. "Now we wait for the meeting."
Nora's phone buzzed.
Not in her hand.
On the desk.
Airplane mode.
It shouldn't.
But it did.
A notification banner appeared anyway.
From Notes.
BORING GIRL — UPDATED.
Ethan's stomach went cold.
Because airplane mode didn't stop someone who was already inside.
Maren's gaze snapped to the phone.
She didn't touch it.
She didn't let anyone touch it.
She just said, "Officer. Photograph the banner."
The officer did.
Click.
Then he looked at Maren like he wanted instructions that made sense.
"That's not possible," he said.
Maren's voice stayed flat.
"It's possible," she said. "It's just not supposed to happen."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"It's local," he said. "Notes doesn't push like that unless—"
Unless it's being edited on the device.
Unless someone has access.
Unless the device is lying about being offline.
Priya whispered, "He's messing with our heads."
Maren looked at Hannah.
"Hannah," she said, "your phone. Does Slack show any new messages from Cal."
Hannah swallowed and checked.
"No," she whispered. "Nothing new."
Maren nodded.
"So this isn't Slack," she said. "This is personal."
Nora's face stayed blank.
But Ethan could see the tension in the corner of her mouth.
A muscle trying not to move.
Maren spoke.
"Nora," she said, "do you want to see it."
Nora didn't answer for a second.
That second was everything.
Then she said, flat, "No."
Good.
Ethan felt something unclench in his chest.
Maren nodded.
"Okay," she said. "Then we treat it as poison and we store it."
She looked at the officer.
"Evidence bag," she said.
He blinked.
"For a phone," he asked.
"Yes," Maren said.
He produced a large evidence bag.
He slid Nora's phone into it without turning the screen toward anyone.
The bag sealed with a strip of tape.
Click.
The phone became an object.
Not a mouth.
Not a mirror.
Priya exhaled.
"Okay," she whispered. "So now he can't write to her."
Maren's eyes were hard.
"He already did," she said. "We're not preventing. We're containing."
The officer's radio crackled again.
"Unit two," the voice said. "Door to 214 just opened."
Maren's gaze sharpened.
"Who," she asked.
The radio replied.
"Aldridge. He stepped out."
Ethan's stomach tightened.
"Is Cal with him," Maren asked.
A pause.
Then the radio said, "Negative. No hoodie visible."
Priya whispered, "He went in and disappeared."
Daniel made a small broken sound.
Ethan's mind went cold again.
If Cal had entered 214 and wasn't visible leaving, there were only a few options.
A second exit.
A closet.
A bathroom.
Or he had never been there at all.
A false report.
A staged movement.
Maren stood.
"We don't chase," she said.
Priya blinked.
"Then what," she asked.
Maren's gaze stayed steady.
"We meet," she said. "With Vasquez. With Aldridge. With cameras. In the open."
Ethan's phone buzzed.
An incoming call.
Director Vasquez.
Maren answered on speaker.
"I'm at the lobby," Vasquez said. "I want Aldridge brought down. Now. And I want the students in your office, door open, officer present. No more closed rooms."
Maren nodded.
"Yes," she said.
Vasquez's voice sharpened.
"And Ellis," she added, "if Aldridge edited that draft, he is done."
Maren's eyes flicked to Nora.
"Understood," Maren said.
The call ended.
Maren looked at Ethan.
"Walk with me," she said.
Ethan blinked.
"Me," he repeated.
Maren nodded.
"Yes," she said. "You're calm. And he hates you. That's useful."
Ethan's stomach turned.
Useful.
A new role.
A new witness.
He looked at Nora.
Nora didn't move.
But her eyes held his.
Don't.
Don't get pulled.
Ethan swallowed.
"Okay," he said.
Maren opened the office door.
No secrecy.
No trap.
She stepped into the hall.
And Ethan followed.
Behind them, Priya whispered, "He's going to show his teeth."
And in Ethan's pocket, his phone buzzed again.
A text.
Unknown number.
Two words.
COME ALONE.
Ethan's blood went cold.
Because it wasn't the burner.
It wasn't the number Daniel had shown them.
It was a new mouth.
A new mask.
Maren didn't see the message.
Not yet.
Ethan kept walking.
Boring.
Clean.
Visible.
But his mind was already counting exits again.
Because somewhere between Maren's office and the lobby, Cal had decided Ethan was the next lever.