Chapter 4 - Leah Porter
Ava searched the name before breakfast.
Leah Porter.
The internet gave her almost nothing.
One archived Ridgeview theater program.
A cross-country result from two years earlier.
An honor-roll announcement.
Then, buried beneath older posts, a photograph from Ridgeview’s social-media account.
Leah stood beside Principal Mercer, holding a certificate.
Congratulations to junior Leah Porter, recipient of the Ridgeview Integrity Award.
The post had been published eighteen months earlier.
Four months later, Leah disappeared from Ridgeview.
Ava called Sophie.
“Did you know her?”
There was a pause.
“I knew of her.”
“What happened?”
“I heard she had a breakdown.”
“From who?”
“Mackenzie.”
Of course.
By noon, Maya had located the Porter family.
They lived thirty miles away.
Leah’s mother refused to speak.
Her father hung up.
Leah herself sent a two-line response through Maya’s professional account.
I do not attend Ridgeview anymore. I have nothing to say about that school.
Maya did not pressure her.
Ava wanted to.
“Her file was hidden in Mercer’s office.”
“We don’t actually know that yet.”
“Your source said—”
“My source says a box with her name was found in a locked storage cabinet attached to his administrative suite. We still need to know what’s inside.”
“Can’t your source open it?”
“Possessing a file is different from stealing confidential student records.”
Ava hated journalism.
Not because Maya was wrong.
Because facts moved slower than fear.
By afternoon, the district announced an emergency board session for Monday.
The contract vote scheduled for Thursday was “under review.”
Scott Civic’s attorney accused Maya’s newspaper of attempting to sabotage a lawful procurement process.
Principal Mercer remained at work.
That angered Ava most.
She was home.
Mackenzie was suspended.
Yet Mercer still sat inside the same office where someone had apparently hidden evidence.
At four, Laura’s employer called.
Their audit showed she had never accessed Scott family records.
She could return Monday.
Ava hugged her so hard Laura laughed for the first time in two days.
The relief lasted twelve minutes.
Then their landlord called.
Their lease would not be renewed in sixty days.
Laura slowly lowered the phone.
Ava stared.
“Why?”
“He said the owner plans to renovate.”
They both knew who owned the company that had recently purchased their duplex.
Scott Residential Holdings.
A subsidiary Ava had never cared about until Maya searched the property database.
Grant Scott.
Laura sat at the kitchen table.
“This is legal, isn’t it?”
“Possibly,” Maya said over speakerphone. “Depending on the lease terms and local tenant rules.”
Ava felt sick.
The retaliation no longer seemed anonymous.
But proving intent would be difficult.
At six twenty, Ava received a direct message.
Not from an unknown account.
From Mackenzie.
We need to talk.
Ava showed her mother.
“No.”
“Mom.”
“No.”
Maya, on video call, said, “Don’t meet privately.”
Mackenzie sent another.
I know who Leah Porter is.
Ava stared.
Then:
And if my father finds out I told you, I’m done.
They agreed to meet in a public place.
The next afternoon, Mackenzie entered a crowded coffee shop wearing a baseball cap and no makeup.
Ava almost didn’t recognize her.
Laura sat two tables away.
Maya remained outside.
Mackenzie looked at Ava for a long moment.
“You brought the reporter.”
“She’s outside.”
“I told you not to.”
“You knocked me onto a cafeteria floor yesterday.”
Mackenzie looked away.
Ava waited.
No apology came.
Instead Mackenzie said, “Leah was friends with my cousin.”
“What happened?”
“My dad says she was unstable.”
“What happened?”
Mackenzie’s fingers tightened around her paper cup.
“Last year, some seniors made a private ranking page.”
Ava’s stomach turned.
“Ranking what?”
“Students. Clothes. Houses. Parents’ jobs. Who was poor. Who was weird.”
Cruel but believable.
“Were you involved?”
“I followed it.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Mackenzie stared at the table.
“Yes.”
Ava forced herself not to react.
“Leah found out who ran it.”
“Who?”
“One of the boys was the son of a board member. Another boy’s mother ran the foundation.”
“And you?”
“I submitted pictures.”
Ava nearly stood.
Mackenzie flinched.
“Leah reported everything.”
“What did Mercer do?”
“He told her they needed time.”
Mackenzie swallowed.
“Then someone got into Leah’s school email and leaked messages where she complained about teachers. Suddenly everyone said she was a liar and a psycho.”
“Who got into her email?”
“I don’t know.”
Ava didn’t believe her.
Mackenzie leaned forward.
“Leah had a panic attack during an assembly. After that, her parents pulled her out.”
“And her complaint?”
“Gone.”
“Why would your dad care?”
Mackenzie looked toward the window.
“Because the board member threatened to oppose the construction project if his son got expelled.”
Ava’s heart pounded.
“Did you hear that yourself?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know?”
Mackenzie’s voice fell.
“I saw emails on my dad’s iPad.”
There it was.
Ava leaned closer.
“The same emails Maya has?”
“Some.”
“What did Mercer say?”
Mackenzie hesitated.
Then she quoted it.
“‘We protected the Porter situation. I need the same cooperation when noise starts around Mackenzie.’”
Ava went cold.
“You knew.”
Mackenzie’s eyes filled with anger.
Not shame.
Anger.
“My father told me I was protected.”
“And you used it.”
Mackenzie said nothing.
“You knew every time I reported you that nothing would happen.”
“Yes.”
The word was barely audible.
Ava stood.
Mackenzie grabbed her wrist.
“Wait.”
Ava jerked free.
“Don’t touch me.”
“I have something else.”
“Why should I care?”
“Because you think this is about my dad helping me.”
“It is.”
“No.”
Mackenzie looked genuinely frightened now.
“That was just the benefit.”
Ava slowly sat again.
“What was the real reason?”
Mackenzie reached into her jacket.
She placed a small flash drive on the table.
“My dad started deleting things last night.”
Ava stared at it.
“From where?”
“His home office.”
“What things?”
“Emails. Contracts. Messages.”
Ava did not touch the drive.
Mackenzie whispered:
May you like
“I copied what I could first.”
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