Vanessa dragged Mia to the floor minutes before her school performance.

I did not think. I did not plan. I only knew that Claire was about to be hurt because of me, and my father was helpless, and Julian was the most dangerous person in the world.

I pulled the list from its holder and held it up to the window.

“HERE!” I screamed. “I HAVE IT!”

Julian looked up. His eyes locked onto the paper in my hand.

“Throw it down!” he shouted. “Throw it down now!”

I looked at the paper. The only proof of everything. The only thing that could put both him and Vanessa in prison forever. If I gave it to him, they would destroy it. And then they would kill us all anyway.

But if I did not… Claire would die.

“Mia, no!” my father screamed. “Do not give it to him!”

Julian pressed the blade harder against Claire’s skin. A thin line of red appeared. Claire closed her eyes and turned her face away.

“LAST CHANCE!” Julian roared.

I looked at the list. Then at Julian. Then I tore the paper in half.

Julian flinched as if struck. “NO!”

I tore it again. And again. Into smaller and smaller pieces, right there in front of his eyes. Tears streamed down my face as I ripped Elena’s evidence to shreds.

“YOU LITTLE FOOL!” Julian screamed. “YOU HAVE DESTROYED THE ONLY PROOF!”

“NO!” I screamed back. “I HAVE THE WORDS MEMORIZED! AND I WROTE ANOTHER COPY! I GAVE IT TO A FRIEND! IF WE DO NOT RETURN BY SUNSET… THE POLICE WILL RECEIVE EVERYTHING!”

It was a lie. A desperate, terrible lie. But Julian froze. He looked at me—searching my face, wondering if I was telling the truth.

“AND THE WATERMARK!” I shouted. “EVERYONE KNOWS THE PAPER CAME FROM YOUR OFFICE! AND VANESSA ALREADY CONFESSED! SHE TOLD THE POLICE EVERYTHING! ABOUT YOU! ABOUT YOUR PLAN! ABOUT EVERYTHING!”

That part was true. Vanessa had implicated Julian during her questioning. She had not named him specifically, but she had admitted she did not act alone. And my father had told me the police were building a case.

Julian staggered back. He looked at my father. At Claire. At the pieces of paper drifting down from the window. Panic began to show in his eyes.

“She is lying,” he muttered. “She is only a child.”

“AM I?” I screamed. “THEN WHY ARE YOU AFRAID?”

Julian looked up at me. His expression changed. The panic hardened into something dark and final. He raised the knife.

“Then I will have to make sure there is no one left to tell the story.”

He turned toward my father.

“NO!” I screamed.

I looked around frantically. Beside me on the ledge sat a heavy, loose brick. I grabbed it with both hands, took aim, and hurled it through the broken window.

Glass shattered everywhere. The brick fell—fast and hard—and struck Julian’s arm just as he raised the knife. He howled in pain and dropped the blade. It clattered loudly across the concrete floor.

My father lunged forward, chair and all, and slammed his shoulder into Julian’s legs. Julian fell hard. Claire kicked the knife away with her bound feet.

“RUN!” my father roared. “MIA—GET HELP!”

I scrambled backward from the window. I dropped from the ledge to the crates, tumbled to the ground, and ran as fast as my legs could carry me. Back through the woods. Toward the nearest road. Toward help.

Behind me, I heard shouting. Julian’s voice—angry, roaring, giving chase. I did not look back. I ran faster than I had ever run in my life. My lungs burned. My legs ached. But I kept going.

I burst through the trees and onto the main road just as a police car rounded the bend—lights flashing, siren wailing. It screeched to a halt in front of me. Two officers jumped out.

“Child! Stop right there!”

“It’s him!” I gasped, clutching my chest. “Julian Mercer! He has my father! He has Claire! He is going to kill them! Please—hurry!”

The officers exchanged a look. One grabbed the radio. The other helped me into the back seat.

“Stay here,” he said. “We will go.”

Minutes later, we were back at the warehouse. Officers poured from multiple vehicles. They surrounded the building. They stormed inside.

I waited in the police car, watching the doors. My heart hammering. Please, God. Please let them be alive.

Then—my father walked out. Supporting Claire. Both pale, both shaken, but walking. Alive.

I threw open the car door and ran to him. He caught me in his arms and nearly fell to his knees, holding me so tightly I could barely breathe.

“You’re safe,” he kept whispering. “You’re safe, my brave, brave girl.”

Behind them, officers led Julian out in handcuffs. He looked defeated. Broken. As he passed us, he looked straight at me.

“You destroyed everything,” he said quietly. “All of it.”

“No,” I said. “You destroyed everything. And now you have to pay for it.”

Julian was placed in the back of a police car and driven away.

My father held my face in his hands. “The list, Mia… did you really—”

“I tore it up,” I said. “But I memorized every word. And Elena’s note is still safe at home. And Vanessa’s confession is recorded. We have enough. We have everything.”