I let out a sharp laugh. “Of course you do.”
He didn’t smile.
“This isn’t just a gift,” he said.
I pointed at the papers. “Then what is it?”
An old incident report scan.
His voice hardened.
“It’s part of a plan,” he said.
My stomach sank.
“What plan?” I asked.
He slid out another page.
An old incident report scan.
“Her name is Mia.”
He tapped a line.
I read it.
Second student unaccounted for 18 minutes.
My head snapped up.
“Second student?” I whispered.
Andrew nodded. “Her name is Mia.”
“The school buried it.”
My throat tightened.
“She got found,” he said. “Before it got worse. But it happened. Two kids. Same trip. Same adult.”
I stared at Mr. Reed’s name.
Andrew slid more pages forward.
Statements. Emails. A complaint stamped RECEIVED—then nothing.
“The school buried it,” he said. “Protected themselves. Protected him.”
“You’re the witness.”
“You’re saying he covered it up,” I said, sick.
“I’m saying I can prove it,” Andrew replied.
“And you need me,” I said.
He nodded.
“You’re the witness,” he said. “The outsider. The one person he couldn’t control.”
My chest tightened.
My knee twinged sharply.
“And he kept teaching,” Andrew added. “Kept taking kids out there.”
I whispered, “Oh my God.”
Andrew nodded once. “Yeah.”
I leaned back.
My knee twinged sharply.
I winced.
“It’s to give you back something.”
Andrew stood. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
I stared at the deed again.
“And the cabin?” I asked.
His voice softened.
“It’s not to buy you,” he said. “It’s to give you back something.”
My eyes burned.
I scoffed. “My knees are shot.”
“I know,” he said. “That’s why it’s easy trails. A place you can sit and still feel the mountains.”
My eyes burned.
I whispered, “I started hearing sobbing in the wind.”
Andrew’s face softened. “Me too.”
Silence.
“No revenge circus.”
Wind. Snow. Old fear.
I straightened.
“If we do this,” I said, “we do it right.”
Andrew’s eyes lifted.
“Lawyer,” I said.
He nodded. “I have one. Dana. She’s solid.”
I looked at the stack.
“No revenge circus,” I added. “Truth. Only truth.”
“Agreed,” he said.
“And we file first,” I said.
“We file first,” he echoed.
I exhaled.
I looked at the stack.
Then I nodded.
At the years of silence.
At the mess that should’ve been handled back then.
“I thought I did my part and went home,” I said.
Andrew shook his head.
“You saved a kid,” he said. “But the story kept going.”
I swallowed.
“I’ll say what I saw.”
Then I nodded.
“Okay,” I said.
Andrew blinked. “Okay?”
“I’ll tell the truth,” I said. “I’ll sign what I have to sign. I’ll say what I saw.”
His shoulders dropped like he’d been holding a pack for twenty years.
He whispered, “Thank you.”
Andrew stood beside me.
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