Chapter 4

By nine-thirty that night, the training grounds were already dark.

I'd just reached the parking lot when I heard the metallic scrape of the back gate opening softly, like someone was trying not to get caught.

I followed the wall around and saw the headlights of a spare training car flick on.

Sienna was behind the wheel. Mason sat in the passenger seat, and several other students were crammed into the back.

Melody stood outside the car, looking like she was about to cry. "Sienna, please. Don't do this."

Sienna rolled down the window. "If you're scared, then get lost."

Mason held up his phone with a grin. "The livestream's up. Time to show everyone what a genius driver looks like after getting held back by that psycho instructor."

Melody clutched her phone so tightly her knuckles turned white. She tried several times to tap the screen, but someone beside her kept knocking her hand away.

I stepped out.

"Kill the engine. Get out."

Everyone inside the car jumped.

Sienna's face went pale for a split second before hardening again. "What are you doing here?"

"I said get out."

Mason frowned. "You're not even our instructor anymore. Why do you care?"

I pulled out my phone. "Get out of the car now, and I'll handle this internally."

Sienna shoved the door open and stormed toward me. "Is tattling on people the only thing you're good at?"

I looked at her. "You took the keys without permission, started the car outside the training schedule, and you've got passengers inside. Sienna, do you have any idea who's responsible if something happens?"

She laughed. "There you go again. Sutton, is 'what if something happens' the only thing you ever know how to say?"

She lunged for my phone.

I stepped back.

Mason moved between us and shoved me hard in the shoulder.

My back slammed into the wall, and my knee crashed into a concrete parking stop beside it. Pain exploded through my leg, and my vision went black for a moment.

My phone hit the ground, but the voice recorder was still running.

Melody screamed, "Mason! What are you doing?"

Sienna froze for a moment, but she didn't stop.

"Let's go. Ignore her."

She climbed back into the driver's seat and slammed the door shut. The engine roared to life.

I shouted, "Sienna! Kill the engine!"

She ignored me.

Facing the livestream, Mason grinned. "Watch this. Who needs an instructor brake?"

The car circled the back lot, picking up speed with every lap. Near the side gate, the night custodian was bent over gathering her cleaning supplies.

Melody's voice cracked as she screamed, "There's someone ahead!"

Sienna jerked the wheel. The tires rolled over a traffic cone, and the car lurched violently sideways.

The students in the back erupted into screams.

"Brake!"

Instead, the engine roared even louder. She'd mistaken the gas for the brake.

The car shot straight toward the custodian.

I reacted on instinct, lunging forward and yanking her out of the way.

My old knee injury slammed into the pavement, and the pain was so intense I could barely get back to my feet.

A second later, the training car crashed into a parked spare vehicle beside the wall. White smoke billowed from the hood as the airbags exploded open.

Mason's forehead split open, blood running down past his eyebrow. Sienna slumped over the steering wheel, trembling from head to toe.

By the time Mr. Cross and the security guards rushed out, both of them had gone pale.

"Who was driving? Who took the keys?"

No one answered.

Sienna slowly raised her head and looked at me through the shattered windshield.

"Coach Sutton..."

It was the first time she'd called me "Coach" after something had gone wrong.

Bracing myself against the wall, I stood and handed my cracked phone to Mr. Cross. "The recording's on there. The security cameras back here were recording too."

One of the security guards noticed the phone on the center console was still livestreaming. He immediately recorded the screen with his own phone before saving the livestream footage.

The color slowly drained from Sienna's face.

In the distance, the wail of an ambulance grew louder.

Meanwhile, Mason's phone still sat on the center console with the livestream running.

Comments continued pouring in.

[Wasn't she saying she didn't need an instructor brake?]

[Was that instructor the one who threw herself in front of the car to save someone?]

[I thought they said Harper Sutton abandoned people instead of helping them?]