Chapter 4: The Things They Took From Me

When I got home, my waterproof mapping tablet and noise-canceling headset were gone from my desk.

They weren't company equipment.

I'd saved for two summers, drawing trail maps for the visitor center, just to afford them.

They held my university course materials, my scholarship files, and four years' worth of route data.

I checked the drawers, the closet, and even beneath my bed.

Nothing.

I found my mother in the living room folding Lily's clothes into a designer suitcase.

"Have you seen my tablet?" I asked.

She didn't look up. "Which tablet?"

"The black waterproof one. It was on my desk."

"Maybe you misplaced it."

"And my headset?"

She finally looked at me.

"Mara, you have a flight tomorrow. Don't start another argument over something insignificant."

My stomach tightened.

"Those things aren't insignificant. My scholarship documents are on that tablet."

My father appeared in the doorway.

"I put them in the office."

"Why?"

"Because company information was stored on them."

"They're my personal devices."

"You used them for company work, so the company has a right to secure them."

I stared at him.

"Then give them back."

He folded his arms.

"After we review what's on them."

"You're going through my personal files?"

"If there's evidence in there that could damage Bennett Mountain Adventures, yes."

The words made everything suddenly clear.

They weren't worried about my devices.

They were worried about what I had saved on them.

I took one step toward the office.

My father blocked the doorway.

"Not tonight."

"Move."

"Mara, don't make me call security."

I almost laughed.

Security.

At my own home.

Then Lily came downstairs, wearing a new jacket that probably cost more than my monthly food budget.

"What's happening?" she asked.

My mother immediately softened.

"Nothing, sweetheart. Your sister is upset about some old work files."

Lily looked at me.

"Maybe you should just let Dad keep them. You don't need to fight about everything."

"Those files belong to me."

"But if they can help the company, why not cooperate?"

I looked at her for several seconds.

"Because the company is the reason I nearly died."

Her expression changed.

For the first time, she didn't have an answer.

My father stepped forward.

"Enough. Go pack your things for tomorrow."

I turned toward the stairs.

Then I stopped.

"I already packed."

His eyebrows lifted.

"Packed for what?"

"Edinburgh."

Silence filled the room.

My mother dropped one of Lily's sweaters.

"What did you say?"

"I'm accepting the scholarship."

My father's face hardened.

"You're not going anywhere."

"Actually, I am."

"You can't just abandon the company."

"I'm not abandoning the company. I'm leaving a job I was never properly employed by."

His expression turned furious.

"After everything we've done for you?"

I almost asked what they had done.

Instead, I said, "You taught me how to survive without help. I'm finally going to use that lesson."

I went upstairs and closed my bedroom door.

For the first time in my life, I didn't feel guilty for choosing myself.

I opened my laptop and checked the cloud backup.

The radio recording was still there.

So were the original dispatch logs.

Then I noticed something I hadn't seen before.

A second file had been uploaded automatically from the company server.

It was labeled: Emergency Priority Override.

My heart began to pound.

I opened it.

The file showed the exact moment my emergency classification had been changed from red to gray.

The authorization code belonged to my father.

But beneath his name was another line.

Approved by: Denise Bennett.

My mother hadn't just known about it.

She had approved it.

I stared at the screen until my eyes burned.

Then I downloaded the file and saved three separate copies.

Tomorrow, I would leave for Edinburgh.

But before I left, I was going to make sure they could never rewrite what happened to me again.