Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 98

Samuel watched the monitor with an unreadable expression on his face. What he saw still didn’t make sense. Why had Vivian gone into his office and looked through his things? The two hidden security cameras had caught her in the act, rifling through his desk and shelves, attempting to open the filing cabinet and finding the safe behind the books.

What really caught his attention was how she’d taken the time to not only look through the documents she found, but spent time photographing one in particular.

It had happened the day prior and he’d already watched the video a number of times already but still couldn’t wrap his head around why. What was she looking for? What about that file had caught her attention?

From the angle of the camera and where she’d pulled it out from the desk, it’d been one of the detectives’ files. The problem was he couldn’t tell which one.

He had to find a way to bring it up with Vivian. This sort of behaviour wasn’t acceptable; if she wanted privacy then she had to respect his in return.

The ringing of his phone finally forced Samuel to look away from the monitor to check who was called. A frown creased his brow as he read the caller ID.

When Laurent called it was never good news, especially when it happened during school hours. Those calls usually ended with Samuel feeling annoyed and frustrated about his youngest son. After he finished the call he wished this time had been no different.

The thought of something happening to Vivian — and not being told what, making his imagination run wild with possibilities — made him want to do certain things that would get him in very serious legal trouble. With that in mind, he texted Charles about possibly needing him soon.

It took all his self control to drive the speed limit and follow the rules of the road by not running red lights. Eight minutes later he was parked in front of the school. Was he illegally parked? Yes. Did he care? Not even a little. He could afford to pay any fine or tow fees that came from it. Hell, he’d buy a new car if need be.

To his surprise, Tyrell was waiting for him at the front gate. “What’s going on?” He asked, voice clipped as the two of them fell into step.

“Wish I knew,” Tyrell replied. “Your son called, asking questions about Saturday.”

Samuel shot a look at the man at his side. “About her mood?”

Tyrell nodded solemnly as he reached for the door. “My thoughts on it. Then he asked if I could track her phone as more than a general area.”

That didn’t sound good. It made it sound like she’d been kidnapped or something of the sort. If that was the case, why hadn’t the school notified him?

“Mr Devreaux.” Reagan’s voice called out as the men stepped into the school. The redhead greeted them, looking serious. The principal, an older lady who refused to wear anything but business suits in the school colours, was nearby, arms crossed as she watched them.

“What’s this about, Reagan?” He asked, eyes glancing to the principal before returning to his son’s best friend.

“It’s easier to show you.”

“I’d really prefer you tell us,” the principal said as she let out a sigh. “I have a lot of work to do.”

Reagan gave the woman a grim smile. “Just follow me, please.”

The redhead walked swiftly through the empty halls, not looking back to make sure the adults followed. Samuel’s worry was beginning to turn to annoyance. Why was everyone so focused on showing them instead of explaining?

There was a brief moment of confusion among the adults as they were led to the girls’ locker room, and another bit when Reagan entered it without any sign of hesitation.

“Excuse me, Mr Carter,” the principal began, voice pitching a little high as her student disappeared into the wrong locker room for his gender. “That’s the girls’ locker room!” She hurriedly followed in his wake, leaving Samuel to exchange a quick glance with the bodyguard. Neither man understood what was going on. Upon entering the room, however, a number of their questions began to answer themselves.

The first thing Samuel saw was his son sitting on the floor, followed by another boy standing a bit to his right — it looked like the one Vivian had gone to the amusement park with, if photos were anything to go by — and a girl crouched to his left. It was only after he noted all the others that he noticed Vivian.

She was sitting in front of Laurent and looked … not good. Her pale skin was somehow even more so, and even from afar he could see she was shaking. Her hair and clothes were also dishevelled — wait, why was she in her gym clothes?

“Miss St Peters, what’s going on?” The principal asked as she took a step closer, but stopped. The woman knew the Devreaux family and that Vivian was part of it; if they’d called their father it meant things were about to go very bad for her in the next few minutes.

Before he realized what he was doing, Samuel was across the room, kneeling by his daughter. “Vivian… what happened?”

“I’m fine,” she muttered, her voice as shaky as her body. She sounded annoyed and frustrated, like he felt when Laurent would call during the day. It almost made him smile. Almost.

“She can’t stand up,” Laurent told his father with a sigh. “But she keeps saying she’s fine.”

“What happened?” Samuel asked, keeping his voice calm when all he wanted to do was punch something, maybe even someone.

Up close Vivian looked worse. Her eyes were red and tired, and it looked like there were marks on her face. Without waiting for permission, Samuel reached out and cupped her cheek. She visibly flinched, pulling away from him even though his touch had been gentle. “Sorry,” he murmured. “I’m just trying to see those marks better.”

Shaky fingers reached up and traced along the marks near her ear. They were crescent shaped and looked like she’d dug her nails into the skin around her ears.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing, Vivian,” he countered with a sigh. Turning his attention to Laurent, he asked again. “What happened?”

As his son explained, Samuel’s anger went from burning hot to sub zero, so cold it felt like it would burn through him from the inside. Someone had deliberately trapped his daughter in a locker for hours.

“Who,” he demanded, looking from one teen to the next, completely ignoring the principal who only stood there, looking horrified. He’d deal with her later.

Everyone turned their attention to Vivian, who wouldn’t meet any of their eyes.

“Vivian, I need to know who did this,” he told his daughter, anger beginning to lace itself in his tone.

Her silence was the worst part. Why was she so adamant at keeping these people from facing the consequences of their actions?

“I think we should inform the police,” the principal finally said, breaking the tense silence that’d enveloped them all.

“No!” Vivian practically shouted, whipping her head around to stare at the principal.

Samuel’s brows creased, wondering why she would be against having the police come. Did she think this was somehow her fault? “This isn’t your fault,” he began to say only for his daughter to shake her head.

“No police.”

“Miss St Peters, this is a criminal matter,” the principal explained. “Unlawful confinement is just the tip of what they could be charged with for what happened.”

“She’s right,” Miriam nodded. “You can’t let something like this go. What if they did it to someone else?”

Vivian pursed her lips and shook her head, as stubborn as always.

Samuel knew there would be no talking her out of her decision, which was why he chose to take matters into his own hands. “Call the police,” he ordered.