“The board’s on about resources.”Malik leaned in, voice low.“Kids in emergency placements need homes now.”
“These kids need us now.”Her gaze hit Tiana’s photo.“Fifteen placements with bad paperwork.All Coastal Futures.All this year.”
“Paperwork snags happen.Staff burn out—”
“P.O.boxes?Same references?Kids in homes that don’t fit?”Her pen tapped her notepad.“That’s no snag, Malik.That’s a setup.”
Lights flickered, shadows crossing his face.“You got a call from Coastal.”
“How’d you know?”
“They hit me up too.”He exhaled.“They’ve got board connections.They don’t like questions.”
“They’re hurting kids.”
“No proof.”
“Tiana’s proof.”Her voice cut.“Her placement family asked about new identities.Then they vanished.Coastal ‘lost’ half her file.”
Malik’s shoulders stiffened.“You reported it.”
“And got nothing.”Her pen tapped faster.“Fifteen kids at risk, maybe more.”
“Look, Keisha, you’re running on fumes.”
“These kids are my job.”
“Keeping this department alive is mine.”He stood, chair scraping.“The board wants the audit shelved.You have two days bring me something solid, or I reassign you.”
“I’ll have it in one.”Confidence steadied her.
Malik’s knuckles rapped her desk twice.“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
Alone, Keisha reopened her spreadsheet.Amara Lyle’s name glared.Caseworker for three shady placements, typing across the room with stiff precision.Careless?Or complicit?
Her phone buzzed.
Stop digging.Some things stay buried.Unknown number.
Her stomach sank.
Another.
We know where Tiana is.
A third.
We’re watching.Back off.
Amara’s typing didn’t falter.Was she in this?Keisha’s pen clattered to the floor.
“You okay over there?”Amara called, typing pausing.
“Yeah, just dropped my pen,” Keisha said, grabbing it, pulse spiking.That black sedan outside her apartment three days ago—no plates, tinted windows—felt real now.
Her tremor flared.She gripped her desk, emailed her notes to her personal account and Cassia for backup.Threats meant she was close.
“Still at it, huh?”Amara stood at her cubicle, adjusting her glasses.
