The silence after Anna left was louder than her words.
Coach Ramirez leaned against his desk, shoulders slumped. The man looked older now, like her presence had peeled back whatever armor he'd been wearing for twenty years.
Rafael didn't move. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides.
"There's more, isn't there?" he asked.
"Something you still haven't said."
Ramirez looked up.
"I told you what happened."
"No," Rafael said, stepping closer. "You told me what they did. I'm asking what you covered up."
The Missing Report
Rafael pulled a folded page from his jacket.
A copy of the original school disciplinary report filed the day after Eli's death.
"It's missing half the roster. No mention of Jude. No mention of you recommending suspension. You were principal witness and somehow… you were never named in the investigation."
Coach Ramirez didn't answer.
"Why?" Rafael demanded.
"Why was your name wiped from the record?"
A Terrible Bargain
The coach sat down, finally looking Rafael in the eye.
"Because I made a deal."
Rafael froze.
"The school board. The athletic board. They were scared. Eli was a rising star. Sponsors were watching him. If word got out that a team killed their own golden boy, the entire program would've collapsed."
He paused, voice low.
"So they said… cover it up. Let it go. Say it was an accident. Blame the impact. Protect the system."
Rafael's stomach turned.
"You chose silence. For the program."
"I chose survival," Ramirez muttered. "For all of us. You were just a kid. I didn't want you going down with the rest of them."
Rafael stepped back like he'd been punched.
"I did go down," he said.
"I died, Coach. Maybe not my body… but everything else."
Jude's Final Thread
Ramirez pulled something from a drawer.
A faded envelope.
He handed it to Rafael.
"Jude sent this to me. Last week. Said it was my last chance to come clean."
Inside was a photograph.
One Rafael had never seen.
Jude. Eli. Coach.
All three standing outside the school gym, weeks before Eli's death.
On the back:
"You let one boy die to protect a team.
Let's see how many more fall before you finally speak."
Final Lines
Rafael turned and walked out of the office without another word.
But his heart pounded.
Because now he knew something deeper:
This wasn't just about revenge.
This was about a lie—so big, so rotten—it infected everything it touched.
And now Jude was forcing the truth into the light.
Even if it burned everyone.
Rafael stood in front of the school's administrative building—older now, renovated, polished—but beneath the paint and bricks, it still stank of secrets.
He didn't make an appointment.
He walked straight in.
The Faces of the Past
The conference room smelled of polished wood and old air conditioning. Three people sat at the long table:
Mr. Lowell, the former superintendent, now "retired" but still consulting.
Mrs. Crane, head of athletics, face taut and professional.
Dean Trujillo, the only one who dared meet Rafael's eyes.
Rafael dropped the photo Coach Ramirez gave him in the center of the table.
"You remember this?"
Lowell adjusted his glasses.
"You'll need to be more specific."
"You covered up Eli Santana's death," Rafael said. "And I want to know why."
Gaslight and Spin
Mrs. Crane leaned forward.
"We investigated that incident thoroughly at the time."
"No, you buried it," Rafael shot back. "Half the players involved weren't even named. Jude Silva disappeared from the record completely. You wiped Coach's name from the witness list. You called it an 'accidental collision.'"
Trujillo cleared his throat.
"Mr. Cruz, please—this was over a decade ago. You've clearly… been through something. But the legal proceedings—"
"Don't you dare," Rafael interrupted. "Don't you dare pretend this was paperwork. You let a kid die so your reputation wouldn't."
Lowell finally spoke.
"We made a decision to protect the school. The program. You think we enjoyed it?"
Rafael's hands curled into fists at his sides.
"He was seventeen."
Silence.
"And now Jude's turning everything inside out. Dropping photos. Notes. Testimonies. He's going to unravel the lie you built."
A Warning
Mrs. Crane's voice turned cold.
"If he does, the fallout will be massive. Scholarships revoked. Families implicated. Are you willing to burn everything to the ground, Rafael? Even the lives that had nothing to do with it?"
"Eli had nothing to do with it," he growled. "And he burned."
Trujillo leaned in slightly.
"If you force this… you might not like what else comes out."
"Try me."
Final Blow
Rafael picked up the photo again.
"I'm not scared of what comes next," he said.
"But you should be."
He turned and walked out.
And for the first time, they didn't call after him.
They just sat there—staring at the table, at the past, at the ghost of a boy they erased.
Rafael didn't sleep.
He sat in the dim light of his small apartment, the city bleeding silver through the window blinds. His phone buzzed—a single message from Anna.
"I found a tape. We need to talk. Meet me at the park. No one else."
He stared at it.
Something felt… wrong.
The Phantom Trail
Fifteen minutes later, he stood behind a rusting bus stop near the old park. Wind scraped through dead leaves. Anna hadn't arrived yet.
But someone had.
A car. Parked across the street. Lights off. No plates.
Rafael stepped into shadow.
He waited.
Five minutes.
Then saw her—Anna, walking fast, hoodie up, arms crossed tight. And trailing behind her, just barely visible in the streetlight, was a man with a limp and a phone camera aimed low.
Rafael's blood ran cold.
Jude's watching her.
A Calculated Distraction
He moved fast—cutting across the lot and intercepting Anna near the bridge.
"You were followed."
"What?"
"Don't look. Keep walking."
Anna blinked, startled, but obeyed. She slipped him the cassette without a word. It was warm in his palm—like it was alive.
"He knows about the tape," she whispered. "He's trying to find it before you do."
"Too late."
The Confrontation
The man following them turned the corner—casual, like a jogger who'd lost his way.
Rafael turned toward him.
"I know who you work for."
The man paused. Smiled. Then held up his phone, where a video was playing: a clip of Rafael back in training, screaming at Marco.
"You're not the only one collecting truths, Rafael."
Then he vanished into the alley, leaving only the echo of Jude's reach.
Final Line
Rafael turned to Anna.
"We don't have much time."
He held up the tape.
"If this is what I think it is, we're going to need the one person we've both tried to avoid."
Anna paled.
"You mean…"
"Yes," Rafael said.
"It's time we visit Tyson."