The Motel at the Edge of the World

Maya’s car was a beat-up Honda that smelled of french fries and old upholstery. Elias sat in the passenger seat, his hands clamped between his knees. The drive to the Starling Motel was silent. The gravity of what they carried—the proof that could destroy the town’s ruling family—weighed on them.

The Starling was a dive. flickering neon sign, peeling paint, the smell of mildew.

"Room 4," Maya said, spotting Chloe’s car tucked behind the dumpster. "She's here."

They parked down the street and ran to the door. Maya banged on it.

"Chloe! It's Maya Sato. Open up!"

The curtain twitched. A second later, the chain slid off, and the door opened. Chloe Miller looked like a ghost. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her hair matted.

"Maya?" Chloe whispered. "How did you find me?"

"We saw the drive," Maya said, pushing inside. Elias followed, closing the door. "We know about Vane. We know about the poison."

"You have the drive?" Chloe’s eyes widened in terror. "You have to destroy it! Julian said if anyone saw it, he’d kill my dad!"

"No," Elias said, stepping forward. "We give it to the FBI. Not the local cops. The Feds. Julian can't touch you then."

Chloe shook her head frantically. "You don't understand. He has eyes everywhere. He..."

She stopped. She looked at Elias. Then she looked past him, through the window.

A black SUV pulled into the parking lot. Then another.

"Did you tell anyone?" Chloe screamed.

"No!" Maya said. "We just came straight here!"

Elias felt a cold dread wash over him. "Maya... your phone. Did you turn off the GPS?"

Maya froze.

"The app," Elias said, the realization hitting him like a physical blow. "The 'Find My Friends' app. You and Chloe are linked. Everyone in the junior class is."

"I... I didn't think..." Maya stammered.

"If Julian has Chloe’s phone cloned, or if he hacked her account..."

The window shattered.

A Molotov cocktail sailed into the room, crashing against the far wall. The cheap curtains ignited instantly. Fire roared to life, hungry and fast, eating the oxygen.

"Go! Bathroom window!" Elias shouted.

He grabbed Chloe, who was paralyzed with fear. Maya grabbed the laptop bag. They scrambled into the tiny bathroom. Elias kicked the frosted glass. It didn't break. He kicked again, putting his weight into it. The frame splintered.

Smoke billowed under the door. The heat was blistering.

"Out! Now!"

They tumbled out the window onto the wet asphalt of the back alley just as the motel room door was kicked in. Men shouted in the room, silhouettes against the inferno.

"They missed them!" a voice shouted. "Check the back!"

"Run," Elias gasped.

They sprinted into the woods bordering the highway. They didn't stop running until the glow of the fire was a faint orange bruise on the night sky. They collapsed in a drainage ditch, coughing, wet, and terrified.

Maya frantically unzipped the laptop bag.

"Oh god," she sobbed.

The laptop was smashed. The screen was a spiderweb of cracks. And the drive... the drive had been in the USB port. The impact had snapped it clean off.

"It’s gone," Maya whispered. "The proof. It’s gone."