Chapter 24: The Equipment Room Door

The tunnel at Harbor Arena smelled the way it always had, of cold concrete and rubber mats.

It was eight minutes to nine, and nobody was in it.

The security guard at the loading door looked at my face, then at the man beside me, and unclipped his keys.

"The door's open," he said. "Mr. Kessling called ahead."

"Thank you."

"I'm a Hanna & Brady fan," he said. "I mean, I was. Now I'm just a Hanna fan."

I laughed, and my voice echoed down the tunnel.

Soren stood next to me in his plain gray coat, with his hands in his pockets and his face bare.

He had not put a hood on, and he had not asked me to take the shot from a different angle.

"You can wait out here," I said.

"I said I'd stay in the room."

"It's not that kind of room."

"I know which room it is."

He looked down the tunnel at a gray metal door with a rubber strip along the bottom.

There was a dent in it near the handle, from a stick.

I walked to it and stopped.

Nobody had told me, until now, that I would be afraid.

My stomach had gone tight, and my palms were cold.

Soren put one large hand on my shoulder blade.

He did not push me or steady me.

He kept it there so I would know where he was.

I took out my phone.

The cracked glass caught the light, and I pressed the button that said LIVE.

The channel was mine, and so was the name on it, and so was the little red dot.

Two million followers got the notice, and the number began to climb.

"Hi," I said to the lens. "It's Hanna."

I held the phone out at arm's length, with the tunnel behind me.

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