Chapter 13 · Blackout Ledger - Chapter 13: The Third Face

"You knew." I shoved Kael back against the wall. "You knew the whole time who took him."

His hands came up, palms out, not touching me. "I knew someone erased the order. I didn't know it was Hallis until I pulled the signature five minutes ago."

"Five minutes." My voice cracked. "You've been standing next to me for days and you wait until now to tell me the warden buried my brother?"

"Because I needed proof." He didn't move. Didn't push back. Just stood there with his shoulders against the cracked plaster and his eyes on mine. "You think I could walk into sublevel detention and accuse the man who runs it without a hard copy? They'd put me in the drawer next to you."

I wanted to hit him. Wanted to grab his collar and slam him into the wall until something broke. But my hands were shaking and the system was still scrolling dates and signatures across my vision and I couldn't make it stop.

[SURVEILLANCE LOG RECOVERED] [SUBJECT: RAINA HOLT] [AUTHORIZATION: HALLIS, M. - WARDEN, SUBLEVEL DETENTION] [TIMESTAMP: 12 YEARS AGO]

"Turn it off," I said.

"I can't." Kael's voice dropped. "It's not mine to turn off.