# THOMPSON-HAYES: BLOOD MONEY
## Chapter Forty — The Stage, Reprise
The student showcase was on a Friday evening in April.
Not a press event. Not a company event. A school event — folding chairs, gymnasium lights, the particular ambient warmth of a room full of parents and teachers who had driven across Austin on a weeknight because someone they loved was going to stand in front of people and say something true.
Mia had organized it with Director Simmons three weeks ago. Simple logistics: twenty-two students, one performance each, the gymnasium, chairs borrowed from the cafeteria. No catering budget, no event coordinator, no press list. She had made sure of that last part specifically.
This was not for Thompson-Hayes.
This was for the students.
She stood at the back of the room as i
