by C. L. Stone
“Yes,” Mr. Blackbourne said.
“And we know the lockers are pretty easy to break into,” Nathan said. “You did it.”
“Not easily. Not until someone else showed us the knack of it.” I just didn’t believe Karen would be the type to break into them.
I left Nathan then, not wanting to, but my curiosity got to me.
Hendricks looked like he was getting into a long tirade with her. She crossed her arms, seemed annoyed by it, but she was focused, listening.
He opened a hand, pointing to fingers, like counting off.
“What’s he doing?” I asked.
“He’s listing off locker numbers,” Mr. Blackbourne said.
This went on for a bit, with the principal reciting the locker numbers a couple of times, threatening to call the cops. He finally settled down, told her to check in with the front desk for a pass for class and told her to leave.
That was it? No detention? Nothing?
Karen didn’t seem too bothered. She got up, went to the front desk and waited for a hall pass.
“I want to follow her,” I said.
“Do it,” Mr. Blackbourne said and looked up at me. “Stay far back. If she returns to class, I want you to come back here. Don’t linger.” He nodded to Silas. “And make sure Miss Sorenson isn’t stopped.”
Silas went to the door, opening it for me and waiting.
I gazed back once at Nathan on my way out. He paused in his monitoring to look at me.
A heavy, dark look reached his blue eyes. “Be careful,” he said.
♥♥♥
Using Victor as a guide, we followed Karen. We didn’t turn corners until she did, relying on Victor to tell us which direction she went.
We followed her upstairs to a particular section of lockers. She slowed near a row and quickly opened up a couple next to each other.
I peeked around a corner. Silas stayed back.
She rummaged through the two lockers, picked out an iPod, a technical calculator, and some sort of makeup bag out of one. From the other, she collected more things that were similarly random.
She closed both, dumped everything she collected into her book bag and then walked off down the hallway.
“She’s heading to another set,” Victor said.
I went to the lockers, looking at the numbers. I whispered for Victor, “Locker one seven one five and one seven one six.”
There were a few moments of silence, then Victor spoke. “I don’t know these students, but those were the numbers Mr. Hendricks told her she stole from earlier.”
Odd. “He told her to do this?”
Victor didn’t respond, but he could have been discussing it with someone else.
Suddenly, I felt an arm around my shoulders, pulling me away.
“Come on,” Silas said.
I didn’t know where he was taking me, but realized there were footsteps in the hallway further down, behind us. Someone else was coming.
When I looked back, a teacher was passing in the hallway, spotted us, almost staring us down.
Like he expected us to be there.
My heart raced. Silas almost carried me a few feet, with his big arm wrapped around my shoulder. When I was able to step down, he kept his arm around me. We headed around a corner and aimed us toward a restroom. His hurried pace kept me focused on following and not looking back.
He closed the door behind us once we were inside and threw the lock on the door.
I checked the stalls, but there was no one around.
He remained by the door, listening.
“Who was it?” I whispered.
“Another teacher,” he said. “I don’t know if he was responding to Karen’s noise in the lockers or...I’m thinking Mr. Hendricks might be on to us listening in on his office. We may have just proved it.” He turned, took off the jacket he’d worn and put it on the counter near a sink. He pressed a finger to one of his eyes and rubbed. “Let’s let Mr. Blackbourne figure out what. Maybe we can go nap in the nurse’s station after this.”
“What were you doing last night?” I asked.
He moved his finger from his face. His broad body leaned against the counter. The muscles of his chest and arms made the collared shirt strain a bit. “My dad had an emergency call last night. I bailed to help out Nathan, but was up really late, too. He...wants me to go with him more lately.”
“More plumbing work?”
He nodded. “Everyone always needs a plumber,” he mimicked, thickening the Greek accent. “I’m trying to convince a few cousins to fly over to replace me. I don’t know if it will be enough.” His gaze suddenly focused on me. “I don’t like how it keeps me away from you.”
Now that he mentioned it, while the others had been in an out of the Lee house while I was on bed rest, he wasn’t around as much. “Maybe it was for the better this week.” After Erica discovering Nathan, would it have been worse if it was one of the others?
He pressed his lips together and then curled his fingers at me. “Come over here?”
I stepped closer to him. He opened up his arms and he hugged me. It was deep, drawing me in, lifting me and nearly crushing my ribs. He dipped his head to my hair.
I pressed my cheek up against his chest. It relaxed me. I breathed in an ocean scent he carried, along with a damp scent of something earthy, like he’d been crawling around in dirt. It wasn’t his clothes, but the skin underneath.
“He asks about you,” he said. “I may need you to come by sometime soon.”
“Okay.”
“Spend the night?” he asked.
It felt like ages since I’d done so last. I remembered the way he’d held me in his bed, and sleeping next to him. I tilted my head up toward him. Silas lifted his head, his large brown eyes gazing down at me.
I wanted to answer him, but I stopped when he inclined his head. His lips met mine.
He kissed me. Shortly after he started, he lifted me and turned until my butt was on the counter. It made me a little taller and was probably easier for him so he didn’t have to bend over as far to kiss me.
But I was conscious that Victor could listen in, and while I did kiss him, I didn’t deepen it. I didn’t want to get too carried away.
He must have sensed this because he pulled back. His hand came up, touching at my hair, drawing away a strand that framed my face. He brushed it away. “One of these days, we won’t have to be here anymore.”
“Let’s make that soon,” I said.
He nodded, and I caught the same determination I witnessed in a few of the others. They’d been sent on this job, but they were tired and there were other priorities now. No one wanted to give up.
But we all wanted this to be done.
The Request
Nathan
Ms. Johnson seemed calm on Nathan’s monitor. For the first class, it wasn’t too bad. After a while, it was hearing the same lecture in English class a couple of times as classes changed out. There was hope that maybe one of the other teachers or Mr. Hendricks would approach her in person. Not that it was likely they’d interrupt class to do it, but there was still a chance.
But during those classes, he had a lot of time to space out as Ms. Johnson went on about vocabulary tests and essays.
He blinked out of his zoned state when he realized Mr. Blackbourne was looking at him.
Nathan picked up his head. “Something up?”
“Have you and Mr. Lee talked about what to tell his mother yet?” he asked.
“We’ve sort of talked on it but haven’t really come up with what to tell her. So far, we’re just playing it out.”
“I only ask because you seem rather calm today, compared to yesterday.”
Nathan sighed and sat back in the office chair, folding his arms across his chest. “I panicked,” he said. “In the moment.” He pressed his lips together and glanced once at Ms. Johnson on the computer monitor and then looked back at Mr. Blackbourne. “I was thinking maybe I should move into the house wit
h Sang. Or maybe we should get an apartment. Something simple.”
“You’re welcome to do what you’d like,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “But aren’t you in the middle of a bathroom renovation?”
“That was when I thought...I thought Sang would be living with me.”
Mr. Blackbourne pulled his chair away from his desk to roll it closer to where Nathan sat. He crossed his legs and sat forward. “You and Miss Sorenson got very close while she was staying with you.”
Mr. Blackbourne had that serious expression he had when he was discussing deeply personal family issues. Nathan nodded. “Yeah.”
“A lot has changed,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “But a house won’t be found immediately. Not to mention our development with her sister.”
True. He couldn’t go anywhere until Danielle and Marie were dealt with. “I’m not sure what to do with them, exactly.”
“Would you feel uncomfortable getting friendlier with them?” he asked.
“How friendly?”
“Convince them you’re on their side. Get to know why Danielle wants out and what she expects to do. See if one of them will tell you about Miss Sorenson’s real mother?”
“I would have tried that anyway,” Nathan said. “To find out.”
Mr. Blackbourne nodded. “Once her parents are finally divorced, I think we should take her to see her extended family. If she’ll want to.”
“She didn’t seem excited about finding out that Marie may know about her real mother.”
“So far, all the family she’s known has abandoned her,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “And so far, this has been about a woman she’s never known to exist until a few months ago.”
“She’s never had a normal family,” Nathan said quietly and then gazed at the monitor again, watching Ms. Johnson sit down at her desk while students worked on an essay. “But we aren’t exactly normal, either.”
“I’ve never heard you wanted to be normal. And we aren’t destined to be, given what we do.”
Nathan pressed his lips together and said nothing further. What he wasn’t sure of was if Sang wanted that normal life. Yet, when he considered the Academy, it wasn’t like joining was going to give her something normal.
The added relationship dynamic they had been talking about for months compounded the issue. They were asking a lot of each other, including Sang.
Suddenly, Ms. Johnson jerked and reached into a desk drawer, into where her purse was. She leaned over, looking at a cell phone screen. She frowned deeply and seemed to ponder the text.
Nathan pressed a few buttons. The camera overlooked her desk a bit, and he was hoping to get a good look and not need to send in Luke to check it out.
“She got a message,” Nathan said. “I’m trying to read it...”
“It’s okay,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “It was from Mr. Hendricks.”
Nathan looked up and waited.
Mr. Blackbourne was focused on his own screen and read. “Show up tonight at the school. Incoming food delivery. 11 pm. Make sure the school and grounds are clear of anyone else. Monitor the student lot during.”
That sounded odd. “Is that normal? To get a delivery so late at night at a school?”
Mr. Blackbourne lifted his head and raised an eyebrow, but instead of being upset, he seemed excited. “No. It isn’t.”
Making Friends
Nathan got a ride with North after school. They learned from Sang Mr. Hendricks sent a teacher off to look for them, and it confirmed they were probably on to them paying attention.
It didn’t matter to them. This was part of the push. They were okay with the possibility this was a trap tonight. Their plan was pretty solid.
He’d meet up with Luke a little later. Luke was going to sneak into the school. Nathan would wait outside, monitor the parking lot where Ms. Johnson was supposed to be. Sang was going to stick with North, monitoring the opposite side, closer to where this delivery was going to happen.
North pulled into the spot in front of Nathan’s house and parked the Jeep, leaving the engine to idle. “So, I have a question for you.”
“Shoot.”
North scratched at an eyebrow. “Never mind. I don’t want to ask.”
“What is it?”
His lips twitched as he inhaled deeply, his chest expanding. He spoke as he exhaled. “Victor’s always buying Sang shit.”
Not the topic he really wanted to talk about. “He’s rich. And he wants to impress her.”
“Yeah, well, I might want to buy her something, but I don’t know what to get her. And I don’t want to ask her, because then she’ll know. I’m not trying to impress her...but you know...”
Awkward. North had to know how Nathan felt about this situation, but this had to be awkward for him, too. North never asked about things like this. “She doesn’t like stuff, remember? She likes doing stuff with you. Just take her out some night.”
“Taking her out tonight,” he said.
“I mean not on Academy missions or family issue things. You took her to the beach that one time.”
North sighed again, shaking his head. “I’d like to get her something. I don’t know. I saw all that bath shit Victor got her, and now I can’t stop thinking about it.”
Nathan groaned. It was odd to help him out with this, but he started listing a few things he could remember Sang saying she liked. “She likes books.”
“Should I get her one?”
Probably a bad idea. It’d be on cars. “Uh, she liked those bath bombs.”
“She’s got a ton. I need something original.”
Nathan rolled his head back on the headrest. “I don’t know. Get something that you share a memory over. It doesn’t have to be something she’d like or use. Like getting a souvenir from a place you’re on vacation.”
North tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “Hm...Actually...yeah.” He motioned to Nathan. “But I’ve got to hurry to get to it. Love you, man. And thanks. But get out.”
Nathan got out of the Jeep, waved to him as North drove off.
If only the issue with Danielle and Marie would be as easily handled. Or even Hendricks. One little conversation. Still, it felt good helping out North. That was rare. It was usually North coming to save his ass.
The air still had a coolness to it, but the sun had come out and was warming some surfaces. The neighborhood looked clear. No odd cars that didn’t belong parked in the street.
It wasn’t until he was at his front door that he heard the first indication someone was inside.
Not always a surprise. The others often came over and were in the house, so at first it didn’t rattle him at all.
Not until he stepped in the door and remembered everyone but North was still at the school.
He put down his book bag, tucking it behind a side table by the door, careful not to break the laptop and tablet inside. He called out, “Who’s here?”
Bare footsteps tapped on carpet and then on wood. It echoed through the house until Marie and Danielle appeared in the kitchen. Both were wearing pajamas, although Marie looked like she was wearing something Sang had worn before. They’d come from the direction of his bedroom.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. He took out his keys and cell phone and put them on the kitchen table. He put his hands on his hips. “And why were you in my closet?”
“Chill out,” Danielle said. “She just borrowed some clothes. We’ll put them back.”
Marie seemed hesitant to answer Nathan and kept her lips locked.
Nathan sighed, rolled his head back and looked at the ceiling. “Tell me you haven’t been here all day.”
“Where else are we supposed to go until you get us both out of school?” Danielle asked. “I can’t bring her to my house and we can’t stay inside of hers. People will notice.”
Nathan straightened up and pointed to Marie. “I can figure out why she doesn’t want to go back. I don’t understand why you’re here.”
“Why should I have to
go?” Danielle asked. “You’re getting me out.”
“You do know the school will call to find out why you weren’t there today, right?” Nathan asked. “Your mom isn’t like hers. You don’t think she’s going to notice her daughter isn’t going to school?”
“That’s why you’re going to help us with the fake school thing,” she said. “You were going to get Marie and Sang out before, remember? You told Marie you’d make a fake school and make it look like we enrolled and everything. You’re going to do that for us.”
Oh. Great. During the time with Carol, the only way to escape looked like getting them enrolled into a fake school, up until it didn’t work and they got Sang out anyway. No wonder Marie knew to ask them about it. But Danielle was the one pushing for it. That was weird. “You’ve got friends at school, right? But don’t you want to just keep going? Graduate? Go to college?”
“Aren’t you going to college after?” Danielle asked. “You go to a fancy prep school but you do whatever you want. You’re running around all the time.”
Nathan wasn’t going to win with her this way. Mr. Blackbourne was right. He needed to stop being against them and arguing. It wasn’t helping. So he tried the friendly approach. “Look, I’m just wondering what the goal is. Hendricks is a pain in the ass.” He looked at Marie. “I get it. I get why you want out. But what are you hoping to accomplish here? Are you just going to stay home? With your mom?”
“Who else is going to?” Marie asked.
Nathan bit his lip and looked down. “Marie,” he said. “We can help with her.”
“I don’t want you to,” she said. “Just do this thing for me. I’ll stay with her. I’ll monitor her medications so she won’t go crazy.”
“But that’s not the sort of life you need,” he said and finally looked at her dead on. She avoided his eyes, glancing at the walls, the kitchen counter, and basically anything but him. “That can’t be everything. Don’t you want something for yourself? A career? Your dad may pay alimony and child support for a bit to take care of her and you, but that won’t last forever. You need more than that to take care of her. You need something for yourself, too.”
