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I grunted, getting up. Raven pushed on my butt as I hauled myself into the back.
The floor was stiff, but Corey had rolled out a small foam mat and a couple of pillows.
He patted the spot next to him, opened his arm. “Relax,” he said. “Catch some sleep before we hit Charleston.”
Corey was the only one I openly could snuggle up with and the boys didn’t seem to care. It was like they all knew Corey wouldn’t make a move, and none could be jealous about him being so close.
I used his bicep to rest my head on instead of the pillow. Corey rested an ankle over one of my legs. He took my hand, holding it between us.
His cerulean eyes held mine. The light smile on his face was a little tired but still incredibly happy.
The boys started talking in front of us. Since they seemed distracted, I leaned into Corey to whisper. “Thanks. I mean, you know. About Blake…”
“Don’t worry,” he said. “But I want the full story when we get back.”
I nodded. I squeezed his hand. I had flashes for a moment of all the other worries that invaded my mind. Now that I was somewhat relaxed, my brain wanted to solve the problems, but I didn’t have answers.
“You okay?” he whispered. “You worried about Wil?”
“Yeah…”
He squinted at me, and his thumb traced the back of my hand. “Something else?”
My lips tightened. I wasn’t sure I could talk about it here.
He stared at me for the longest time. He released my hand to put his palm against my cheek. “I know you still don’t know me that well…”
“It’s not that.”
“Still,” he said, “I just want you to know, I had a good feeling about you from the start. And everything you’ve done so far, I probably would have done the same if I were you.”
I swallowed hard. I nestled my cheek against his bicep. “Maybe not everything.”
“Okay, maybe not the crazy driving. I don’t know if I could pull that off.”
I huffed and giggled.
His smile relaxed. He leaned in. I thought he was going to whisper something closer.
Instead, his lips pressed against my cheek, close to my temple.
My heart fluttered. I closed my eyes. Too sweet. I pulled in closer. I didn’t know how to react. I breathed in deep, telling myself not to get too excited. He was being cute but I wasn’t his type. He was just being friendly.
??????
I didn’t think I slept, but in a blink, I was being shaken awake.
“Little Thief,” Raven said. “We’re here.”
I sat up sharply, looking around, spotting a parking lot. Next to it was a plain brown school building. Wil’s school. I’d only been here a handful of times.
I swallowed hard as I realized my body was more sore than before.
The rear of the SUV opened. Marc stood by, Axel was combing his hair. Corey’s face was smudged with a red crease like he’d been sleeping, too.
I yawned, grinding the sleep out of my eyes. I hopped out and stretched, dying from the soreness working through to my bones. The crash was starting to affect me harder. I wondered if there were injuries I didn’t see. I tugged the lower part of my shorts down and tried to smooth out my clothes. “We can’t all go in.”
“I’m going in,” Axel said. He passed the comb to Marc. “Everyone else stay in the car.”
Marc took the comb and started combing his own hair. “I should go.”
“We don’t need a squad,” Axel said. “Besides, we’ve got someone waiting for us.” He turned, looking at the entryway.
There was a man standing by the door. Gray suit, red tie, glasses and tight-lipped.
“One of yours?” I asked.
“I informed him we were coming today. He’ll escort us.”
“He didn’t check on Wil?”
“Wil was spotted in the hallways, according to him. He’s been letting us know that Wil’s records show he’s been in class. He checked in with the homeroom teacher after it was over, asking if Wil had been there and he said yes. So he’s here today.”
I nodded, my heart in my throat. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I wanted to see him, but what about after? Should I pull him from class and demand an answer?
We left the boys with the car. They all waved, smiled, supportive.
I was on pins. I didn’t know how to talk to Wil. I had so many questions. Did he hate me? Why didn’t he tell me?
Axel and I got close to the man by the door. Now I realized he was only our age. His face was stark perfection. I could tell he was the type that scrubbed under his nails every morning, and knew exactly what time it was at every moment. The gray eyes were striking.
“Mr. Blackbourne,” Axel said, he held out a hand.
Mr. Blackbourne accepted it, shaking quickly. “Mr. Toma. We can’t stay long. If I’m seen letting strangers on campus, it’s going to look bad.”
“This is his sister,” Axel said, presenting me. “She’s requested just a look to confirm he’s safe.”
Mr. Blackbourne looked at me, nodding grimly. “I understand he ran away from home,” he said, moving forward and holding open the door for us.
I breathed in, letting it out slow and entered. “I don’t know why. I may want to ask him.”
He nodded slowly. “If you should need it, I’ve got an office in administration. It’s private. You should be prepared, though. If he left, there’s a reason. Was it abuse?”
“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” I said quietly.
Mr. Blackbourne shared a look with Axel.
Axel nodded. “She’s safe now, and so is he. We’ve got them.”
Mr. Blackbourne nodded. He pointed to the stairwell. “It’s best to handle this as quietly as possible. Don’t draw attention. If you see him inside, and want to talk to him, we could wait. But if you can’t, I’ll pull him out. I’d prefer to wait, though, without disrupting the class and calling attention to us or him.”
I nodded, swallowing, nervous.
Axel put a hand on my back as we climbed. “It’ll be fine,” he said. “Well get a visual for now. If he’s attending class regularly, that’s good. If you need to, we’ll keep our distance.”
“It might be a good idea,” Mr. Blackbourne said as he kept up with us. “It depends on you, of course, but if he’s left home and still feels safe enough to go to school, if you confront him head-on, he may change his plans. I don’t want to have to pull him out of class unless we have to.”
“Why not?” I asked.
His lips pursed again, frowning. “This isn’t the safest school. Drawing attention to your brother may do more harm than good, especially if I’m the one showing interest in him.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask about the missing vice-principal, about the students that were gone, but I kept my lips closed. I was looking from the outside. I needed to remind myself there might be more to the story.
On the second floor, we followed Mr. Blackbourne through a series of hallways. Each one started to blend in with each other. There was graffiti on the lockers, and the classrooms were packed. We passed by a couple of kids looking to be on their way to the bathroom, or in trouble.
Yup, school never changed.
We came up to a door, one with a glass window so we could look in. Mr. Blackbourne stopped. He pressed his back to the wall and encouraged us to stand aside so we weren’t spotted. “This is the one,” he said. “Look in. If you spot him, check his attitude. If you think he’ll go with us to talk, we’ll take him out, but I highly encourage you to wait. It’d be better if he came looking for you. I can make arrangements so he finds a contact number for you.”
I nodded, sighing. He was certainly Academy.
I eased sideways slowly, taking on a row at a time, angling my head and trying not to move and draw attention.
Heads were either down as they took notes or focused on the teacher. This had to be some advanced class, so they were smart kids
who paid attention.
I scanned the bodies. I blinked, scanned again, studying each one.
I shook my head, pulling back, my heart starting to thunder. “He’s not here.”
Axel looked down at me, touching my arm. “You sure? Look again.”
“He’s not in there,” I said. I looked at Mr. Blackbourne. “You sure this is his class?”
He nodded sharply. “He attends advanced computers first period. Then he takes this applied mathematics.”
“He’s not in there,” I said. “Is he somewhere else?”
