Page 52 of Twisted Elites

“Yes,” Sebastian muttered. “They’re just putting me through to Pinkerton, now.”

I turned to Leopold, my chest so tight, I could barely breathe.

He enveloped me with his strong arms—one at my back and the other around my waist—and murmured, “The police are just clutching at straws. If they had evidence against Kash, they would have charged him while he was in custody for what happened to Ashley. Nothing’s going to stick because he’s innocent.”

I inhaled his masculine scent of green apples and sunshine and thought back toward the last week of last term. Cormac had explained that new evidence had caused the police to reopen Corrine’s case.

A lump formed in my throat. “What if the police dredge up something incriminating?”

In the background, Sebastian continued his conversation with Mr. Pinkerton.

Leopold drew back and fixed his aquamarine gaze on mine. “I think Ashley was bluffing about the amount of incriminating information in her possession.”

“Did you read the contents of her manilla folder?”

He raised a shoulder. “It contained meaningless crap she took from Kash and Gibbons’ room, which I burned at the hideout.”

“And Miss Claymore’s diary?”

Leopold’s gaze darted to Sebastian, and he said in a hushed voice. “We went through it, mostly to see what she had written about you.”

My heart thudded. I supposed it would make sense that I would feature in her diary, given the number of times she had tried to kill me. “W-what did she say?”

“Nothing much. A bit of a rant about you finagling a place for your unworthy sister, more about Ashley being a drain on the academy, and a few innocent-sounding and confusing entries about each attack you suffered.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. A little sliver of my mind wondered if Miss Claymore had attacked Ashley at the end of last term, but I remembered Barrett Riley’s confession. “Do you think she falsified her diary entries?”

Leopold shrugged. “If I was going to murder someone, it would be a great way to prove my innocence.”

“Why didn’t you show me?”

He grimaced. “She wrote about her obsession with Seb. You didn’t need to read that.”

I wrinkled my nose and gave him an approving nod.

* * *

For the rest of the morning, everyone, including the teachers, wouldn’t stop talking about what had happened to Bianca. Mrs. Benazir gave a stuttering, emotion-filled speech at lunchtime, eulogizing her as though she was already dead. Geraldine sobbed loudly throughout the speech and even louder when the headmistress said her door was open to any student who needed help.

“She’s losing it,” said Leopold.

Mrs. Benazir swayed on her feet before Dr. Forrester placed a hand on her shoulder, urging her to sit. It was hard to feel sorry for the woman when I still fretted about Prakash’s fate and when security was so lax that someone could sneak in and throw a girl out of the window.

I turned to Sebastian. “Any word from Mr. Pinkerton?”

“He’s driving down after work.”

Stomach plummeting, I turned my gaze to Geraldine. Cormac sat at her side with his arm around her shoulders, while the two blonde girls from this morning sat her other side. Barrett Gibbons turned around and glowered in our direction.

I wrapped an arm around my middle, wondering if Barrett had attacked Bianca because of her connection to Ashley. My brows furrowed. That was a bit of a stretch, considering that the auburn-haired boy likely resented me for being the sister of his brother’s killer.

“What’s Riley looking at?” Leopold growled under his breath.

The auburn-haired boy snatched his gaze away and turned to Mrs. Benazir.

Sebastian slid his hand into mine and gave it a squeeze. “We’ll have to warn him against any retaliation.”

Knots formed in my stomach. He was probably just grieving the deaths of his brother and best friend, but the malice in his glare had made my flesh crawl.