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“What about the business between Ethan Slade and his teacher, Maris Howell, the one I’m replacing?”
“If you believe him, nothing happened. The situation was misinterpreted and overblown. By his parents and the school. Maris was run out of town on a rail.”
“But not prosecuted?”
“Right.” He returned to the table, resting a hip against one scarred corner. “Maybe all the events aren’t tied together.”
“Smoke screens?” she asked, looking up at him, his eyes dark.
“Or coincidence.”
“What? No? If so, Blue Rock Academy has the worst luck of any school in the nation.”
He laughed then. “Well, that’s not melodramatic,” he said sarcastically. Firelight played upon his features, casting his cheekbones and deep-set eyes in shadowy gold. His jaw was still as strong as it ever had been, his blade-thin lips as sexy as she remembered. He was worried. And sexy as all get-out.
“Here’s the upside.” Trent looped his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans. “The news is that the storm should break tomorrow.”
“Really?”
“Meeker talked to the sheriff and told me before I came looking for you. If that’s true, a helicopter might be able to fly in.”
She listened to the howl of the wind. “A pretty big if. I wouldn’t count on it.” But in her heart, she felt a ray of hope. If they could connect to the outside world, get the kids to safety, have the resources of law enforcement, there was a chance they would catch this maniac.
She stretched again, lifting her hands high over her head and twisting her neck to release some of the tension.
Trent said, “When the detectives get here, I think they’ll want to talk to Shaylee again.”
“Along with everyone else.”
Trent nodded slowly, but she read his hesitation and caught on.
“Wait a minute,” she said, instantly hot. “Don’t tell me you really think my sister is guilty?”
“She hasn’t been ruled out yet.”
“Oh, for the love of God. Then what about Lauren Conway? Is Shaylee a suspect in her disappearance, too, even though it happened months before Shay came here?”
“You’re assuming the events are related, remember?”
“Aren’t they?” she tossed back, desperate to make him see that Shay was innocent. “Other than a scandal concerning a teacher and a student, this school hasn’t lost any of their students. Ever. Until November. Then, four months later, two other kids are killed!”
“I’m just saying that Shaylee is going to be looked at. Hard.”
“Because of her damned hat. That’s ridiculous! Nona had worn it before. As for the cell phone, big deal. She took Nona’s phone. When she was alive! Her biggest crime is petty theft!”
“Nona’s body was dragged. The abrasions on her back and rump are consistent with being dragged across the hay bales to the spot where she was hoisted over the beams.”
“She and Drew were making love.”
“On a sleeping bag, not straw,” he said quietly, “and Shay was the last person to see Nona alive.”
“Wrong!” Jules was incensed now. “Drew was the last person, and we don’t know that Nona didn’t come into contact with someone between leaving her dorm room and meeting Drew!” Breathing fire, she shoved back her chair, the legs scraping noisily against the hardwood. “I can’t believe you’re buying into this … this easy and ridiculous answer. Especially after what I showed you here,” she said, jabbing a finger at the seared records. “For crying out loud, she’s only seventeen, barely a hundred and twenty pounds.”
“So you’re saying she would have trouble hauling Nona’s body?”
“No! She knows the fireman carry. Good Lord, she’s taken all kinds of martial arts and strength-training and …” She let her voice fade away, knowing she was only digging a deeper hole for her sister. “Listen to what you’re saying,” she hissed as he rose to face her. “You’re accusing her of murder. Double homicide at the very least.”
“No one’s accusing anyone of anything.” He came to her, closing the space between them. “I just think you should be aware of what’s happening.”
