Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
I forced myself to think about it, as horrifying as the thought was. I didn’t want to believe it was possible. And Finn was right. I had no reason to think Nicky was in danger with Lydia. So I wouldn’t. Not yet.
Telling myself not to think about it didn’t help. I was sick to my stomach with terror, counting the seconds until we reached the school. A minute later, the turn came into view, a line of cars at the traffic light, ready to leave campus. As we swung onto campus with a screech of tires, I saw that these were the stragglers, and the pickup line was empty. A cluster of people stood by the curb, Scarlett’s flaming red hair marking her presence. I spotted August and Thatcher, two women and a man in a dark suit.
The Jeep rocked as we came to a halt, and I shoved open my door. One of the women was Nicky’s teacher, her eyes red and swollen. Beside her stood a woman with steel gray hair and a worried expression. The tall man beside her turned to face us, his dour expression tinged with annoyance—the headmaster. I recognized him from his speech at orientation the week before school started. It felt like a million years ago.
Nicky’s teacher let out a wail and lurched toward me. “Ms. Miles, I’m so sorry. Clara—” She looked to the gray-haired woman. “She’s a substitute, and she forgot to check the list. It was so busy with the holiday parties running late and—”
“You can go, Miss Fletcher,” the man in the suit said. “And take Clara with you. I’ll handle this.”
Miss Fletcher’s eyes dropped to the concrete, and she nodded, whispering, “I’m so sorry.”
The man turned his attention to me. “Ms. Miles?”
“Yes, I’m Nicky’s mother.”
Finn shifted beside me, his palm warm on my lower back, letting me know I wasn’t alone. He eyed the headmaster and said, his voice grim, “Headmaster Montgomery. It never occurred to me that you’d still be here.”
“Finn Sawyer,” the headmaster said, his voice dripping with scorn. “It never occurred to me that you wouldn’t be in jail.”
“Not yet,” Finn said, and I remembered he’d been expelled from Laurel Country Day for setting fire to the headmaster’s office. That explained the headmaster’s rude comment. Finn got right to what was important. “What are you doing to find Nicky? Have you checked the security cameras?”
“Why would we?” the headmaster asked, sounding irritated at the question. “Clara said Nicky’s grandmother picked him up. I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. You can deal with this on your own. This is a family mix-up, not the school’s fault.”
I choked back a scream of rage and frustration. “My mother-in-law is not on the list for pickup. She’s not allowed to be alone with him. How did this happen?” I demanded, hearing my voice rise in a shriek.
“Ms. Miles, perhaps if you call your mother-in-law, you can sort this out without involving the school. It’s the holidays.” He shrugged, looking down at me as if I were a minor inconvenience he couldn’t wait to brush off. “The last day of school is always busy. We can’t be expected to keep track of family issues.”
“That’s exactly the kind of thing you’re paid to keep track of,” Finn said, his voice as hard and cold as I’d ever heard it. “You released Nicky Miles to an adult who is not on his pickup list. An adult who does not have his mother’s permission to take him anywhere or be alone with him. Savannah will not deal with this on her own. You’re going to do everything you can to cooperate with the police so that we can get Nicky home as fast as possible. Do you understand?”
“The police?” the headmaster asked, raising an eyebrow, the faintest hint of alarm tinging his expression. “Why is it necessary to involve the police?”
“Because my child has been kidnapped!” I screeched.
I wished I could manage Finn’s icy, controlled anger, but the headmaster’s attitude was too much. I wanted to scream and rage and demand that someone find my child. I did not want to deal with this man’s condescending bullshit one second longer. I clung to Finn’s hand, hoping he could keep me level before I exploded.
The headmaster’s chin rose, eyes fixed behind me, tracking something. I turned to see a police car turn onto campus, lights flashing red and blue, and a black SUV right behind it. West and Hawk.
West jumped out of the police car, leaving the lights on. His eyes caught mine, and he gave me a gentle smile before his gaze moved to land on the headmaster. “Montgomery,” he said, in a cold tone that told me all I needed to know about West’s opinion of the headmaster.
“Chief Garfield. Turn off those lights. I don’t need the community seeing police lights on campus.”