In Safe Hands (Search and Rescue #4)(120)

It was just a few minutes before Tio arrived, quickly followed by Sam and Ty. Only Tio opened his arms for a hug, but Jules wasn’t surprised. Sam didn’t care to be touched, and Ty was at the stage where he found public hugs embarrassing. She squeezed Tio, pulling his lanky body close and getting a momentary release from the tension that gripped her insides.

“Thank you, Mrs. Juarez,” she called over her shoulder as they left, trying to resist shoving the boys out the door. Their presence made the plan seem suddenly plausible, and she wanted to grab all three and tear out of the school.

“Of course, dear. Please tell your father I’m thinking of him.”

“I will.” Giving the receptionist a final, forced smile, Jules closed the office door behind them and hurried after her brothers. They obviously felt the same need to flee, since she had to jog to keep up with their long strides. That could’ve also been because even the twins, at fifteen, were significantly taller than she was.

All four of them were quiet as they pushed through the exterior doors and stepped into the muggy heat. When Ty opened his mouth, Jules shook her head. Even outside the school, she felt the creeping sense of being watched. She wondered if she’d feel secure when they were in her car, or when they had left Florida, or maybe when they were ensconced in their new lodgings. Something told her that she’d never feel completely safe again, but she quickly slammed the door on that thought. This was getaway time. She needed to concentrate on that.

She opened the trunk with a press of the key-fob button, and the guys tossed in their backpacks. Tio grunted as he swung his off his shoulder, and Jules’ eyebrows rose as she looked at his overstuffed pack. The zippers looked like they were straining to stay closed. As she shut the trunk, she just hoped he’d included a change of clothes along with whatever other must-brings he’d packed.

The silence continued until they were loaded into the car, the twins in the back, and Jules had turned out of the parking lot onto a quiet, residential street.

“T-thanks, Ju.” Sam’s voice was the first to break the silence.

Unable to resist, Jules reached over to squeeze his arm. She released him quickly, before he could get uncomfortable and pull away from her touch. “Sorry I couldn’t get y’all sooner.”

“That’s because you had to go all outlaw to get it done,” Ty said, bouncing in his seat. “That was awesome, like a prison break or something.”

When Tio didn’t say anything, Jules glanced at his tense face in the rearview mirror. “You okay, T?”

Several seconds passed before he answered. Jules bounced her gaze between the road and her youngest half brother’s face.

“It was difficult to decide what to pack,” he finally said.

Jules chewed on the inside of her lip. It figured that this would be hardest on Tio, since Courtney mostly left him alone. Change wasn’t his favorite thing. “I know. Are you in the middle of a project?”

He nodded. “Seed dormancy. I’m working on reducing pre-harvest sprouting.”

“Sorry you had to leave it.” Attempting to lighten his mood, she sent him a smile in the rearview. “Unless that’s what you have stuffed in your backpack?”

Although she’d been joking, his response was solemn. “No. I brought the data files, though.”

Her stomach lurched. “You didn’t bring your laptop, did you?”

“Course not,” Ty answered for him. “We didn’t bring any electronics that could be traced. T’s stuff is on a flash drive. Oh, and I turned on all our cell phones and hid them on the Gator the groundskeeper guy uses. That way, it’ll look like we’re at school if someone tries to track us with the phones.”

“Smart, Ty.”

He shrugged, obviously trying to look less pleased at the praise than he actually was. “It was Sam’s idea.”

Turning into the St. Francis School parking lot, she glanced at Sam. “Good thinking, Sam.”

His head was turned toward the window, so she couldn’t see his expression. “I saw it in a m-m-m…” His frustrated exhale was audible. “On TV.”

Frowning, she pulled into a visitor’s parking spot. The stuttering worried her, but so did grabbing Dez, and kidnapping trumped speech problems at the moment. “I have new phones for you. First, though, let’s get Dez.”

Ty whooped and reached for the door handle.

“Hang on.” All three boys looked at her. “Sad faces. Dad’s in the hospital, remember?” Sam and Tio already had their mournful expressions in place, and Ty tried to mute his excitement, with mixed results. “Hmm. Ty, maybe just keep your head down. You guys ready?” All three nodded. “Let’s go.”

Just like at the high school, silence fell over their group as they entered St. Francis. The office was right past the door, and they filed inside, Jules at the front.

“May I help you?” The woman behind the desk wore a dark suit and a crucifix. Her nameplate announced that she was Sister Mary Augustine. Jules randomly wondered whether lying to a nun was an automatic go-directly-to-hell card, and then pinched the back of her hand sharply to refocus her wandering brain.

“Yes. I’m Juliet Young, Desdemona Courtland’s sister.” She realized that she’d forgotten to redden her eyes before leaving the car. “Our father went to the hospital this morning, and my stepmother asked if I could pick up Dez and bring her there.”