Love's Cruel Redemption (The Ghost Bird #12)(37)

The halls were thinning out. The bell would ring soon.

We left our post and crossed the hallway. Silas held the door open for me and I waited for him.

He led the way to the front desk. I wasn’t sure how we were supposed to check in, so I was hoping he’d know what to do.

He positioned himself in a short line of other students waiting to sign in at the front desk. I wasn’t sure what they were signing for, but it took at least a minute for them to do it. And then after, the woman behind the counter checked their signature, and then signed a slip.

I realized it was people who had arrived late and needed a hall pass to get to a class that was possibly too far to walk to get to in time. But the longer we stood there, more people got into line behind us.

They weren’t getting in late. They couldn’t get to class on time so they got a pass just from going from class to class. Either on purpose because they lingered in a hallway, or they legitimately couldn’t get to class on time.

But the teacher didn’t bother to check in with them about why they were there. So many came in that she was signing slips before she checked the name and marked something on the paper.

Silas tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned in time to find Mr. Hendricks coming in the door. I zeroed in on him.

Until I noticed he was leading Karen in with him.

I lost my focus as Karen turned and saw me, an eyebrow going up when she recognized me.

It had been a while since I saw her. Her pixie-cut hairstyle was the same. She wore sport pants and a tank shirt, with a hoodie over it. She carried a bookbag. She questioned me with a look.

I questioned her, too. What did Mr. Hendricks want with her?

I redirected my attention to the principal. I made sure to focus.

But he ignored me completely. He marched across the room, with Karen ahead of him, and directed her to his office.





Culprit




Silas hand signaled to me to leave the line, and we went to the hallway on the right. No one stopped us.

We hurried down the hallway to Mr. Blackbourne’s office.

Nathan and Mr. Blackbourne were inside, at the desks, with Nathan taking over Dr. Green’s.

Silas went to look over Mr. Blackbourne’s shoulder.

I went to Nathan.

His attention shifted to me quickly. When I turned to check out what he was doing, he reached up and placed a hand at the small of my back, holding me next to him while he focused on the monitor.

We were watching Ms. Johnson. Mr. Blackbourne must be watching Karen and Mr. Hendricks. I wanted to know what was going on, but I also didn’t want to leave Nathan.

Nathan made small circles with his fingertips at my back. “Went okay?” he asked quietly.

I nodded. I didn’t want to interrupt the others. I was aware Victor was listening, too. Things happened really quickly and there was so much I wanted to talk to him about, but we needed to focus.

Academy work was frustrating at times.

Unable to do much else, I put an arm around Nathan’s shoulder and just waited.

But there wasn’t much going on with Ms. Johnson. She was in class. I noticed a section of desks where four of us previously sat and attended the class. It felt like ages ago. Part of me still anticipated homework. I never imagined a time when things like grades and tests didn’t matter to me anymore. It was hard to shake.

Silas picked his head up and cocked an eyebrow, looking across at me. “He claims she’s in for breaking into lockers.”

I made a face. “When?”

“Apparently during homeroom,” he said.

“There’s no report of such a thing,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “There was no way for him to know this.”

“An excuse?” I asked. “To bring her in?”

Silas spoke, “He’s threatening calling the cops. A lot of bluff.”

“He wouldn’t dare,” Nathan said. “What’s he want?”

“How is she?” I asked.

“She’s glaring at him,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “She’s tough. I don’t know if I believe this about the lockers, but there are a lot of students we don’t know about.”

“I don’t think she’d do that,” I said but then stopped. “But didn’t he bring her in before for this?”

“Yes,” Mr. Blackbourne said.

“And we know the lockers are pretty easy to break into,” Nathan said. “You did it.”

“Not easily. Not until someone else showed us the knack of it.” I just didn’t believe Karen would be the type to break into them.

I left Nathan then, not wanting to, but my curiosity got to me.

Hendricks looked like he was getting into a long tirade with her. She crossed her arms, seemed annoyed by it, but she was focused, listening.

He opened a hand, pointing to fingers, like counting off.

“What’s he doing?” I asked.

“He’s listing off locker numbers,” Mr. Blackbourne said.

This went on for a bit, with the principal reciting the locker numbers a couple of times, threatening to call the cops. He finally settled down, told her to check in with the front desk for a pass for class and told her to leave.

That was it? No detention? Nothing?

Karen didn’t seem too bothered. She got up, went to the front desk and waited for a hall pass.