Love's Cruel Redemption (The Ghost Bird #12)(83)

“Sure.”

She rose, taking up her purse. “I don’t know what’s going on,” she said. She touched briefly at her brow, closing her eyes. “This Academy you two go to and how it’s got you going to that public school this year, maybe it’s stressing them out as well.”

Nathan stood, putting a hand on her arm. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

“I worry,” Erica said, and she smiled at him. “It’s my job.”

“Don’t worry about this,” he said. “I’ll talk to them both. And I’ll get Kota to talk to you. If it takes me apologizing to both of them again or getting the other guys to help me out, I’ll do it.”

Erica seemed satisfied with this and left. Nathan stood in the kitchen alone, looking at the pink phone on the table. His heart raced at the thought of it in Erica’s hands.

Did she tell the truth about not looking at it? Because if she had...who knows what Sang had said to him, or the others.

Maybe she was telling the truth, but she didn’t give it up until just now. If Victor hadn’t turned it off because they thought Volto had it, who knew what she would have thought of them all. Of the Academy, as well.

Erica was too close to the truth. What would she think if she knew her son, and Nathan and the others, and now Sang were involved in the Academy and what it was about? Not to mention the relationship they constantly talked about.

They couldn’t risk her getting any closer to finding out.





Behind the Scenes




For the next few days, a routine settled in. Nathan made sure Danielle and Marie were dropped off and picked up for school, either with him in the car or with someone else. Sang joined Mr. Blackbourne in the principal’s office to sort out files. Classes resumed normally for most students. Occasionally, Mr. Blackbourne called in other students when he found notes tucked away from Mr. Hendricks. He double checked with them what they were called in for.

In the evenings, Mr. Blackbourne studied, often with Dr. Green and Sang. They stayed late after school. Sang brought home the books with her when she went back with Kota at night. She claimed to be studying for tests around Erica, and she was, only not for science or geography.

The police thinned out by the second day. One or two remained on campus just to wait and see if Mr. Hendricks would show back up. His house was monitored. No results.

After school on the following Monday, Nathan was at home, sitting on the couch alone. His bare feet were on the coffee table. He sat back, looking up at the ceiling. He thought to go running to get his frustration out with exercise.

Staring was more satisfying in the moment. Idle. Wallowing.

He’d barely spoken to the others since the other day. Most had genuinely been too busy. A few, he was sure, knew about what he and Kota had done.

He was willing to believe it was mostly himself avoiding them. He needed the separation, for now. And that meant avoiding Sang as well. Since no one else came to him about what happened, he assumed it wasn’t as bad as Dr. Green made it out.

It still worried him. Being alone was probably making him more and more paranoid. That was the worst part. For the entire weekend, he’d been isolated.

The front door opened, breaking him of his floundering thoughts. Nathan groaned but didn’t bother to go see who it was. If they didn’t knock, it was one of the guys. It certainly wasn’t Sang. She was still at the school.

“I’m here,” he called out to whoever it was.

Footsteps came closer and he twisted on the couch to look.

Danielle stood by the couch, just behind it. Her hair was pulled back in a very short ponytail.

He raised an eyebrow and pulled himself off the couch to stand up. “What are you doing here?” He looked behind her and then to the doorway into the kitchen. “Where’s Marie?”

“She’s at home,” she said. “Checking in with her mom.”

“So what are you doing here?”

She walked around the couch, putting her hands on her hips and looking at him. “I’m tired of this stupid thing we’re doing.”

Nathan cocked a brow. “You mean getting you out of school?”

“We’re still going to school,” she said. “We may as well spend our days in in-school suspension. All we do is sit around and occasionally take a test.”

“They aren’t hard.”

“That’s not the point,” she said, her tone rising sharply. “I didn’t sign up for this. You said you could get us out.”

“We can get Marie out,” he said. He had no patience for this at all right now. Whatever stupid reason she wanted out of school for, they shouldn’t have been encouraging it. “What do you think is going to happen when your mom finds you aren’t going to school anymore?”

“Let me deal with that.”

“What do you think you’re going to do?” he asked. “Hide in the Sorenson house? Hide here? Well, you can’t. You can’t spend the next year and a half hiding. Your brother and your parents aren’t stupid. They’ll find out.”

Danielle threw up her hands and her eyes flared wide. “I said I’d handle it!” She pointed to her chest. “I’m not going back. I’m done. We’re wasting time. You’re just keeping us there.”