Paradise Falls (Paradise Falls #1-5)(5)

“This is serious, Jenn. There’s a point where this needs to stop, and we’ve clearly passed it. You should go to Brock and see what he can do.”

“He drove me to school,” Jennifer said. “He said the same thing. Do you really think anyone is going to do anything to Elliot? He can do whatever he wants, and he knows it.”

“Brock ran them off?”

“Kind of.” Jennifer looked out the window. A knot of students still gossiped and bantered around the car. “Did you see that car?”

“Yeah,” Rachel said. “I was going to ask you about that, but… so what?”

“The driver pulled up while Elliot was trying to push me into his car. Confront them.”

“He confronted Elliot and Grayson? Who is this guy?”

“I don’t know.” Jennifer said. “I’ve never seen him before. I think I haven’t, anyway. He knew my name. He called me Miss K.”

“That’s weird.” Rachel glanced at the clock. “We’ve got to get back out in the hall. I’m not done talking to you about this. We need to involve the authorities somehow. Call the FBI or something.”

Jennifer shook her head. “You know who his father is.”

Rachel led the way out of the classroom. Jennifer stepped out behind her and froze. The new teacher was out in the hallway, leaning on the wall. It was him. He leaned on the wall like a student with one foot raised to rest on the locker behind him, arms folded over his chest. He glanced at Jennifer so quickly she would never have noticed without looking right at him. His throat tightened and sucked in a breath before he stood up.

“Hi,” he said, extending his hand. “Jacob Kane. I’m the new math teacher-“

“You’re a teacher?” Rachel barked, halfway to laughter. “I should start buying lottery tickets.”

“You remember me?” he said.

“Of course I remember you, knucklehead. Where have you been?”

Jennifer swallowed. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he said.

Jennifer braced herself as the wheels turned in Rachel’s head, making the inevitable connection between herself and the new teacher.

“That was you?” Rachel said, wide-eyed.

“You must mean this morning.” Jacob itched the top of the scar running down his cheek. “You heard about that.”

“Yeah,” Rachel said. “Good, we have a witness. Let’s call the cops.”

Too busy staring at Jacob, Jennifer ignored Rachel’s proposal. He looked even bigger in the school hallway. The tops of the lockers were barely up to his chin. She actually had to look up at him, which she wasn’t used to at all.

Jacob kept his eyes constantly locked on Jennifer ever since he acknowledged the two of them, even throughout his conversation with Rachel. He finally looked away, shifting from side to side on his feet. She could swear he was turning red. It made the scar stand out.

Rachel glanced over at Jennifer. In an attempt not to appear so smitten with Jacob, Jennifer forced her eyes downward to her scraped hand. Without realizing it, she’d taken a loose strand of hair and twisted it around her finger. She shook the hair free, and then she didn’t have a clue what to do with her hands. Jennifer smoothed the front of her blouse, then crossed her arms over her chest, pulling her shoulders in. Her heart pounded against her ribs and a light, fluttery feeling danced in her stomach. Even though she tried to look away, Jacob’s piercing eyes kept drawing her back.

With a knowing look addressed to both of them, Rachel retreated into her classroom. “We shouldn’t talk about this where the kids can hear. I’ll talk to you both about it later.”

She closed her door, and left them alone. Jennifer willed the bell to ring and flood the hallway with students, but it didn’t. She felt like she was six inches tall.

“She’s right. Something has to be done about this.”

“Who are you?” Jennifer asked. “How did you know my name?”

“You wouldn’t remember me. I was a senior when you started teaching. I had Mrs. Garrison… Rachel, I mean.”

“Oh.” That made sense. She had freshmen that year.

“Are you hurt? How’s your leg?”

“It’ll be fine in a couple of days. I’ll ice it up when I get home.”

His voice lowered. “Has he done that before?”

She shook her head. “He’s never tried to force me into a car before, if that’s what you’re asking. Usually it’s just driving by the house. He doesn’t come by the school anymore. Brock, you know, the school resource officer?”

“We’ve met,” Jacob said.

Jennifer raised an eyebrow. Something in his voice said it wasn’t on the best of terms.

“He won’t let Elliot near the school. He’s my brother-in-law. Elliot, I mean.”

“I know,” said Jacob.

What? Oh, right.

“You did say you knew him.”

He shrugged. “He’s the mayor’s son and he works for the city. I don’t know him personally.”

“Oh.”

He moved closer, and she froze. She stood to her full height but she had to look up anyway.

“Do you know what he wanted?”

Jennifer started to answer, but bit her lip and looked away.