The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious, #2)(65)

“I have a question,” Janelle said. “I need a job. I need to do something. What can we do?”

A look that could have been approval spread over Jenny’s features.

“I think a strong, positive message from the students would go a long way,” Jenny said. “If there is press, and there will be, then the students should be part of the message. Ellingham is an institution, and we have been here for many years and we will be here for many years to come, hopefully. In fact, we are likely about to expand, maybe even double in size. So perhaps you want to organize the students? Make yourselves heard. You can work with me to develop a message and work with our media team.”

“I can do that,” Janelle said. “I can do that.”

“Definitely,” Vi said. “I’ve worked on messaging with all kinds of campaigns.”

“Good,” Jenny said. Then she made her exit. Janelle and Vi huddled at once to start discussing this. David picked up his tray and walked to the door, dumping the tray in the busing bin as he left.

“So,” Nate said, turning to Stevie and speaking in a low voice. “Are you going to tell me what the fuck has been going on?”





18


“SO WAIT,” NATE SAID, WALKING UP AND DOWN. “DAVID EASTMAN IS Edward King’s son.”

“Don’t tell anyone that,” Stevie said.

She was sitting on the stack of yoga mats in the gloom of the rainy midmorning. Nate was one of those people who couldn’t quite sit still or look at you if the conversation went on too long, so he had been traversing the room, half lifting himself on the barre, tracing his finger along the edge where the mirrors met on the wall. He was doing everything to keep from standing still.

“You’re here because of Edward King. And your job is to make sure David is stable?”

“Basically,” Stevie said.

“Is this normal?”

“How am I supposed to know what normal is?” Stevie said, pulling at a loose thread in the cuff of her hoodie.

“But you told David,” Nate said. “That his father is why you’re here.”

Stevie had given Nate the overview on this, but not the bloody details about the crying and how she ran away.

“Except that Edward King didn’t seem to know that when he called me this morning,” Stevie said.

“He called you this morning?”

Stevie had not gotten that far in the story. It was a lot of story.

“Jesus Christ,” Nate said, banging his head delicately against the mirror wall. “Is this even a school, or are we in some kind of experiment?”

Stevie shook her head.

“So what happens now?” Nate said.

“I don’t know.”

“If David tells his dad, you could be gone, whenever? How?”

“I guess he talks to my parents or something,” she said. “They listen to him. He has influence and . . . planes. He can do pretty much anything.”

“Jesus. Jesus, Stevie.”

“You wanted to know,” she said.

“Does Janelle know?”

“No. I couldn’t tell anyone.”

“Are you going to tell her?”

“Probably. She already hates David.” Stevie rubbed her temples. “Look, I have to do something. There’s one more thing I have.”

She unzipped her bag and removed the tin and set it on the floor.

“What’s that?” he said. “Are snakes going to come out of it?”

“It’s proof,” she said, “that the person who wrote the Truly Devious letter wasn’t the person who kidnapped the Ellinghams. I found it in Ellie’s room.”

Nate tipped back his head and laughed. She had never heard him laugh like this before. It was deep and bounced all around the mirrors and the floor.

“Now you are shitting me,” he said. “You’re in some secret deal with a senator, who is David’s dad, two people are dead, and you have proof about the Ellingham case.”

“This is why my anatomy grades are bad,” Stevie explained.

“You can’t be a real person.”

“Whatever happens to me here, this case has to get solved. If they take me away, I need you to help me.”

Nate pinched his nose and paced from one side of the room to the other.

“Okay,” he finally said. “Okay. Yes. Okay. Sure. Let’s solve the crime of the century. Why the fuck not?”

Stevie’s phone rang, and she pulled it from her pocket. The number was unknown.

“Oh God,” she said. “I think it’s him.”

“Who?”

“Edward King,” she said. The phone continued to ring. Stevie considered throwing it at the wall, then decided that it would be better to answer than be kept wondering forever.

But it was not Edward King. It was Larry.

“There’s someone here to see you.”

“Someone here?” she said.

Nate raised an eyebrow.

The first rule of Ellingham Academy was that no one was allowed at Ellingham Academy except the students and faculty. Even parents could only come at appointed times. The road could not withstand heavy traffic, and the school was big on fostering a creative spirit of learning, which meant no randos. Visitors were rare and had recently been only of the police variety.