When she walked in, Rachel and Nicole were already at the table, eating sandwiches and talking in whispers.
‘Any news?’ Allie asked, pulling up a chair.
They both shook their heads.
‘Big fat zero,’ Rachel said. ‘You?’
‘The same. Isabelle never showed. I was there all morning.’ Gloomily, she surveyed the neat array of sandwiches on the platter in the middle of the table. ‘I wish I knew where the hell she was.’
Still feeling chilled from last night’s icy meeting, she half stood to peer into the tureen in the middle of the table.
‘It’s weird green soup today,’ Rachel warned her. ‘I wouldn’t.’
The two watched doubtfully as Allie ladled soup of a startling hue into a white china bowl with the Cimmeria crest on the side.
‘I just need something hot,’ Allie said. ‘Even if it’s Soylent Green.’
‘Soylent Green is people,’ Zoe announced, sliding into the chair next to her.
‘Oh great,’ Rachel said. ‘Now you’ve ruined the ending for me.’
‘I thought everyone knew.’ Zoe stared hard at Allie’s soup. ‘That looks disgusting. It might actually be people.’
‘It tastes better than it looks,’ Allie said, unbothered. She glanced up at Zoe. ‘Did you have any luck?’
‘With what?’ Zoe asked blankly.
Allie tilted her head significantly. ‘You know… the thing? From last night?’
‘Oh, the spying.’ As they all shushed her, Zoe grabbed a sandwich off a tray. ‘A little.’
She had their full attention now.
‘What did you find out?’ Allie asked.
‘It’s like we thought, they’re holding Eloise.’
‘Where?’ the other three all asked once.
Zoe’s reply came through a mouthful of cheese sandwich. ‘I don’t know – they didn’t say. But the guards are cross. They have their limits. They’re working double shifts. They’ve got families, you know. They didn’t sign up for this. And they don’t want to be involved in anything illegal.’
Her phrasing was odd – her accent changed subtly with each phrase – and it took Allie a second to realise she must be parroting precisely what she’d heard the guards say. Zoe’s natural tendency for precision, it turned out, made her an ideal spy.
‘We’ve got to find out where they’re keeping her,’ Allie said. ‘That must be where Isabelle is, too. How can I talk to her if I can’t find her?’
Frustration made her voice rise and she forced herself to lower it to a whisper again.
‘I’ll find her,’ Zoe said confidently. ‘One of the guards said…’
Her eyes widened and Allie turned to see what she was looking at.
Carter and Sylvain were running across the dining hall. It was odd seeing them together – given how much they’d always hated each other. But now they looked like a team, moving in unison across the busy room.
A scene of confusion seemed to break out in their wake. The noise level rose and some students sitting near the door rose from their seats and rushed out of the room.
‘Come quick.’ Carter was breathless. ‘Something’s happening.’
Exchanging a puzzled look, the girls hurried after them for the door, where the sudden exodus was causing a bottleneck.
As soon as they extricated themselves the boys led them down the hallway to the front door, which stood open despite the cold February wind.
Seeing it, Allie’s heart sank. Whatever was happening, it wasn’t good.
In front of the school building a Bentley gleamed in the driveway. A powerfully built man in an odd uniform – half military, half bellboy – was marching towards it. In one hand he carried a designer suitcase. His other hand gripped the arm of a struggling girl.
‘That’s Caroline Laurelton. What’s he doing to her?’ Rachel frowned in dismay.
‘What is it?’ Zoe squirmed in front of them to try and see.
‘Let me go!’ The girl squirmed in the driver’s grip, her short brown hair flying from the effort, her voice rising to a scream. But he was more than six feet tall and appeared to be made of muscle. She was small and slight. She didn’t stand a chance.
‘I don’t…’ Allie turned to Sylvain, who stood next to her. His jaw was tight, and she could see the anger and disgust in his eyes. ‘What’s happening?’
‘Her parents are taking her out of the school. They’ve sent their driver to take her home.’ As he explained, Sylvain kept his eyes on the girl who, Allie could now see, was weeping. ‘She doesn’t want to go.’
His gaze shifted. Allie turned to see what he was looking at. One of Raj’s guards stood to one side of the door, watching the scene. Meeting Sylvain’s gaze, he shook his head.
They weren’t to interfere.
Back in the drive, the man was shoving the tearful girl into the capacious car.
‘This is wrong,’ Allie said, mostly to herself.
‘I know.’ Sylvain’s voice was bitter.