Night School

‘It could be dangerous.’ She could hear frustration in his voice. ‘And you could get expelled. Allie, this is not a good idea.’


‘It is dangerous,’ she said. ‘But I’m doing it. Look, there’s one thing in my file I didn’t mention. In the letter from my mother, she mentioned my brother, Christopher. And she says “what if he was taken”.’ She leaned forward intently. ‘Don’t you see, Carter? I could find out what happened to Christopher. I have to go.’

For a long moment his eyes searched her face. She could see the second when he gave in. ‘OK,’ he said, resigned. ‘I don’t like it. But I know if I don’t let you go with me, you’ll just go on your own and get in even more trouble.’

‘Thank you!’ She threw her arms around his neck.

‘But I have one condition,’ he said, holding onto her. ‘We have to do it my way. Agreed?’

‘Agreed!’ Allie said, hugging him tighter.

‘Now, how many hell points will we get if we desecrate this chapel?’ he asked, breathing in the scent of her hair.





TWENTY-FOUR


Clinging to the ledge outside the girls’ dorm rooms, Allie inched along towards the low sloping section of roof where she could make her way up and across to Carter’s room.

It was just after curfew. The night was dark and clear – perfect sneaking out weather. And she’d already made her way past the first window – now there was only Katie’s window to get by. Standing on her toes, she leaned across the window frame tentatively to peek inside.

The lights were on, but it appeared empty.

Stretching out her arm to reach the other side of the window she scuttled across.

Home free, she thought.

But as she took the next step she kicked something off the edge of the gutter – perhaps, she would think later, a roofing tile, or a stone that had rolled off the roof – and it clattered to the ground with the percussive impact of a tiny drumroll. Frozen in place, Allie couldn’t decide whether it would be better to rush the rest of the way onto the roof – risking making more noise – or to stay right where she was, as still as a corpse.

‘Who’s there?’ The demanding voice came from about three feet from her right elbow.

Allie held her breath. She wore her running clothes – dark blue stretchy trousers and a dark blue T-shirt. Together with dark rubber-soled shoes, she figured she must be practically invisible.

Think Catwoman, she told herself.

‘Jo? Is that you?’ Katie’s voice pierced the night. ‘Or is it Allie, the crazed killer? If it’s you, Allie, just so you know, I’m going straight to Jules to turn you in.’

Allie tried to breathe in time with the breeze so that the sound would disappear. After a few minutes – silence. She counted to one hundred, then raced to the sloping roof and climbed up, then hurled herself across to the boys’ side. Practice was making her faster. She slid down the slope on that side until she’d reached a drainpipe, then slid across to Carter’s room.

His window was open, the light was on, and he was standing across the room, waiting for her. She thought that his dark eyes grew lighter when he saw her.

As she climbed through the window, he walked across the room to lift her off the desk.

‘Hey,’ he whispered with that sexy half-smile that drove her crazy.

‘Hey back.’

She’d already decided not to tell him what Katie had said about turning her into Jules – she knew it wouldn’t take much incentive for Carter to insist that she stay at the school while he went out alone.

Instead, she reached up and pulled his head down towards hers.

A few minutes later, he lifted his head to look into her eyes. He stroked her cheek.

‘We need to go and follow Isabelle now and find out who the killer is.’

‘Quel drag,’ Allie said, lifting her lips for another kiss.

‘My German is terrible – what does that mean again?’ he murmured.

She laughed against his cheek. ‘It means why are you talking?’

After a minute he stepped away with a regretful sigh. ‘Let’s go do our spy thing before we forget what we’re supposed to be doing.’

Allie straightened her clothing. ‘OK. Let’s go kick some arse.’

‘Ooh, very convincing.’

‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘I’ve been working on it all day.’

Carter opened the door and made sure the hall was clear before standing aside for her to pass. They slipped down the stairs, stopping on each level to listen for footsteps or voices.

At the backdoor, he again crept out first as she waited in the shadows, coming back for her when he was certain there was nobody around.

Perfectly in step, they ran around the east wing to the front of the building, following a course they’d chosen earlier that day. At the treeline they ducked down into the bracken, settling in with a clear sightline to the school building. As long as the meeting didn’t happen somewhere behind the school, they were well positioned.