Nathan exhaled slowly and shrugged. “It’s either you or me.”
Danielle didn’t say anything. He supposed he was pushing it to get her involved in getting them to school today. He sensed she was barely holding back from yelling at him for the stunt he pulled at her home and getting her to go to school today.
The only reason she wasn’t yelling at him was probably Derrick.
It’s not like he was doing it for his own benefit.
They’d passed the Lee house, but no one was outside when they went by. Silas pulled into the drive of the two-story gray house but pulled in close to the large shed near the back, where he could sit in a blind spot. There weren’t windows on this side of the house. Nathan motioned to Silas’s phone in the cup holder and Silas nodded, indicating Nathan could take it with him.
This time when Nathan got out, he hurried to get inside the garage.
Once he was out of sight of both the house and the car, he used Silas’s phone to check the house cameras.
It was still super early. Mrs. Sorenson was asleep in bed. He should be okay going in, but he’d have to be as quiet as a Luke.
He went to the door inside the garage. It was locked, but he pulled keys out of his pocket and used one to get in.
From there, he tiptoed up the back stairway. On the landing, he paused, listening.
Sang’s old room door was open. The others were closed. He peeked into the open room first.
There were clothes spilling out of the closet, all over the floor. The short black-painted wardrobe that had been in the attic had been pulled out. It was open, with only a couple of hangers inside. The bed was there, stripped but had books on it that looked like Sang’s old ones from before she stopped going to classes.
The whole place was a mess. Did Mrs. Sorenson do this or did Marie? The attic space was compromised now for sure anyway.
Nostalgia slithered into him as he checked once by the window, the one he’d climbed up to a few times to get to Sang.
The heavy feeling in him returned from that same night, knowing something was wrong in this house for Sang. He didn’t know what at the time. He had no idea. He could only feel it. The memory of her green eyes and the way she tried to ward him off before he was caught.
Now he knew the full of it, he shuddered from all the memories of her being here. He’d never let her come back. They’d come so far.
He went to Marie’s door next, and then at great risk of her screaming, he knocked quickly once and then opened the door slowly.
Marie was in bed, her body bunched up next to a pillow. She picked her head up quickly and then threw darts with her eyes at him. “What are you doing here?” she whispered hoarsely.
“We need to get you to go to school today,” he said.
“I don’t want to,” she said.
“You don’t have to go to class.” He stepped in and closed the door behind him. He kept his voice low as he stepped softly over to her. He squatted down, sitting on his heels to be more at her level and hopefully appearing less threatening. “I just need you to come with me.”
Marie sat up and pushed a palm to her face, rubbing at her eyes. She yawned. “Why? I don’t want to go.”
“Just for a little while,” he said. “This will help get you out.” He didn’t tell her it was to get Danielle to go along with this more than her. “It’s part of the process. When we get there, you’ll both sit in a room quietly and take a test. That’s all.”
She rolled her eyes. “Ugh.”
“It’s not what you’re thinking,” he said. “Just do your best. And we need to be able to mark you as having been in the school.”
“What about tomorrow?”
“You may still have to show up, but the same thing.”
“More tests?”
He shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s a process.” He leaned in, his knees on the carpet, and focused on her, trying to appear sympathetic. This place, it was dark and dreary, and the thought of Mrs. Sorenson down there and what she could do to her... She needed something more than this. “Marie, trust me. We’re trying to help, but we can’t if you won’t let us.”
She grunted but then slowly sat up more, putting her feet on the floor. She was in a T-shirt and pajamas, and he wasn’t totally sure but he thought they were the same as he’d seen her in the other day. Had she changed at all?
“Let me get dressed,” she said.
“Silas is downstairs. Danielle and Derrick are in the car with him. They’re waiting.”
She stood up, reaching for clothes.
Nathan left the room, shutting the door behind himself. He went to the end of the hallway, to the top of the stairs and waited for her.
Marie emerged, and on quiet feet, she followed him. They took the stairs slowly. Marie wasn’t as quiet as Sang, but it was good enough to escape without waking her mother.
Nathan opened the door that led out into the garage. Marie went out and he followed, locking the door behind himself.
Marie got into the back of the car. Nathan got in front. The car rolled backward, and soon Silas had them on the way to the school.
Scenery rolled by as Nathan’s thoughts drifted. It might be the only minute he had of quiet until they got to school.
“Can we stop for breakfast?” Danielle asked, completely breaking Nathan’s thoughts.
“Just the fast food place by that grocery store,” Nathan said. He was sure she was speaking more for herself, but maybe it was a good idea to get some food. He needed to be able to keep up today. “Might be all we’ve got time to get to.”
“Sounds good to me,” Danielle said.
Silas shared a long look with Nathan, asking him silently why he’d encourage her.
Why not? A little reward for going along with this? She’s already going to be pretty ticked at them for making her take a test today.
The line for breakfast was a little long, as Nathan suspected most lines would be anywhere near the school. It would probably be faster to grab something quick from the grocery store. Still, they waited behind the other cars.
They emerged about twenty minutes later with several egg and bacon muffins and plenty of orange juice. Everyone ate in the car. Silas stuffed what he could of the food in while driving.
As they passed in front of the school, there were cop cars near the front, and with so many policemen there, they blocked view of what was going on. There appeared to be a few faculty members there as well, along with a couple of students on the sidewalk near the front doors of the school. There was one fire truck blocking the lane and access for any other vehicles to get to where the cops were.
Nathan sat up, staring into the small crowd, but Silas passed a bit quickly to get into line near the entrance. “What the hell is going on now?” Nathan asked.
“Don’t know,” Silas said. “It wasn’t another bomb threat, was it?”
“This early?” Derrick asked. “Wouldn’t a student wait until class started first?”
He was probably right, but the position of the cops and the fact that people were still dropping off kids along the side of the building didn’t seem to match up with the bomb threat theory anyway. But something was incredibly off.
Silas parked far back in the student lot, almost next to the baseball field. They all climbed out. Derrick walked ahead of them, heading into the school and catching up to a few of the other students going in that direction. Heads were turned toward the front of the school. No doubt everyone was curious as to what was going on.
Nathan slowed to create distance from them. Silas followed his lead as did Marie.
When Marie slowed, Danielle flat stopped. “What are we doing here?” she asked. Her bookbag that seemed mostly empty slid off her shoulder, and she caught it with her elbow. “We said we didn’t want to...”