Marie waved to her, motioning to be quiet. “Just go with it.”
It was the first time Nathan heard Marie speak up to her. He was rather proud of that. Danielle tended to be over dramatic when things weren’t going how she wanted and often needed to be convinced to change course. Her mood swings often revealed how intolerant she was. “Just go in with us,” he said, backing up Marie. “We’ll explain. You wanted out. This is what it takes.”
Danielle kept her frown but put her bookbag back into position on her shoulder and proceeded to walk forward with them. “This better not be a trick,” she said.
“Like one of yours?” Nathan asked and turned from her to head toward the school. “No. We’re not like that.” He bit his tongue, immediately regretting what he said. He was supposed to be befriending them.
She flashed him an angry glare and then looked away. He doubted she’d forget his comment. He was probably going to get it from her later.
They entered the far side of the school, the long part that extended around the gym section. The hallway was mostly clear.
“I’m going to check out what’s going on up front,” Silas said. “Bring them to the music room.”
Nathan wanted to know what was going on, too, but he agreed. He needed to keep the girls focused. Unless Mr. Blackbourne or someone else said to alter the plan, they needed to stay on course.
“We’re not going to class?” Danielle asked.
“We’re taking a test,” Marie said.
Danielle groaned loudly. “You’re kidding me.”
Nathan led the way to Music Room B. He held open the door for them and closed it behind himself once they were inside.
A folding table had been placed in the middle, and a couple of the chairs sat next to it. Sang sat at one of them. She shared a wide-eyed look with Nathan but otherwise kept where she was and had her hands in her lap.
Dr. Green stood by the piano, with his usual happy expression. “Welcome!” he called to the other girls and then did a short wave to Nathan. “Hey. You made it.”
“What’s all this?” Danielle asked.
Dr. Green picked up a couple of manila files. There were names on the front of each. He placed one in front of Sang. “I need you two to do me a favor. You can leave your bags here, but I need you to go to homeroom once the bell rings.”
“I thought we didn’t have to go to class,” Marie said, looking over at Nathan for confirmation.
Dr. Green held a palm over his heart. “I promise, it’s just to homeroom. We need your teachers to mark you present. That’s the report that ensures you’ve arrived and gets you off the phone call list. After that, you’ll come back here. I’ve some paperwork and some testing to complete with you. Sang’s going to stay here and do the same.”
Nathan hadn’t been aware of this part, but in a way, perhaps it was for the best. If Sang was willing to go along with it, it might help keep the other girls in line.
It was almost a complete waste of time for her but maybe it was better like this. She’d be safe today, out of the way of whatever was going on.
Sang had a cup filled with pens and pencils that looked like it came from Dr. Green’s desk in his office. Smart of her to bring it along, in case Marie and Danielle hadn’t brought anything. She took one of the pencils from it. He noticed her hair was up, wearing a couple of pencils in a bun. Where was her clip? She lose it?
The bell rang, indicating everyone on campus should be heading to homeroom. Dr. Green checked his phone and then waved to Marie and Danielle. “Remember to come here after. We’ll start as soon as you get back.”
Danielle and Marie left their bags, and they walked out together. Their heads titled toward one another, whispering.
Sang popped up out of her seat as soon as they were gone. “Did you see North’s Jeep? What’s going on out there?”
Nathan spun around, facing her, and then looked to Dr. Green for any hint as to what she was talking about. “What? We found it? Where?”
“Out front,” she said quickly. “There’s caution tape all over it.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t see it, but there was a crowd of cop cars. And a fire truck. We thought it was another bomb threat or something.”
Dr. Green came to the table, putting his palms down on the top and leaning against it. “I may have to go talk to the police at some point. They may be looking for me. Ms. Johnson identified it as a possible vehicle that threw the smoke bomb. I don’t think the tape is for anything other than keeping people away until bomb squad can take a look at it. After all the threats, and it being the smoke bomb car from last night, they’re on high alert. And to keep people away in general until they settle what to do with it.”
“Why are they so wrapped up in this smoke thing?” Nathan asked. “It was a firework. They wouldn’t have caution tape around it. There’s no way she can confirm without knowing the plate.”
“As soon as that smoke bomb dropped, the police were there before it even really cleared,” Dr. Green said. He motioned to Nathan. “It must have been just after you left. In a way, you did us all a favor by getting out of there. They checked those woods.” He lowered his head slowly. He remained like that for a long time, like he was thinking. When he lifted his head again, his serious expression remained. “But once the cops were there, Mr. McCoy started throwing conspiracy theories about us at the police. Ms. Johnson spilled about being asked to be there by the principal for late night security since there wasn’t any. She mentioned the delivery, but the police were more interested in the smoke bombs. I think they think it’s connected to the recent slew of bomb threats on the school.”
Nathan’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped open. “So...what about Mr. McCoy? And Hendricks?”
“It’s all going down right now,” Dr. Green said. He stabbed a finger at the top of the folded table. “Today. The police are here waiting for Mr. Hendricks to ask him questions. They went to his house last night and he wasn’t there. Teachers and faculty are being pulled out of classes to be questioned. Everyone’s talking about being followed, and Mr. Hendricks asking them to do weird things. Lawyers are showing up now.”
Complete disaster. With everyone on edge, it was a wall of cards coming down. Everyone would tattle on everyone else.
Nathan’s jaw remained wedged open. He imagined this was what Mr. Hendricks was going to allow to happen when it was time for him to leave.
Was this it? He was booking out early? Did he call the cops on Dr. Green initially and the smoke bomb saved their asses?
Was it because they pushed him so far yesterday? They underestimated his nerves and stability.
He looked over at Sang and then back to Dr. Green. “So...what now?”
“I don’t know yet,” Dr. Green said. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “I don’t know how we’ll contain this. The whole point of being here was to get the money recovered before the police became involved so it wasn’t in the middle of the investigation and tied up forever as evidence by police.”
He was right. He rolled his head back. “God damn it.”
He felt a hand on his arm and straightened, finding Sang touching him. “But this isn’t over the money,” she said. She looked back to Dr. Green. “It’s about the smoke bomb, a babbling vice principal that has been missing, and... well... it isn’t about the money. Isn’t there something we can do to keep it that way?”
Nathan thought of the options. “If people collaborated with Ms. Johnson about what Mr. Hendricks with his strange behavior, they may not notice...” He looked up at Dr. Green. “But we’ll have to figure out a way for us to stay on. This won’t be over just because Hendricks is gone. If he’s gone.”
“That might be why we’re still here,” Dr. Green said. “Mr. Blackbourne hasn’t told us to bail. But I have to keep her out of it.” He motioned to Sang. He smiled at her. “Looks like you’re off duty right now.”