Without Mercy - Lisa Jackson [13]
“Oh, yeah. We didn’t actually get together, well, not openly, until I got back here and he finished his term.”
“How did that go over?”
For the first time, Analise looked away and appeared more than a little anxious. “Not great,” she admitted. “Since Eli was, well, ‘chosen,’ for lack of a better word, to be one of the special TAs, it was expected that he’d stay there until he was out of college.”
“Special?”
Analise shrugged. “Students showing the most promise, I guess, are pulled into an elite program. The school has an online program they worked out with a local university in southern Oregon. Eli actually fulfilled that requirement, but he decided to do his graduate work here, in Seattle.” She bit at the corner of her mouth. “That didn’t fly so well,” she admitted. She was fingering Chloe’s gold curls as she spoke, but she seemed far away, in another world.
Jules asked, “So what were the ramifications of his leaving?”
“Nothing. We got married as soon as I finished nursing school, and we adopted Bentley from a bulldog rescue shelter, bought this house, and had Chloe.”
“And you have nothing bad to say about Blue Rock.”
“Nothing,” she said quickly. Almost too quickly. Then she added, “Do you think maybe you’re tilting at windmills, Jules? I know you and Shaylee were tight when she was growing up, but you’ve both changed, and Shay might not be the sweet little innocent she once was.”
“I don’t think she’s innocent or naive,” Jules admitted. “Not anymore. But it’s tough out there for kids.”
“I know, and you’ve always felt that it was kind of you and her against the world.”
“Sometimes.”
“And, come on, you and I aren’t that old; it was tough for us, too.”
Chloe squirmed on Analise’s lap. “Uh-oh, someone’s getting sleepy,” she said, and though the kid looked anything but ready to go down for a nap, Jules got the hint.
“I’d better go anyway.” She stood, then grabbed her coat and scarf from the hall tree by the front door. “Oh, wait. Was there a teacher named Maris Howell on the staff when you were there?”
Analise was hauling Chloe to her feet. “I don’t think so.”
“She taught social studies, I think.”
Analise shook her head. “I was there eight years ago, Jules, but the name isn’t familiar. Why?”
“She was let go. Some scandal with a student.”
“Really?” Analise pulled a face. “Was she fired?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Teachers and students—taboo at Blue Rock.”
“Taboo anywhere, but sometimes it still happens.”
Jules slung her scarf around her neck. “I thought you might know what happened, who the student was.”
But her cousin was shaking her head as she opened the door. “Neither Eli nor I have had much contact with the academy since he left.”
“Bye-bye!” Chloe said, as if to push Jules out of the house.
“Bye, Chloe. Analise, thanks.”
“Not at all. See ya later.” Analise stood on the porch for a few seconds as Jules hurried down the steps to her car, parked on the street. Her Volvo was wedged between a Chevy Suburban and a minivan, but she was able to pull away. In her rearview mirror, she watched as Analise carried her daughter inside.
Analise was a fan of Blue Rock. And truthfully, the academy had really helped turn Analise around. Jules should have felt better about the school after her visit with her cousin.
Instead she felt worse.
CHAPTER 5
Shaylee glanced around the living area where she was being held.
Scattered comfy chairs, a few tables and lamps, even an aquarium. And all securely locked.
Only a moron would stay here, she thought, and one thing was certain: According to every IQ test she’d ever taken, Shaylee Stillman was no moron.
She didn’t know how that was possible, considering her gene pool, but, hey, she was fine having more brain power than her mother and father put together. Edie and Max—could anyone have a worse combination for