Without Mercy - Lisa Jackson [166]
She stayed on the shoveled, trampled paths, hoping to keep her tracks hidden now that no new snow would cover them. The brittle air burned in her lungs, bringing with it a faint scent of smoke.
With a sense of urgency pushing her, Shay hurried forward, across the lawn, under an awning and around the corner of the admin building. She eyed Stanton House and the area around the gym and cafeteria, scoping out the area, hoping to dodge the idiot nerd patrols. She just didn’t want to have to explain herself to Missy Albright or that freak show of a teacher, Flannagan.
Nothing.
She was alone.
She let out a breath and took two steps forward.
Crunch!
Hell! She froze. Was that a footstep? Where?
Her heart trip-hammered.
She inched her way to the side of a building and tried to calm down near a snow-draped rhododendron. Slowly, noiselessly, she turned, her eyes sweeping the serene white landscape. Everything was so still, eerily peaceful, the wind that had screamed through the canyons silenced, the icy pellets of snow that had stung her cheeks for days no longer.
The campus was empty.
Not one person around.
Not even a security patrol making rounds.
Nonetheless, her nerves tightened, the muscles in the back of her neck stiffening. She felt someone observing her; unseen eyes watching her every move.
Stop it! Don’t fall for any of the paranoia going around! Just get to Jules. Find out what the hell she’s got planned, how she intends to get you out of this freakoid school!
She started forward.
Crunch!
That was definitely a footstep.
Damn!
Instinctively, she whirled, snow kicking up behind her as she fell into a crouch, her muscles tense and ready, all her martial arts training clicking in. If she had to, she would attack.
She caught a glimpse of someone by the dorm.
The hairs on the back of her neck raised.
This was it!
The person looked her way.
Nell Cousineau?
The ninny was standing alone, shivering by the side of the dorm.
Seriously?
“Shaylee?” Nell said, spying her, relief evident in her small face. The girl’s teeth were chattering loudly, her breath a cloud.
What a moron! Nell wasn’t even wearing a ski coat, just some kind of flimsy flannel jacket.
“Shhh!” Shay hissed.
“Can you help me?” Nell said, moving closer.
“What?” This was the last thing Shay needed.
“I’m locked out,” Nell said, her big eyes pleading.
Great! “What the hell are you doing out here?” Shaylee was pissed as she stood up and took a step toward the idiot of a girl. “Don’t you know it’s dangerous to be outside? That’s why they’ve got the beefed up patrols.”
“I know, I know,” Nell said, rubbing her arms and looking scared as a trapped rabbit. “It all freaks me out so bad. I—I can’t stand it here anymore. I’ve tried to get people to help me. Counselors and teachers and my mom…” Her voice faded for a second and Shay thought the goose might break down into a puddle of tears. Instead she sniffed loudly. “I—I just want to get away from here and go home.”
“Yeah, well, I get that.” Boy did she ever, but she didn’t have time for Nell’s ridiculous antics. “Look, what were you thinking? What did you think you could do? Walk through the blizzard?”
“It’s not snowing now,” Nell said, hugging herself, and blinking like crazy. “I thought maybe I could steal one of the snowmobiles and drive it out of here. I know where the keys are.”
Snowmobiles? “You do?” Shay was suddenly intrigued. This was the first she’d heard of snowmobiles, but it made sense. Of course Blue Rock Academy would have them. And they would be the answer to her prayers, a way to navigate through the snow-crusted hills and escape. For the first time in days, hope swelled inside her. “Where are the keys?”
“Here.” Nell actually held up her gloved hand and opened her palm to show off a tiny ring with two keys dangling from it. “I ripped off a set.”
“Really?” For an instant, Shay’s esteem for Nell shot to the heavens. How great was this? But Nell? Really? Wimpy Nell jacking anything, much less something as cool as a set of keys,