Without Mercy - Lisa Jackson [188]
“I don’t know about you, but I’m about ready to leave this place,” Trent finally said. He twisted his neck, stretching tight muscles.
“The sooner the better. I just want to wait so that I can take Shay with me.”
“That might be a while.” Trent’s gaze skated over the group of students at tables near the far wall. They were all quiet, their faces pale. The survivors. Jules wondered how much each of them had known, how many had suspected the evil that had been a part of Blue Rock.
An outside door opened and Father Jake found his way into the cafeteria. Spying Jules and Trent, he wended his way through some empty tables. “Long night,” he said, and kicked back a chair. “Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all,” Jules said.
The preacher was somber as he upended one of the unused cups on the table and poured himself a thin stream of coffee. “Since you two were so involved in this mess, I thought I should explain myself, why I’m really here.”
Trent snorted. “Even you have a secret agenda?”
“Don’t we all?” The preacher managed a half smile and leaned back in his chair.
All true. Jules had lied to help spring Shaylee from the academy and Trent was really undercover trying to determine what had happened to Lauren Conway. They, both, had fessed up and now, it seemed, it was Father Jake’s turn.
“So, here’s the deal,” he said and launched into his story. He explained that he’d been hired by Blue Rock Academy’s board of directors to double-check on Lynch. After Lauren Conway’s disappearance, the members of the board, unsatisfied with the reverend’s explanations, had wanted another viewpoint on the school.”
“Yours,” Trent guessed. “So what did you conclude?” Trent asked.
“Obviously, I think that Lynch should step down.” Jake McAllister smiled. “And don’t look at me. I know my limits as a clergyman, and I don’t belong here. But Lynch has been convinced that he should resign. It should happen this afternoon. I told the board that I’ll stay on until they find a more suitable replacement.”
Jules was having trouble taking it all in. “Do you think Blue Rock will shut down?” she asked, her coffee forgotten.
McAllister lifted a shoulder. “Who knows? Maybe. But, under the right direction, I think it could work. I hope it can.” He offered up a thin smile. “There’s always a need for troubled kids.”
Jules knew it. Shay was a perfect example. God only knew if, after this terrifying experience, she would ever return to that happy little girl she remembered.
The doors opened again and a few more students, after being interviewed, were filing into the cafeteria where Martha Pruitt had put together a long buffet of sandwiches and cold drinks. They were sober and pale, not the excited, eager group she’d first met…Dear Lord, had it only been a few days earlier?
Several of her students caught her eye and she held up her hand, waving to them as they found trays and silverware. Ollie Gage looked at her with owlish eyes, and Keesha Bell offered up her free hand, the other linked tightly with her boyfriend’s. Even Crystal Ricci gave her a nod. As in any tragedy, people were drawing together. With minimal conversation, they filed through the line and congregated at the tables at the far side of the room. A few counselors were interspersed with them, but today, for once, there were no assigned tables; no strict rules and most of the students seemed content to hang together in a large group.
A few seconds later the door flew open and Shay walked in. She took a quick look around the cafeteria, spied Jules and made a beeline to the table.
“I thought you were being counseled,” Jules said as her sister approached.
“I was. But I’m okay.” Shay was nodding, agreeing with herself. “I think we can leave now.”
“Just like that?” Jules asked, dubious. “You’re ‘okay’ and the school is releasing you? Now?”
“They think I’ve been through enough.” Shay was actually smiling for the first time in a long, long while. It wasn’t the infectious, eager grin from her youth,