Without Mercy - Lisa Jackson [22]
Her eyes were a warning.
A warning that underlined Shay’s desperation. She had to find a way out of here and fast.
CHAPTER 7
“What do you mean, you haven’t heard from her?” Jules demanded as she sat at her desk, cell phone jammed to her ear.
“That’s the way it works, Julia. You know that,” Edie explained, her voice tight. “There’s to be no contact for two weeks. Then just a short phone call. If she wants.”
“But she’s your daughter. Underage. You should get a report.”
“I can talk to the counselors at any time, just not your sister.”
“That’s nuts.”
“It’s their policy.”
“Well, it’s crap. Shay’s just a kid.” But it was basically the same thing Analise had told her.
“We’ve been through this. Blue Rock Academy knows what it’s doing. I trust them.”
“But I want to talk to her.”
“You can write a letter in care of the school.”
“A letter? What is this, the Dark Ages?” Jules shoved back her chair and paced from one end of her small office to the other. “What about cell phones or e-mail or Facebook?”
“Not allowed.”
“Of course. The place is starting to sound Draconian, Mom.”
“And you’re starting to sound like a drama queen! The very thing you accuse me of. Just slow down, give the school a chance. And, please, don’t go bothering Analise anymore.”
“What?”
“Eli called me, you know,” Edie said.
Jules’s heart sank.
“Of course he did.” What a pansy, running to Aunt Edie and tattling. Like a three-year-old.
“You’re stirring up trouble,” Edie charged.
“I’m looking for answers.”
“Maybe you should worry more about your life and where it’s not going rather than obsess about your sister.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You tell me, Julia. You’re the one who’s divorced and not working. Right?”
“Maybe I learned from the best,” she said quickly, and heard her mother gasp. Edie’s track record in marriage was always a forbidden subject.
“Look, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded, but you’ve got to quit attacking me, Mom. I just care about Shay.”
“Well, believe it or not, that makes two of us. Oh…I’ve got another call. It’s Grant. Gotta run. Bye.” She clicked off.
Jules let out a sound of frustration. Shay had been in southern Oregon for three days, and Jules was even more convinced that Blue Rock Academy wasn’t the right place for her sister. Sure, Shay had a bad attitude and needed something to shock her out of her sullen, rebellious ways. But a boarding school where one girl had gone missing a few months back and a teacher had been let go because of sexual misconduct with a minor or something akin to it?
Having read every article she could find on the Internet about Blue Rock, Jules had learned that it was founded in 1975 and was not associated with any other school. Blue Rock had been named for the color of some of the rocks in the caves nearby. It was an independent institution, was fully accredited, and—if the quotes from satisfied teens and parents printed all over its Web site were true—was “a godsend.” The testimonials were effusive. If Jules were to believe Blue Rock’s own advertising, then Shaylee had been sent to her utter salvation somewhere deep in the Siskiyou Mountains.
Jules still wasn’t buying it. Everything seemed too slick, too perfect.
She read the academy’s mission statement, a letter from Reverend Lynch, and a few glowing testimonials. It seemed so scripted.
Her eyes glazed over as she clicked on the faculty page. It seemed like a small list, and she didn’t recognize any names. Maris Howell’s name was conspicuously absent. A note at the bottom of the page stated that the Web site was being updated.
“I’ll bet,” she said aloud. “Have to update the Web site so it doesn’t show one damned flaw.” Everything about the school seemed too good to be true.
“Just your suspicious nature,” she said, echoing her ex-husband’s accusations when he swore on his mother’s life he wasn’t having an affair. But then Sebastian Farentino was nothing if not a liar who would call up any excuse to save his own pathetic hide. She’d learned that soon